Eastern Indigo Snake
(Drymarchon corais)
Physical Description:
- Grows up to 8.6 feet in length
- Lustrous blue-black color
- Sides of head, chin and throat area are suffused with orange/red color
Range:
- Historically found from southern South Carolina south and west to Mississippi.
- Today found only in Georgia and Florida
Habitat Description:
- Cold Months: concentrate on upland sandhill ridges and use gopher tortoise burrows extensively
- Warm Months: daylight hours are spent foraging the edges of floodplain swamps, cypress ponds or other wetlands imbedded in longleaf pine landscape.
Feeding:
- Immobilizes food with its jaws (does not constrict)
- Prey usually eaten alive
- Feeds on birds, small mammals, frogs, small turtles, fish and snakes (including venomous ones)
Breeding:
- Females lay between 5-10 eggs (usually in the moist sand of tortoise burrows)
- Males fiercely defend territory
Interesting Trivia:
- Largest North American snake
- Long-lived (one captive snake lived nearly 26 years)
- When disturbed, it hisses, vibrates its tail, and flattens its neck.
- Males have been known to cannibalize other males
- Have been known to consume eastern diamondback rattlesnakes
- May range over an area of 250 acres or more
Status:
- Threatened
Causes for Decline:
- Habitat degradation through coastal development, agriculture, forestry operations, fire suppression
- Collection for the pet trade
- Indiscriminate killing

