INDIGO SNAKE

(Drymarchon corais), docile, nonvenomous member of the family Colubridae found from the southeastern United States to Brazil. It is the largest snake in the United Statesrecord length is 2.8 metres (9.2 feet)and one of the largest of all colubrids. In the United States its colour is blue-black; southward it may have brown foreparts, and in the tropics members of the genus often are called brown snakes. It kills small vertebrate animals, including venomous snakes, by crushing with its jaws and the weight of its coils but is not a constrictor. In defense the indigo snake hisses and vibrates its tail but is loath to strike. It may share a burrow with a gopher tortoise (Gopherus) and is often called gopher snake. It had become so rare by the late 1970s that it was listed as an endangered species.