I've caught snakes of all breeds since I was 8 yrs. old, most of the gopher snakes I caught were a lot bigger than the one in the picture, normally over 5 ft.
Bull snakes and Gopher snakes look a lot alike to me, I've only caught one baby bull snake (about 9 inches long) and that little rascal was ferrous acting, hissing and striking like a professional cage fighter. I didn't know what it was and it didn't act like a gopher snake even though it look a lot like one so I caught it in a big bottle and took it to work, one of our foreman was Indian from the Bishop,CA reservation and had lived in that area all his life. I show it to him and he told me it was bull snake, very aggressive when trapped or caught. they are trying to B.S. you with their actions hoping to be left alone.
Most gopher snakes will try and bite you several times (2 or 3) and then quit, that stupid little bull snake never quit striking and trying to bite anything it could that got close to it.
The Black Racers and Red Racers will bite the heck out of you also, they draw a little blood when they get you and they won't quit biting either so you have to hold their heads to not get bit I have always tried to not hurt them when catching them but sometimes they will bite themselves hard like a Rattle snake will if you mess with them long enough
i use to kill all the rattlesnakes I could but not up here in Oregon due to not seeing any snakes at all in the wild, maybe it is to cold for them to survive the winters.
I did see one wild snake several years at the race track in Madras which is 45 miles north and around 2000 Ft. .lower in elevation than here in the Bend area of Central Oregon. Our house is around 4300 Ft. elevation and we live in the tall pine trees with no snakes according to the local who have live here all their life's.
The Coral snakes in AZ. and further back east have way more deadly venom than most of the rattlesnakes found on the west coast states of CA,OR and WA.. The Mojave Green Rattle snake only found in the Mojave Desert in SO CA does have a worst venom than any other rattle snake found west of the Rockies.
Lesson of the day is now complete