HELEN MOORE
Lee's Mother


                                                         -Helen Moore, Circa 1960

Helen was working for The Miami Serpentarium when this picture was taken.  Helen is holding an Eastern Indigo Snake,a large blue-black or brownish snake (Drymarchon Corais). The Indigo is also a colubrid, as are most non-venomous snakes and are of the Family Colubridae and like this snake most colubrids are non venomous and the ones that are venomous, are usually mildly so.

In North America Indigo Snakes used to be most abundant in Florida.  However, these snakes are now a rare find.  Scattered populations are found from Texas to South Carolina. Others occur south from Mexico to Argentina. In Florida, Indigo Snakes are a species of special concern due to declining populations. They face many threats. Automobile traffic takes a heavy toll. So do indiscriminate killing of snakes and illegal capture of Indigo Snakes for pets. As with most troubled species, the Indigo snake suffers from habitat loss and fragmentation as well as lack of consideration.

Although this species is refered to as a Gopher snake, this is not the correct common name for them.  The Gopher snake is actually the same as the Bull
and Pine snakes.  It is a different species all together.