For just the second time since 1954, biologists in Alabama have found evidence that the eastern indigo snake is breeding again in Alabama.
Reaching lengths up to eight feet, the eastern indigo snake was the apex predator of Alabama’s longleaf pine ecosystem that once dominated much of the state, until development and other human activity is believed to have completely wiped out the species here in Alabama.
“It’s very exciting,” said Traci Wood, a biologist with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources who has worked to restore the indigo snake in Alabama for the past 13 years.Wood said the second snake was found on Wednesday by Auburn University graduate student Francesca Erickson while conducting a survey in the National Forest. Wood said the snake was approximately one foot long, and likely less than a year old.
“Before we initiated this project, we did exhaustive field surveys looking for this snake, where it previously occurred, where we had records of this snake occurring, and it just couldn’t be found,” Wood said. “So it was considered to be gone from the state, completely gone from Alabama.” The indigos released in the Conecuh came from the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation in Florida and spend time gaining weight at Zoo Atlanta before being released at around two years of age.
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