John you have spent way to much time on Austin if that whole thing surprises you. I would have been more surprised if he DIDN'T shoot it.

For one thing he 's an old timer and for another the Texas culture has evolved around a hatred of snakes.

I have never been convinced for one minute that Indigo snakes' protection protection has anything at all to do with conservation but everything to do with the fact that they prey on other snakes and rattlesnakes in particular.

The same thing with roadrunners, God knows there is no way in hell THOSE things are endangered (not that I could see a reason to hunt them anyway...I'm sure they're quite tasty considering their diet.).

Indigos are the true point of what I am saying however, I cannot tell you how many Indigos I caught kept and eventually released as a kid and never once got turned in for it, in spite of lots of people knowing I kept them.

God forbid anyone ever kill an indigo however, someone would have been on the phone to the game wardens quicker than if you killed a person. ("You did what????Killed an Inido????why in sam hell would you go and do something like that? Hell, they kill rattlers. Boy I'll tell you what"

This in a part of Texas where I am relatively sure there is an un-official open season on game wardens.

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