About hogs and rodents, or in context, neonate hogs and pink mice.



So far, and please understand, so far means I am only begining looking at wild hogs.



They, the hogs, hatch in the late summer, after the rains and at a time when rodents are past nesting. You may want to consider, there behaviors are built on native rodents, not invasives(house mice and Nor Rats) which reproduce year around.



Our native rodents are very seasonal and normally cease lactating as soon as it gets real hot(24/7) June normally.



So rodent pinks are not available as a prey item to neonate hogs, not here(borderline Westerns and Mexican hogs) What is available is toads, lizards, insects, etc. There hatching is just past toad emergence and at the time of lizards hatching. Of interest, in some areas, they feed on green toads and neonates do consume adult green toads(per. Obser.) I also tested Sonoran toads(get large and eat snakes) Neonates were reluctant to take Even tiny Sonoran toads, but adult hogs did take them. Neonates took to green toads and red spotted toads, which occur in other areas with hogs and not green toads. Lizards of many species are everywhere.



What is of interest to me is, WHAT DO THE ADULTS feed on in nature. In context, not what they feed on, but what prey items support success. Success in not to keep them alive, but what allows reproduction and weight gain. (progress)



From what I have seen so far, Toads are not effective to the adult hognose. Remember timing, toads do not emerge until the rains(in context the toads they consume) Which is after the build up and egg laying season.



I did observe adult females and they showed no gain of weight after the toad season.



With all other reptiles that I have successfully studied, there are very specific prey sources that allow progress. The sucessful individuals, learn these and depend on these. The make routines. That is, show up at the prey source, the DAY the source is ready, year after year.



Most of these snakes fall into two basic areas, Resident animals and transient animals. Residents have established territories. More importantly, established progressive food sources. Transients basically are roamers and have little in a way of established routines. If you look at them as street people, they move from place to place and feed on anything they can get into their mouths. They are seeking, stable conditions. In most cases, these are the walking dead. Their routines expose them to danger and predation.



Unfortunately, because they roam, they are the most often encountered and the most often used for data. Which is where a lot of poor information comes from.



Context is very important, in the field, you want to see what a GRAVID female fed upon to support her. You want to see what a old female that has produced successfully year after year, feeds on and when. In most field studies, there is NO context to data. Its just basic raw data and in many cases of no real use. Which means, it fails when applied.



For instance, we know hogs eat toads and such in the late summer, but what do the gravid females feed on??????.



After observing a few(100+/-)in the field, Its becoming obvious that there is more to it.



If I were a herper from another country, say Africa or S.A. I would pick up a hognose and say, Hmmmmmmmmmmm look an egg eating snake. As their build, shape, mouth, etc, all indicate a egg specialist. Even that enlarged tooth, its being questioned as a toad popper, hahahahahahaha. Do hogs eat eggs, oh heck yes.



Ever wondered why hogs are non directional feeders, that is, they don't worry about head first, hmmmmmmm thats an egg specialist behavior.



Consider, bird nests and reptile nests, are HUGE HUGE amounts of energy. And would indeed support progress.



Take gilas, another egg or nest specialist. Short thick animals with the ability to store lots of energy. Hmmmmmmmm a lizard hognose. Short thick, can store lots of energy. That means, they have short periods of time to consume a lot of energy and store that energy for long periods. Which again indicates nest robbers.



Also, hognose inhabit treeless praries, grasslands, wetlands, all areas of ground nesting birds and box turtles.



My goal this year is to see if I can support that theory in any way.



The problem is, the nesting season appears to be in the spring early summer and here its totally bone dry with very little snake activity on the surface. On the other hand, their habitat is an easy study, flat with very little in the way of cover. So if they move on the surface, I will see them. In otherwords, they are a perfect study for old people. hahahahahahaha Flat, none of that climbing up and up and up rocky steep canyons etc. YEA!!!!!!



Again thanks for the conversation. Best wishes

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