Seven-foot bull snake found on Seventh Street

A near 7-foot long dead Bull snake caught Clovis Animal Control Officer Dennis Weist by surprise when he went out to collect it Thursday morning.

Weist said the snake was crossing Seventh Street near Upsilon Street, heading south toward a prairie dog town when he was struck multiple times by traffic.
The woman who reported the snake said she thought she had hit a piece of wood in the road.
Weist said it is the longest snake he has encountered, with most Bull snakes he has dealt with being in the range of 2 to 3-feet long.
Stretched to its full length, the snake was well above the head of 5-feet-2-inch tall Animal Control Officer Robin Wiggins.

Bull snake facts

Size: Ranges from an average 4-feet to a maximum of 9-feet.
Range: Throughout the U.S. from coast to coast and into Canada and Mexico
Habitat: Deserts, prairies, woodlands, brushlands, forests and cultivated lands.
Reproduction: The Bull snake, also known as a gopher snake, lays two to 24 eggs in the summer which hatch in the fall.
Diet: A constrictor, it eats mostly mammals but also some birds and eggs.
Fooled you: The Bull snake when startled will rise into a striking position and hiss loudly, shaking its tail, often causing it to be mistaken for a rattle snake.
Day hunter: It is most active in the day except for during periods of high heat.