Drymarchon couperi
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) is a species of large, nonvenomous snake in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. Native to the Southeastern United States, it is the longest native snake species in the country.
The eastern indigo snake was first described by John Edwards Holbrook in 1842. For many years, the genus Drymarchon was considered monotypic with one species, Drymarchon corais, with 12 subspecies, until the early 1990s, when Drymarchon corais couperi was elevated to full species status according to the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, in their official names list.
The generic name, Drymarchon, roughly translates to "lord of the forest". It is composed of the Greek words drymos (Δρυμός), meaning "forest", and archon (ἄρχων), meaning "lord" or "ruler". The specific name is a latinization of the surname of American planter James Hamilton Couper (1794–1866). Couper brought Holbrook the type specimen from south of the Altamaha River in Wayne County, Georgia.
Drymarchon couperi has a number of common names, including black snake, blue bull snake, blue gopher snake... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | North Carolina Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Tulsa Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Brookfield Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Nashville Zoo at Grassmere | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Detroit Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Birmingham Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Naples Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | South Carolina Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Glen Echo Park Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Texas Sealife Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Butterfly World | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Jellyfish Museum | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Pregnant Mare Rescue | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Snake Discovery: A Reptile Experience | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Three Sisters Springs Trolley | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Welaka National Fish Hatchery | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Zoológico La Era de las aves | 🇪🇸 Spain |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Indigo Snake sighting in Everglades National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 54th most-seen of the 54 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Indigo Snake in Everglades National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to January, the lowest months. That is one of Everglades National Park's driest months, with about 45 mm of rain against 240 mm in June.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eastern Indigo Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Everglades National Park, in our data
Everglades National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Eastern Indigo Snake sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Eastern Indigo Snake that you can see in Everglades National Park (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are North American Racer (about 40%), Corn Snake (about 30%) and Scarletsnake (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Indigo Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Everglades National Park (10 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
