Indigo Snake

Indigo snake (Drymarchon Couperi)

Animal -

As the biggest snake in the United states, This black and blue snake

this reptile measures in at 3.9 - 7.7 ft, and can live on average to be 17

weighs a massive 1.6 - 9.9 pounds. years. The oldest one was 25

years and 11 months!

Unique characteristics & distinctive features - Eastern Indigo Snakes are uniformly black besides the fact that they have a red colored area on the chin, throat, and even sometimes the throat. These unique creatures also shed there skin once every few weeks. Also, the male Indigo snakes are slightly larger than females, unlike many other snakes.

What does this predator feast on? - The eastern indigo snake feasts upon turtles, frogs, lizards, toads, small birds, and eggs. This snake is also well known for eating rattlesnakes! (as seen below)

Preferred lodging - These snakes prefer frequent flatwoods, hammocks, stream bottoms, dry glades, and grounds that have well-drained, sandy soils. In fact, In Georgia these snakes prefer excessively drained, deep sandy soils located among major streams! The indigo snake’s most preferred lodging spot is in abandoned gopher tortoise burrows because they are able to take protection and reproduce.

Its Role in the Ecosystem (Niche) - The indigo snake’s role in the ecosystem is to balance out the food chain as a fierce predator. They like to feast on a lot of smaller animals lizards and frogs. However, since this is an endangered species, many do not remain in the wild.

How are they endangered? - The indigo snake is very endangered because of the dramatic population declines that were caused because of over collecting for the international pet trade. These snakes also depended on gopher tortoises, and as the forests converted and gopher tortoise’s reduced, their burrows also reduced, on which the indigo snakes depended.

Significance - The significance of the indigo snake does not relate to any cultural reasons, but instead it lies with many economic reasons. Since indigo snakes are endangered, they are needed to be protected and cared for so that they do not go extinct. These rare snakes are seen in both a negative and positive way because they limit construction projects, and they get rid of other harmful animals. To start off, these snakes set limits in the construction perspective because they are rare, and people are not allowed to kill them. However, they are also seen positively because they are able to get rid of potentially harmful animals.

Interesting story - A National Geographic video was able to capture an indigo snake in Mission, Texas. When the man got close to it, and started to touch it, the snake appeared to be playing dead. But, indigo snakes are not well known for playing dead, while other snake species are. But how were they able to tell it wasn't actually dead? The snake had a contorted body and open mouth, leading to the prediction of the snake playing dead. This story was able to open up new information about the indigo snake and see if this one time thing of ‘playing dead’, ever happens again.