Eastern Indigo

On April 13, 2013 at around 10 am I was lucky enough to see an endangered reptile native to Texas. The reptile is Drymarchon couperi an eastern indigo snake commonly called the blue indigo. Males of this specie s can reach up to 7- 7.7 feet long reaching a weight of about 9 lbs. Females can reach up to around 6.5 feet long and weight about 6 lbs. Its distribution ranges from South Carolina to Mexico. The interesting thing I learned about this snake is ophiophagous. Meaning it will eat other snakes, including

rattlesnakes. I also learned it can eat turtles and amphibians.

I saw this reptile in Orange Grove, Tx on my parents ranch out in the country. It was in the morning when I happened to walk outside on the patio (covered in concrete and rocks) to find the snake sunbathing. Unfortunately I was unable to catch the snake so its gender is unknown. However, the blue indigo was approximately 5 feet long. It slithered along my house and in order to keep it safe from the dogs, we left it alone. I was pretty lucky to see something so cool, endangered, and rare.

Read more about the blue indigo.