BULLSNAKE

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Characteristics: * Yellowish body with brown or black blotches that appear as rings near the tail * Alternating dark blotches found along each side * The belly is cream colored to whitish, with dark spots along its borders * A dark mask or line that extends across the head from the angle of the jaws to the eyes * Keeled scales * Nonvenomous * Diet: rodents (including gophers, ground squirrels, and mice), birds and their eggs, and various amphibians * Habitat: open grasslands * Distribution: counties in the western two thirds of South Dakota