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The Eastern Indigo Snake is the largest non-venomous snake
in North America. The indigo is yet another herp species that illustrates the severity of the problems faced by numerous reptiles
and amphibians. Of the six threats to the herpetofauna outlined by Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC), populations of the indigo snake have been dramatically affected by two threats: habitat loss
and unsustainable use. Population declines have been so substantial that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed indigo
snakes as a "threatened species" in 1979—for a snake species to be federally listed, the problem has to be bad, as snakes
are not typically high on the list of people’s favorite animals. Indigo snakes are protected at the state level in Alabama,
and have full protection as a threatened species in Florida and Georgia, and as an endangered species in South Carolina and
Mississippi.
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