GA wildlife officials make surprising discovery when tagging protected, threatened snake

Officials with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources recently detailed an “astonishing” find they made last year.

During a survey for federally protected eastern indigo snakes in November, a wildlife technician caught and tagged a 4-foot-long indigo snake in southeast Georgia.

The technician discovered that the indigo snake had regurgitated two other snakes: a young rat snake and a juvenile easter diamond-backed rattlesnake.

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The rat snake was dead, and at first, the rattlesnake was thought to also be dead.

But about an hour later, it surprised the wildlife technician by showing signs of life.

It was later seen basking in the sun.

The revived rattlesnake also had a noticeable bulge, which indicated it had recently eaten a large mouse.

It’s not clear why the indigo snake regurgitated the two snakes, but officials said it lost about a half-pound during the process of losing its meals.

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