Status of the Eastern Indigo Snake in Southern Florida National Parks and Vicinity

摘要

The eastern indigo snake is distributed throughout south Florida from Miami east to the coast, west to Naples, south to Florida City and Flamingo. It also occurs on some keys inside Biscayne National Park (BISC), and on Key Largo, Big Pine, Middle Torch, Cudjoe, and Sugarloaf Keys. In Everglades National Park (EVER), it is widely distributed with the highest densities in pine forests and tropical hardwood hammocks, where it is associated with solution holes in the limestone bedrock. In BISC, it has been found at Convoy Point, Elliott, Old Rhodes, and Sands Keys. Food items of south Florida indigo snakes include cotton rats, southern toads, turtle eggs, and several species of snakes including a road-killed corn snake. Parasites associated with the indigo snake include a tick, a mite, and an arthropod.