Eastern indigo snake

The eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) is a type of snake in the family Colubridae. It is native to the eastern United States. It is the longest native snake in the United States. It is the largest snake in the United States. It is also the largest, non-venomous snake in the southeastern United States.

Description
The eastern indigo snake has a blue-black colour. It is the longest native snake species in the United States. Males usually grow up to 1.58 m (5.2 ft) in length. Females usually grow up to 1.38 m (4.5 ft) in length. Males usually weigh 2.2 kg (4.9 lb). Females usually weigh 1.5 kg (3.3 lb).

Distribution and Habitat
The eastern indigo snake is found from southwestern South Carolina south through Florida and west to southern Alabama and southeastern Mississippi.

The eastern indigo snake likes flatwoods, hammocks, dry glades, stream bottoms, sugarcane fields, riparian thickets, and sandy soils.

The eastern indigo snake mostly lives in scrublands in Florida and Georgia with different types of plants. These are mainly longleaf pine, southern live oak, laurel oak, Chapman oak, and myrtle oak.

Feeding
The Eastern indigo snake eats other snakes, turtles, lizards, frogs, toads, lots of small birds and mammals, and eggs.

Reproduction
The Eastern indigo snake is oviparous. The breeding season is from November to April. Females lay their eggs from May to June. Females lay from 4 to 12 eggs. Young hatch in about 3 months, usually in August and September.

Conservation status
The eastern indigo snake is threatened by habitat loss. It is believed to be extinct in Alabama.

The eastern indigo snake was extinct in northern Florida because of habitat loss and fragmentation. The eastern indigo snake was last seen in Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve in 1982, until 2017 when 12 snakes were released as part of a conservation program. 20 more snakes were released in 2018. 15 snakes in 2019.

References

Category:Colubrids
Category:Snakes of North America