Wednesday, 24 November 2010

Ambush Predator!

You can sometimes find snakes around log piles while walking in the forest. Their prey will use the logs and bark as protection, but where there is prey, the predator is not far away!
You can commonly see lizards basking on top of the logs, but out of sight, under the logs are newts, frogs and toads, all of which are prey species to our snakes.

The female in the photograph below has obviously already been successful in finding one the the named above as she has a full belly.
A snakes skin is elasticated and will stretch to take a hefty meal on board. You can see by this females scales that her skin has stretched considerably, meaning she is probably digesting a small frog or toad!

When I found her all I could see was a small area of body scales, so I got the camera ready and crept forward. She sensed (or probably) saw me, then poked her head out and told me to hiss off!
I took a few pics and left her to fully digest her meal in peace. This is probably where she caught her snack.




Rob

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