May 16, 2024

We're steeped in wildlife today -- specifically, the eastern indigo snake and the rare yellow cardinal.

Thanks for reading,

Ike Morgan

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Let's update a story that probably seems a little crazy to some folks.

It's the one where conservationists are trying to add snakes to Alabama's woods.

The eastern indigo snake was once an apex predator in Alabama, but loss of habitat and people capturing them for the pet trade cleared them out decades ago. But now a long-term project by Auburn University's Alabama Natural Heritage Program has reintroduced hundreds into the Conecuh National Forest, reports AL.com's Howard Koplowitz.

This past weekend 40 indigo snakes were released. Officials with the Alabama Department of Conservation Resources, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Zoo Atlanta and the Central Florida Zoo were on hand for the release, which raised the number of reintroduced indigos to 284 dating back to 2010.

Over that time, young indigos have been found in the forest, showing that the snakes have been mating in the wild.

Eastern indigo snakes have glossy black bodies with blue highlights and can get up 8 feet long. Here's the best news, though: They're known to eat copperheads and rattlesnakes, and some biologists believe that their presence keeps those venomous species in check which, if you follow the ecological dominoes, might help some bird populations.

When an extremely rare yellow cardinal was photographed in Alabaster six years ago, it made national news. A few others have been spotted since then, including one in Florida and one in Tennessee, but experts believe that fewer than one in a million cardinals have the genetic mutation that causes the yellow color.

So you see how rare it is -- that ornithologists and bird enthusiasts nationwide follow the story of each and every one that's documented.

Well, recently, just 15 miles from that 2018 Alabaster sighting, another yellow cardinal was spotted in Helena, reports AL.com's Dennis Pillion.

Your first reaction is, "that's the same bird at a ripe old cardinal age." But if you look at photos that were taken of both birds, there are apparent differences between the birds.

The homeowners who spotted the bird doesn't want their identity released. That's to protect the bird and, honestly, who would want a thousand birders showing at your backyard?

But they named the bird Maize.

Auburn University ornithologist Geoffrey Hill believes the appearances of the two birds are probably not a total coincidence. He said the mutation could exist at a higher level in the area than it does in other cardinal populations.

Survey teams have studied the damage from last week's storms, and National Weather Service offices in the state have counted at least 16 tornadoes, reports AL.com weather reporter Leigh Morgan.

Last Wednesday and Thursday (May 8-9) 14 tornadoes touched down across North Alabama. Two of those twisters were rated EF-3: the one that carved a path through Melton Bluff and Brigadoon and the one that went through Henagar and injured several people.

Then last Friday, storms in South Alabama accounted for two confirmed tornadoes: an EF-2 that made its way through parts of Conecuh, Monroe and Butler counties and an EF-0 that touched down in southeast Houston County.

Now, this Friday may be shaping up as our next stormy spring day in Alabama, so keep an eye on the forecast over the next 24-48 hours.

A few weeks ago we mentioned the Birmingham Police Department's Operation Knight Rider, the effort to crack down on street racing and exhibition driving. Now we have some police stats on the first month of the operation, from April 12 through May 12:

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