The gopher snake is California's most widespread and common snake. Locally very abundant, gopher snakes are found thoughout California, including the Channel Islands, absent only from the high mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Adults take chiefly mammals and birds while foraging in mammal burrows, on the ground, or in shrubs. Juveniles take young mice and small lizards.
Prey is killed by constriction.
At high elevations with long cold winters, individuals hibernate, often with other species of snakes, in rodent burrows and in deep rock fissures. Eggs are normally laid below the surface in stable rock talus, in abandoned mammal burrows, and in loose moist soil. Gopher snakes are common in arid and semi-arid regions. Standing water is not an important habitat element. Prefer sparse and open grassy stages, less common or absent from denser forested habitat.