RAUK - Archived Forum - Grass snake feeding pictures

Too say I was a bit excited to see this is an understatement

Enjoy

Hope you don't mind all the photo's ............. think I got a bit carried away

Ruth

Thanks for the comments   Must say, i'm still on quite a high at witnessing the snake having lunch.

I took those photo's over a couple of hours, but missed what would have been the most awsome photo of the lot, see the 7th photo down, well, when I went back down to the pond I spotted another grass snake starting to feed on the head end, gutted that when I turned on the camera the "wirring" sound scared it off Mind you, in some ways i'm kind of glad it did as I guess that either or both of the grassies may have ended up dead if they had both continued to feed on the one fish!

Ruth

[QUOTE=-LAF]The million dollar question? Did he/she finish the fish?
Lee.[/QUOTE]

Judging by the buldge next morning, then yes.

[QUOTE=*SNAKE*]bet it took ages should have started at the head end not that im an expert in eating raw fish lol [/QUOTE]

Yea, it should have started head end first, still if it had I bet I wouldn't have been able to get as many photos.

[QUOTE=Wolfgang Wuster]My one concern is about the netting on the pond - would there not be a risk of a snake getting entangled or stuck in that? The mesh size seems just about perfect for trapping a recently-fed grass snake...

Cheers,

Wolfgang

[/QUOTE]

Wolfgang, you are absolutely right and in fact next morning that is exactly what happened, I did however manage to get it out with no damage to the snake (lots of holes in the net though), however, it has been a lesson learnt and both ends of the net are now no longer on the floor

Ruth

Nice pic's Ruth. Looks like you were in the right place at the right time. But, like Wolfgang, i was immediately concerned about that netting & you were very lucky the next day to rescue that entangled grass snake before a crow, other bird, hedgehog, or cat had a go at it. Netting of that sort is a death trap to some wildlife, but at least there was a happy outcome this time. My 5ft by 3ft garden pond has a very sturdy, large holed (2inch squares) piece of mesh over it, which i actually prized (strenuously!) from an old bed frame. Anyway, it does the trick perfectly, much to the possible annoyance of cats, large birds & herons. My frogs, toads & newts, plus - very rarely - a grass snake, have always been entirely safe from pesky predators beneath the mesh, which is supported about 6inches over the waters surface. And nothing like hedehogs have ever fallen in & drowned either. Trust me Ruth, get rid of that flimsy, deadly netting altogether & replace it with something sturdier & larger holed. And by the way, snakes are stone deaf, Ruth! They woudn't have heard your camera whirring but they might've been scared by your sudden movements, or your ground vibrations which snakes are very acutely sensitive of. Nor would they have eaten one another hadn't one let go of the fish. All the best with your future wildlife watching, Ruth.