Herpetology Notes, volume 10: 317-318 (2017) (published online on 30 May 2017) Documentation of unusual movement behaviour of the indigo snake Drymarchon couperi (Holbrook, 1842) (Squamata: Colubridae), an upland species, in a pastureland matrix of the USA Christopher J. O’Bryan1,†,* Drymarchon couperi (Holbrook, 1842) is a wide- States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources ranging species throughout the deep southeastern Conservation Service through the Florida Fish and United States, including the states of Alabama, Florida, Wildlife Conservation Commission. The location is and Georgia (Conant & Collins 1998). D. couperi are private property and it is not accessible to the public. declining rapidly and are thus federally protected as a No gender or morphometrics were obtained from the threatened species (Breininger et al. 2012). Therefore, individual; however, the snake was approximately 1.7 it is crucial that we document their behaviour in m total length. The weather was sunny to partly cloudy anthropogenically-modified landscapes. D. couperi can with an ambient temperature of approximately 24°C. be found in a diverse range of habitats from sandhills and This observation builds our knowledge of the use scrub to mesic flatwoods (Conant & Collins 1998), and of aquatic features by a cryptic, threatened species in they often seek shelter in upland areas with extensive agricultural landscapes. gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) burrows (Hyslop et al. 2009). However, little is known about their ability to traverse lowland aquatic habitats such as rivers, streams, and ditches especially in agricultural areas. At 12:30 h on 17 February 2015, I observed an adult D. couperi crossing a tributary of Fisheating Creek, Lake Placid, Highlands County, Florida (27.2977°N, 81.4857°W, WGS 84) amongst a private cattle pastureland matrix. The individual was approximately 15 m away, actively swimming towards the creek embankment (Figure 1). The individual appeared to be swimming on the surface of the water for the entirety of the observation, which lasted approximately 10 seconds. The creek width was approximately 6 m. I observed the snake during a routine monitoring visit for the United 1 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 1630 Royce Ranch Avenue, Lake Placid, FL, USA † Current affiliation: School of Earth and Environmental Figure 1. An adult Drymarchon couperi (eastern indigo snake) Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia observed swimming across a tributary of Fisheating Creek, * Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected] Highlands County, Florida on 17 February 2015. 318 Christopher J. O’Bryan References Breininger, D.R., Mazerolle, M.J., Bolt, M.R., Legare, M.L., Drese, J.H. & Hines, J.E. (2012): Habitat fragmentation effects on annual survival of the federally protected eastern indigo snake. Animimal Conservation 15:361–368. Conant, R., Collins, J.T. (1998): A Field Guide to Reptiles & Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America. 3rd edn. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY. Hyslop, N.L., Cooper, R.J., Meyers, J.M. (2009): Seasonal shifts in shelter and microhabitat use of Drymarchon couperi (eastern indigo snake) in Georgia. Copeia 2009:458-464. Accepted by Angelica Crottini.