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We studied the federally threatened eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) from 1992 to 2002 in southeastern Georgia, including a 4-year mark-recapture study conducted on the Fort Stewart Military Reservation. Indigo snakes in this region are sexually dimorphic in size, with males attaining greater maximum lengths. Subadult and small adult snakes grow more rapidly than larger adults. Georgia specimens prey on a variety of vertebrates, including juvenile gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus). The return of adult indigo snakes to the same sandhills in multiple years has conservation and management significance. Long-term population monitoring of indigo snakes is feasible and may yield valuable information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report an exceptional clutch size for Farancia abacura (Mud Snake). A large female specimen of F. a. abacura (Eastern Mud Snake), collected July 2008 in southern Georgia, deposited 111 eggs in captivity. Sixty-nine of the eggs hatched, yielding 65 (94.2%) normal hatchlings and 4 (5.8%) anerythristic (i.e., white-bellied) morphs. This clutch exceeds the previous record of 104 eggs reported in 1931. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recovery of the federally threatened Ambystoma cingulatum (Flatwoods Salamander) will require monitoring of known populations, as well as continued searches for additional populations. In an effort to develop recommendations for maximizing efficiency of future surveys of larval Flatwoods Salamanders, we combined data from surveys conducted between 1990 and 2004 in Florida and Georgia. Analysis of these data revealed variation in the number of larvae captured, survey effort, capture rates, and larval body size among years and months. An average of 16 min or 45 one-m long dipnet sweeps was required to catch each larva. For wetlands surveyed twice in a season, results (i.e., larval presence or assumed absence) were consistent in 74% of consecutive surveys. We make recommendations for conducting future surveys and the implementation of a coordinated research and monitoring program for Flatwoods Salamanders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]