 |
|
|
Natrix feeding on carrion: |
| Author | Message |
|
Peter Stafford Member Joined: 04 Dec 2003 No. of posts: 2  View other posts by Peter Stafford |
Posted: 13 Jul 2006 One of the snakes captured during a field study in Sussex this year regurgitated the limb & foot of an adult toad that appears to have been ingested as carrion - both were neatly severed and covered with the eggs of blow flies. I'm wondering how widespread/frequent this behaviour might be. Records of colubrids feeding on carrion are not uncommon but the only reference I can find describing this behavior in grass snakes is for a populaton in Italy (Herpetol. J., 15: 221-230). With a generalised diet presumably it is not that rare - does anyone have any other observations of such behaviour? Peter |
|
John Newton Senior Member Joined: 19 May 2005 No. of posts: 151 View other posts by John Newton |
Posted: 13 Jul 2006 Hi Peter I think I can recall an occasion where a grass snake was observed in the process of swallowing an obviously decomposing field mouse. This was uncovered beneath an old 'throw-away' door adjacent to the Chesterfield Canal at Old Whittington, some years ago. John Newton South Yorkshire ARG |
|
armata Forum Specialist Joined: 05 Apr 2006 No. of posts: 928 View other posts by armata |
Posted: 13 Jul 2006 I caught and bagged a large grass snake a few years back; after a while and a nasty smell I realised she had regurgitated her meal, a partly digested toad. An hour later when I reached her release site I went to get her out of the bag and found she had re-swallowed her meal; thats the first and only time thats happened in my experience. 'I get my kicks on Route 62' |
- Natrix feeding on carrion |