Also, we humans have a very A or Z approach to about everything including animals and what they do. First off, snakes, have behavior other then feeding/breeding. They are alive and spend time doing and watching, that is not simply base survival. For instance, snakes hang out with other snake species, other reptile species, even other birds and mammals. Why, got me, other then they like it, require it, More, they seek out these relationships. We find the same groups of different species, hanging out year after year. Including hanging out with their prey species. Important to consider, individuals that is a species that can be consumed. In our field studies, we often observed snakes hanging out in cracks with prey lizards, then leaving those cracks and moving out to feed, finding and consuming a lizard of the same species they were sitting with. Back to the interesting part, snakes treat other animals as individuals, not as species. heres the interesting part, humans have pets and do not eat them(normally) and species we consume. Yet, if we run out of food, we will eat our pets, then if we run out of pets, we will eat eachother. That's survival behavior. The same seems to apply in the animal world. They have relationships like ours and a system of change like ours.

So the answer to your question is not a simple this or that. First off, kings do not consume everysnake they come across. So what they will do is conditional, which means, it depends on the conditions at that time. Normally snakes utilize what is called a preferred source, which is usually a particular prey species in their area, then when conditions change, utilize secondary food sources, then as conditions change, move to anything they can locate, then of course, cannibalism. This set of behaviors is common to many species, including ours. Again thanks for having and continuing this FUN conversation.

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