American Snakes by Sean P. Graham

Author:Sean P. Graham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 2017-01-27T05:00:00+00:00

Florida kingsnake eating a gartersnake.

Photograph by Ian Deery

Ironically, snakes are the reptiles responsible for killing the most snakes, and they are the only animals in the United States that specialize on eating snakes. The snake eater with the most particular palate is the short-tailed kingsnake, a unique, exceedingly thin, orange-and-black blotched snake of the sandy midsection of Florida. This snake’s diet is made up of only one type of snake: the Florida crowned snake. These they seize either on the head or rear and begin swallowing head-first. Larger individuals are clumsily constricted for some time before being swallowed alive. Other snakes with a penchant for serpents include our three coralsnakes—the harlequin, Texas, and Sonoran coralsnakes. These cobra relatives are known to feed chiefly on snakes, although they also occasionally eat small lizards. The harlequin and Texas coralsnakes mostly feed on small, helpless snakes such as crowned snakes, earthsnakes, gartersnakes, and brownsnakes, but they have also taken small individuals of more formidable species like rattlesnakes and copperheads. Similarly, the Sonoran coralsnake of the Arizona desert feeds mostly on small burrowing snakes like threadsnakes, groundsnakes, and leaf-nosed snakes. The coralsnakes have potent venom useful for quickly immobilizing their prey; most of the small snakes they eat are probably rapidly paralyzed by their chewing bite and don’t stand a chance.

Many other snakes are far less choosy about what they eat and have more generalized palates, but they include many snakes in their diet. Examples include the coachwhip—the alert, athletic, and swift snake of the southern states—whose diet ranges from grasshoppers to birds and includes many kinds of nonvenomous and venomous snakes. As we learned in chapter 6, the cottonmouth—the stout haunt of southern swamps—will eat nearly anything, and snakes are certainly not spared. During my studies of this expert hunter, I found two cottonmouths in the process of dispatching one of their fellow serpents: one I found with the last half of a brown watersnake hanging from its mouth, and the other’s massively distended belly contained a close relative: a partly digested copperhead. Cottonmouths ambush other snakes as they crawl along the water’s edge, snatch them in their jaws, and inject them with their disintegrating venom. The struggle between the cottonmouth and copperhead was probably a savage contest, but clearly the larger cottonmouth prevailed.

The kingsnake is perhaps the most famous snake killer, although this species’ diet is not as narrow as you might have thought. They also feed on a variety of other vertebrates, such as small mammals, lizards, frogs, turtle eggs, and many others. But they are enthusiastic killers of snakes, and seem to have a real preference for certain venomous species. They are also the best equipped for killing venomous species: their blood contains a protein that somehow renders venom inert, so they can grab and constrict large venomous snakes with impunity. They are the most accomplished snake killers among American snakes, having fed upon 40 different species.

The effect of these snakes on populations of other snake species is now becoming clear.

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