Hobbies And Interests
Appearance
The nonvenomous eastern indigo snake is the longest snake found in North America, growing to lengths exceeding eight feet. They contain large, smooth scales and their glossy black color that gives them their name is interrupted only by cream-, orange- or red-colored chins, throats or cheeks in some instances.
Habitat
Eastern indigo snakes historically lived throughout Florida, southern Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama, in sand hills, pine forests, mangrove forests, scrubs, dry prairie, coastal dunes, agricultural fields, hardwood hammocks and edges of freshwater marshes. What is left of their population can be found primarily in parts of Florida. They are able to swim, and frequently travel to and from wetlands, which they rely on for food and temperature regulation. During cold winter weather, they rely on the burrows of gopher tortoises in sand hill habitats for shelter from the harsh cold. In wetter habitats where there are no gopher tortoises, they rely on hollow logs and burrows of armadillo, land crabs and rodents for retreat and protection from the weather.
Food
Adult eastern indigo snakes will prey on any vertebrate that they are capable of overpowering, including toads, frogs, fish, turtle eggs, turtles, young tortoises, fish, small alligators, lizards, bird, rodents, small mammals and other snakes. They will pursue animals in trees or concealed beneath coverings on the ground, then chase the prey down to capture and kill it. Although nonvenomous themselves, they are capable of capturing and consuming venomous snakes like copperheads and rattlesnakes. The juveniles, however, primarily consume invertebrates.
Breeding
The snakes generally breed between November and April. The females lay four to 12 eggs at a time between May and August, and the eggs hatch within three months of being laid. Females can also either store sperm to delay fertilization for several years at a time, or be able to reproduce without need for sperm, as there have been instances of virginal reproduction among the species.
Endangerment
The eastern indigo snakes were originally listed as endangered because of declines in their population triggered by over-collecting for the pet trade industry, in addition to early and widespread deaths because of gassing by rattlesnake collectors who targeted gopher tortoise burrows. However, habitat loss and disturbance resulting from human expansion for commercial, agricultural and residential purposes have further diminished their species' population count. They continue to be threatened by domestic animals, highway mortality and pesticides that compound in animals' systems as they advance up the food chain from the crops they're intended to protect.