Bringing back indigo snakes to Alabama, bad news for copperheads + cottonmouths [VIDEOS]

It’s been around 70 years since an Eastern Indigo snake was last seen in the wild in Alabama. Although the nonvenomous snake is native to Alabama, the loss of its natural habitat has led to its disappearance. 

Luckily, a group of scientists and conservationists are working to reintroduce the Eastern indigo to Alabama. Over the past 14 years, 284 Eastern indigo snakes have been released into the Alabama wild—in fact, 40 have been released in South Alabama’s Conecuh National Forest this year. 

Read on to learn more. 

How did the indigo snake disappear?

The longest native snake species in the U.S., the threatened blackish-purple Eastern indigo snake can average about five to six feet long in length. Its histoic range includes southwestern South Carolina, southern Georgia, almost all of Florida, south Alabama and a little bit of Mississippi.

The disappearance of the indigo in Alabama occurred at the same time fire-dependent longleaf forests vanished from the state’s landscape in the 1940s and 50s. At about the same time, we also almost lost forever another fire needy critter in Alabama — the gopher tortoise.

Nature’s home-builder, the gopher tortoise burrows in the sandy South Alabama soils making homes not only for the indigo snake but hundreds of other critters. 

Eastern indigo snakes prey on venomous snakes

Scientist and naturalist Jimmy Stiles—who has been part of the Alabama reintroduction efforts from the start—explained why bringing back the indigo snake matters. 

“Indigo snakes are an important part of our ecology because they benefit the ecosystem and the food webs of the forest. One reason why a lot of people like Indigo snakes is because of what they eat, which is primarily a venomous snake species. Copperheads rattlesnakes and cottonmouths are their primary prey. In the absence of top predators like Indigo snakes, those populations have been rising.”

Jimmy Stiles, Naturalist

Monitoring, studying and bringing back the indigo snake

Using pit tags (similar to the microchips we insert on our pets) scientists have been studying the reintroduced Indigos snake’s movements and whether they are propagating. Here’s the good news: if placed in the right habitat, they survive and slowly integrate back into the ecosystem.

All this work is made possible by the following groups.

• Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR)
• Auburn University
• U.S. Forest Service
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Zoo Atlanta 
• Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation at the Central Florida Zoo

“Moving forward, the project will continue to release more of these magnificent copperhead gulping snakes onto the landscape and monitor the increasing population until it is firmly established.” 

Jimmy Stiles, Naturalist

Want to learn more and join the Indigo Snake reintroduction effort? Visit the Outdoor Alabama and Orianne Center websites.

Tell us what you think about efforts to bring back the rare Eastern indigo snake by tagging us Instagram @thebamabuzz!