Eastern Indigo Snake Drymarchon corais

The eastern indigo snake is known to be the longest snake in the U.S. These snakes are solid black and may exhibit a bluish tint in sunlight. They also possess a reddish brown coloration on the chin that may sometimes extend onto the face. As it is not a constrictor and is non-venomous, the eastern indigo overpowers its prey with its powerful jaws and swallows it live. Prey items include rodents, birds and lizards as well as venomous and non-venomous snakes. In Georgia, the eastern indigo is located in South Georgia around palmetto and long leaf pine forests where they prefer well drained, sandy soils. The eastern indigo favors gopher tortoise burrows where they retreat along with many other animals including the eastern diamondback rattlesnake. Due to mindless rattlesnake roundups in South Georgia, the pressure to find the biggest and heaviest rattlers, drive many of the events participants to great lengths in locating the snakes. These environmental terrorists often gas the burrows by inserting a long hose and then pour in gasoline. The fumes drive out or kill the inhabitants and render the burrow uninhabitable. Due to roundups and habitat destruction, the eastern indigo has become very scarce in the wild and as of 1978 was listed under the federal Endangered Species Act as threatened. Since its protection took place almost 30 years ago, its numbers have still not recovered and many populations have decreased or disappeared altogether.