(((if a predator gets it by the head? Does anyone know? u see all these pictures of rat snakes wrapped around hawks that nailed them in the head but what does an indigo do?)))



When it comes to hawks:

1. Better eyesight (than some snakes), good reflexes (for its' size), and good crawling speed (for a snake of its' size) tends to help it avoid being pounded in the head in the first place.

2. It tries to avoid being pounded in the head by not basking in open spots until it reaches a good size (approx. 5.5 feet ). Some of the younger Indigos I've observed in the wild do tend to stay closer to, or even inside thicker growths of vegetation. It is also interesting to note that Indigos (because of their dark coloration) do not need to, and will not bask as long as other snakes and tend to be on the move more so, thus reducing the chances of being grabbed perfectly by the head as well.

3. If all else fails and it gets seized by the head, it will usually thrash about wildly (even risking breaking its' own neck in the process). This has been known to work very well with a lot of species of snakes (especially water snakes). With some Indigos being good sized and quite strong (for their size), I imagine they would have a decent chance of getting away after the predator gets thrashed about a few times...

4. As Doug says - if all else fails (or the predator is a larger animal): It gets eaten....



So far I havn't seen or observed any hawks attacking an Indigo (though I'm sure it happens from time to time, especially with young Indigos), so this is the best I can do for now.
-----
"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]