12/29/2023 0 Comments Blue indigo snake in alabama![]() (2007) Movements, habitat use, and survival of the threatened eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) in Georgia. Unpublished report submitted to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Just prior to our meeting, some of the team were out in the Conecuh and discovered a baby indigo snake, the first wild-born one seen in Alabama in over 60 years! This fantastic news has been covered in a number of media outlets over the last couple of weeks and is a sign that all the effort put into the reintroductions is paying off. southern hognose snake (Heterodon simus Linneaus) in Alabama. ![]() These releases have been going on for about a decade now, with over 150 indigo snakes released. Then they are released into a section of the Conecuh National Forest in southern Alabama. It is a gentle giant and an apex predator. The indigo’ s diet of animals is varied, but it prefers dining on other snakes. Its ir idescent blue-black scales glisten in the sunlight a coral hue tints its chin, throat, and cheeks. Its coastal waters teem with marine mammals, fish and whales. The prairie areas are home to rabbits, snakes and armadillos. It has many of the common North American forest animals, including white-tail deer, opossums, shrews, rodents and foxes. We’ve done this by rearing young snakes here at the Zoo that were hatched at the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation until they are large enough to avoid most predators. The docile and nonvenomous eastern indigo snake is the largest snake in North America, growing up to 9 feet long. Alabama has a wonderful diversity of animals. Forest Service, Alabama Department of Conservation of Natural Resources, Central Florida Zoo’s Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation, and others, Zoo Atlanta has helped to reintroduce indigo snakes to a part of their former range in Alabama. The population of this highly venomous snake is rapidly declining in Alabama, perhaps due to the invasion of fire ants preying on its eggs and young snakes. Working with a number of partners including Auburn University, the U.S. This species was last known to be surviving and reproducing there in 1954, after which populations disappeared. We discussed many ideas, made plans, and had really great discussions at this meeting, all centered on the future of this iconic reptile. Last week I attended a meeting of the Eastern Indigo Snake Reintroduction Committee, which is a partnership of multiple state, federal, zoo, and non-governmental organizations to study the indigo snake as well as help it return to areas where it once flourished. They are also suffering heavy declines across their range and are under the protection of the Endangered Species Act. Although not blue as the moniker “indigo” might suggest, these sleek black snakes are highly iridescent and in the right light, have blue or purple sheen to them. ![]() This one looks like he had a little run-in with. When it dies, the yellow fades more quickly, so the snake looks blue. The snake's green color is made up of blue and yellow pigments in its skin. They are active predators that can cover large amounts of ground in their pursuit of prey, mates, and shelter (typically gopher tortoise burrows). The Smooth Green Snake (Opheodrys Liochlorophis vernalis) does the same thing, but they're a more northerly or westerly snake and are not in Alabama. They are also considered apex predators in the southern longleaf pine and sandhill environments of the southeastern US. The species is very popular in the pet trade.The eastern indigo snake ( Drymarchon couperi) is the largest non-venomous snake in the United States, with large adult males reaching lengths over seven feet. It happens to be the longest native snake species in the United States. The carnivorous species derives its name from its iridescent underside. Indigo snake is a species of nonvenomous snake belonging to the colubrid family, found only in the eastern United States.
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