3/26/2023 0 Comments Eastern indigo snakeBut it is remarkably docile in the presence of humans. The indigo makes a meal of frogs, turtles, lizards, fish, birds, small mammals and occasionally even rattlesnakes. ![]() Nonpoisonous, it is still a powerful predator, pinning down its victim to subdue and swallow it alive. ![]() (The record is eight feet, seven inches.) The snake is entirely iridescent black except for a pale wash of coral red along the throat and upper belly. There are other reasons for their dwindling numbers: Some people kill indigo snakes simply because they are snakes, while others-poachers-collect them for the pet trade.Īn adult eastern indigo is typically six or more feet long. Habitat loss and fatal encounters with cars have contributed significantly to the population decline. But even in most of these areas the snake is becoming increasingly rare. "We don't even know how often females reproduce or how long indigos live in the wild." As long as such questions remain unanswered, it will be hard to halt the population decline that appears to have eliminated the snake from most of its former range.Įastern indigo snakes, once found from Mississippi to South Carolina and south through the Florida peninsula, today occur only in southern Georgia and Florida. "There have been very few studies of any kind and hardly any data published," says Smith. But because so little is known about the snake, not much is being done to protect it. The elusive eastern indigo snake-a subspecies of the indigo snake, which ranges from Georgia, Florida and Texas through South America-has been federally protected as a threatened species since 1978. She is, in fact, one of 74 eastern indigo snakes that Smith has outfitted with radio transmitters during the past three years while trying to answer basic questions about the life of North America's largest snakes. It is cool and overcast on this December day in central Florida, so Stephanie is probably holed up somewhere, trying to stay warm. Biologist Rebecca Smith, who has been keeping an eye on Stephanie for the past year, says that there's no point in looking for her now. ![]() There has been no sign of her for three weeks. The eastern indigo snake, which can grow up to 8 feet long, perplexes biologists who study them
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |