Tangled Up in Indigo

A captive four-and-a-half-foot adult Eastern indigo snake named Guinness.

The indigo snake became federally protected in 1978.

The indigo snake gets it name from the scales which appear purple in the sunlight.

Indigo snakes can reach 8 feet in length.

The indigo iridescence of the snake.

A swamp at the Orianne Indigo Snake Preserve in Georgia.

Orianne’s CEO, Chris Jenkins.

An indigo snake emerging from a gopher tortoise burrow.

The indigo snake can be found in a wide range of habitats depending on its native region.

Longleaf pines line a road.

Over the years, indigo snakes have been displaced by habitat destruction.