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RE: A big bluff can go a long way.....

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Posted by: BlueKing at Sun Jul 18 10:45:44 2010  [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by BlueKing ]  
   

Your last post reminded me of another way Indigos try to avoid becoming a meal to larger predators that I forgot to mention earlier:
Bluffing. When it comes to bluffing Bull snakes and Pine snakes are probably the best at it (and putting on a very noisy show). But a wild Indigo puts on a little show too (when threatened/cornered) by raising its head and neck off the ground and flattening it vertically. It then proceeds to crawl slowly in an awkward almost stiff manner while letting out a low sounding hiss at the same time. This is sometimes enough to make a predator (and even some Florida residents unfortunately), think that the now enlarged neck on an Indigo could be a large venom sack and the hiss and menacing crawl is a warning saying "If you come any closer, you're gonna get it!" If that fails, the Indigo will strike, but usually only with its' mouth closed - but that is still sufficient to chase away a lot of predators and has even caused its' own death due to ignorant humans who kill them believing it is a large poisonous snake... So if it can fool some humans (who are suppose to be the smartest animal on the planet), you can be sure that it could also fool other large animals including feral hogs/pigs....
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"I am an expert on everything, but I know so little and have so much to learn!" -Carsten "Zee" Zoldy-


   

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