Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Things seem a little slow, so I thought I'd post some anecdotal observations for comment.
1. Once I collected a Speckled Kingsnake (L.g.holbrooki) about 32 inches long for a short term observation. Having never personally seen snake predation on another snake I introduced an Eastern Gartersnake about 20 inches long into its enclosure expecting to see the King constrict and eat the Garter. Instead the King grabbed the Garter behind the head, threw one coil near its neck and another with the posterior of its body near the base of the Garter's tail. Then it simply staightened out its own body between the coils. The Garter's body was stretched almost to the breaking point. Once all movement ceased on the part of the Garter (A very short time) the King released and devoured it. I am absolutely sure the Garter died not of constriction but of multiple spinal separations! I realize most of us aren't in the habit of feeding snakes to snakes, but has anyone observed similar behavior?
2. At one time, I had frequntly observed a large Blue Racer (Coluber c.foxi) in the same general area. Whenever this snake felt threatened, it always took refuge in a certain set of small mammal burrows. Once I surprised it well way from its retreat and unintentionlly got between it and its "home". Rather than take refuge somewhere else, it insisted on returning to where it felt safe. This required it charging between my legs to reach the burrows! Had I not known where "home" was to this particular snake I might well have interpreted this as aggressive behavior. I have frequently wondered if this sort of behavior might be the source of reported snake aggression, especially attributed to large Racers and Coachwhips.
3. I once collected a large and massive Eastern Gartersnake (Thamnophis s. s.), again for short term observation, about 34 inches long. Shortly thereafter, I returned home from work to find my then wife sitting outside on the wellhouse (and refusing to go in) and my stepson inside laughing. It seemed that during the day the Garter had revealed the source of its massive girth. The quarter inch mesh screening on one side of the cage I had put it in was more than sufficient to contain it, but proved no obstacle at all to the fifty-four (or more-we'll never know!) offspring she had produced. Needless to say, it was a day of indoor snake hunting! Keepers of large Natricines, be forewarned of your captive's reproductive potential!
Just some (hopefully) interesting stories. Anybody have more?

>>>1. ...Instead the King grabbed the Garter behind the head, threw one coil near its neck and another with the posterior of its body near the base of the Garter's tail. Then it simply staightened out its own body between the coils. The Garter's body was stretched almost to the breaking point...

I've never intentionally fed one (live) snake to another, so I've never seen this, I've seen interesting, though probably better known, behavior when feeding mice to racers. Rather than constricting, they tend grab the mouse wherever convenient and pin it's neck or midbody to the ground with it's own body. It doesn't look like it should work, but seems to kill the mouse pretty quickly.

>>2. ...This required it charging between my legs to reach the burrows! Had I not known where "home" was to this particular snake I might well have interpreted this as aggressive behavior. I have frequently wondered if this sort of behavior might be the source of reported snake aggression, especially attributed to large Racers and Coachwhips...

I suspect this behavior accounts for "snake attacks" from many species. I also hear about a disproportionate number of "chargings" from water moccasins, which are most likely water snakes trying to steal a fisherman's bait.

>>3. ...The quarter inch mesh screening on one side of the cage I had put it in was more than sufficient to contain it, but proved no obstacle at all to the fifty-four (or more-we'll never know!) offspring she had produced...

This is a lesson not to be ignored by those of us who keep venomous snakes. Our cages need by be able to contain not only our specimens, but any possible offspring.
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

1. I think kingsnakes attempt to simply overpower the snakes they eat and holding the straight for a period of time may exhaust their prey so that they can be swallowed. Indigos do the same thing.

2. I found a large pile of tin when I was herping with a friend in the low country of South Carolina. As we flipped some of the top pieces a large Eastern Coachwhip crawled out of the pile. We weren't interested in photographing it so we let it crawl off. Over the next 10 minutes while we were dismantling the tin stack, the snake kept crawling away from us, circling around and coming back to its tin pile. It must have done this half a dozen times. We finally finished digging through it and carefully recreated the stack and the snake went right back into it's home.

I worked a summer in southern Texas doing plant surveys (hot, miserable, thorny experience). Almost every morning for several weeks we came across a big male TX Indigo basking on the same spot along a dirt ranch road. Each morning, I would get out and gently move him off the road towards the woodpile he lived in and then move on. After a few days, he seemed to figure it out and as we drove up he would slowly crawl from his basking spot off the side road and be right back the next morning.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas