Here are my comments to someone who had that rare opportunity of observing a wild Eastern hog regurgitate a rodent. The rodent was unidentifiable due to digestion, but was about the size of a adult house mouse (note, these comments apply to platyrhinos specifically, but in no way exclude the other two species):

I just wonder how they kill something that large without getting knawed up a good bit. On top of that, if it would readily grab a live adult mouse in the wild, there should certainly be some mention of this behavior with captive specimens. I've never heard of anyone witnessing a kill in captivity. Carrion has been cited, but, by definition, that could simply be a fresh dor toad. I also haven't heard anything about hognose venom and its affect on mice.
There are some missing links (at least I'm missing them).
I wonder if those instances of rodent contents would correlate with individuals found near a road (was it the case with your find?). DOR rodents aren't exactly hard to find; I wonder if the feeding response would be stronger with a rodent in the earlier stages of decomposition as would likely be found away from a road. Interesting stuff. Shane

P.S. I'm not a regular contributor here, but I am very passionate about Heterodon. For those of you who haven't seen any of my posts before, I'm a harsh critic of feeding platyrhinos a strict diet of rodents (especially haired rodents). I don't want to get into that argument here; rather, any thoughts or personal observations re my comments? Also, if you want to see the report and pics of the snake feel free to email me and I will provide you with the source.
Brian Fry, if you read this, any comments on Heterodon venom and affect on mice?
Shane

[ Hide Replies ]

• Once again, diving in to the platyrhinos/venom/rodent question.... - TxHerper, Fri May 14 00:51:42 2004
• RE: Once again, diving in to the platyrhinos/venom/rodent question.... - WW, Fri May 14 03:27:52 2004
• RE: Once again, diving in to the platyrhinos/venom/rodent question.... - TxHerper, Fri May 14 19:41:22 2004
• my experience - A.C., Mon May 17 22:36:34 2004
• RE: my experience - TxHerper, Thu May 20 01:36:19 2004
• RE: my experience - A.C., Thu May 20 12:45:51 2004
• RE: Once again, diving in to the platyrhinos/venom/rodent question.... - scales, Thu May 20 17:26:47 2004
• YES, that's the way to go! - A.C., Fri May 21 07:49:03 2004