What kind of snake is the eastern indigo snake?
What kind of snake is the eastern indigo snake?
The eastern indigo snake is an icon of the southern longleaf pine forest and is the longest native snake on the continent. A non-venomous apex predator, it preys upon many species of animals including some venomous snakes, and it plays a critical role in keeping an ecosystem healthy and balanced.
When do eastern indigo snakes start to breed?
Eastern indigo snakes breed from October to February. During this time the snakes are found in sandhills and, although this is the peak of winter, indigo snakes are active at temperatures (50-60 F) that are typically too cool for other snake species.
What kind of food does an indigo snake eat?
Indigo snakes are known to feed mainly upon other snakes, turtles, mammals, frogs, birds, and lizards. Unusual food items, in comparison to that of other snakes, include small tortoises and all venomous snake species native to the Southeastern US.
Where do indigo snakes go in the winter?
Indigos hibernate during cold weather, nestling in gopher tortoise burrows when temperatures reach the 20s. They often return every winter to the same burrow. When tortoises were heavily harvested and suffered habitat loss in North Florida, the indigo population was impacted as well.
Where does the indigo snake live in Florida?
Historically, the eastern indigo snake lived throughout Florida, the coastal plain of southern Georgia, extreme south Alabama, and extreme southeast Mississippi. Today the indigo snake survives in peninsular Florida and southeast Georgia, persists in the Florida panhandle, but in low numbers, but has been extirpated from Alabama and Mississippi.
Why are there no indigo snakes in Alabama?
The loss, fragmentation, and alteration of the longleaf pine ecosystem are most likely the major underlying cause for the disappearance of the eastern indigo snake in Alabama. As the forests were converted, gopher tortoises were reduced, and the gopher tortoise burrows, upon which the indigo snakes depend, were reduced.
