Most information gathered about the location of Cape gopher snakes is anecdotal, but the area where they range is incredibly diverse. Dominating the landscape is a Sonoran-like desert fraught with cacti, but includes dry tropical forests, arid tropical scrubs, desert shores, and the Sierra de la Laguna (an area designated by UNESCO as a global biosphere reserve because the semiarid to temperate subhumid climate area represents highly important and contrasted ecosystems. This area is known to go months, even years, without rainfall, yet can be saturated with the flood waters of a tropical storm or hurricane in a span of just one week.