If you are relaxing at one of Colorado’s lakes July Fourth weekend, you might have some company slither up next to you.

Bull snakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi), sometimes generalized as gopher snakes, are among the largest and most powerful nonvenomous snakes in North America. The heavy-bodied bull snake is often ...

From our skies, to the mountains, and open fields, Montana's wildlife ensure a vibrant and healthy environment.As predators ...

Bull snakes, a sub species of gopher snakes, has a lifespan of from 12 to 16 years in the wild. A variety of predator animals prey on bull snakes, as do birds of prey.

Bull snakes are not venomous, but they can give you an ugly bite. A hawk's talons are as sharp as a surgeon's scalpel and their beak is designed to rip flesh.

Still, the reptile didn’t go quietly. “In true bull snake fashion, this one had to be a drama queen,” Smith wrote, noting the snake struck at him multiple times.

Bull snakes also can make a rattle-like sound but it's from hissing or wiggling their tail against dry leaves when threatened. Rattlesnakes have a triangular head that is wider than their body.

World Atlas identified three lakes - Boyd Lake, Electra Lake and Lake Pueblo - as the most snake-infested in Colorado. Commonly sighted snakes include bull snakes, garter snakes and coachwhip snakes.