The longest native snake in the United States, a glossy blue-black colubrid that preys on venomous snakes in the southeastern coastal plain.
Description
The eastern indigo snake is a large, smooth-scaled colubrid up to 2.6 m long with iridescent blue-black scales over most of the body and a reddish or cream chin and throat. The head is broad and powerful, and the eye is dark with a slightly amber iris.
Behavior
Indigo snakes are active diurnal hunters that prowl pine flatwoods and stream margins for snakes, including venomous rattlesnakes and copperheads, which they swallow alive without constriction. In summer they shelter in burrows; in winter many take refuge in gopher tortoise burrows.
Range
Confined to the southeastern United States in southern Georgia, the Florida panhandle, and peninsular Florida. Historical populations in Alabama and Mississippi have been the focus of long-term reintroduction efforts.
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Eastern Indigo Snake starts with E . Browse other snakes along the same letter.
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