Wild food chain

[guidofatherof5]

Looks like this little male got caught out in the open. Sure wish I would have come across him before he lost his life.
I hate finding dead snakes on my property.

[ConcinusMan]

Food chain my ***. That was a thrill kill. Poor guy.

[Mommy2many]

I hate to find them like that.

[MasSalvaje]

Food chain my ***. That was a thrill kill. Poor guy.

A thrill kill for what? Birds will often kill a snake and eat only the liver or other organs. Some have learned that barbed wire fences make a good tool to hold the food in place so you will occasionally find snakes draped over the wires along the fence line.

It looks like a classic Raven attack to me.

-Thomas

[Odie]

It looks like a classic Raven attack to me.

Found one like that the other day when I was herping

[prattypus]

Steve, I know it sucks to see them like this, and it sucks that he wasn't utilized more completely, but Elton John said it well- It's the Circle of Life.

[guidofatherof5]

Steve, I know it sucks to see them like this, and it sucks that he wasn't utilized more completely, but Elton John said it well- It's the Circle of Life.

It shouldn't apply to my radixes, even the wild ones
I wonder if a .308 would deter those crows.

[ConcinusMan]

You know what, I was looking at that carcass and thinking, "doesn't look like a cat attack" Now that it has been mentioned, it does look like a bird did that.

Don't feel bad Steve. The snake was probably sick, or otherwise comprimised. The bird did the rest of the population a favor. The bird enforced health regulations. This actually helps the species survive. I keep trying to pound that in, but I can also understand your dismay. Things get eaten. Plain and simple.

Just today I was out herping. There I was on the edge of a shallow pool of water filled with small bullfrogs(invasive species) and that shallow pool was almost cut off from the main creek. Also in that shallow pool were fingerling salmon. Salmon that were plentiful (you could walk across on their backs) in the 60's. Totally wiped out by 1972. Restoration efforts paid off, and salmon are returning. My point is, no bird or snake (lots of large concinnus there too) could ever catch one of those healthy fingerling salmon. They can only catch the weak or sick ones. Natures little helpers. Cleanup crew, if you will. Nothing is wasted. Eliminating the weak or sick helps. As hard as it is to see, it is actually a good thing!

[guidofatherof5]

. I keep trying to pound that in, but I can also understand your dismay. Things get eaten. Plain and simple.

No dismay or rose colored glasses here.

[ConcinusMan]

We have crows here that eat carrion and I've heard of them killing toads and removing their spleens in a quite precise surgical manner but I've never seen them kill anything myself. They don't seem to like garter snakes around here. I've seen them pick at one but lose interest. And yet, I've seen robins feasting on baby garters before. At least they don't waste it. They swallow them whole.

Shrikes on the other hand are quite the little garter hunters. They usually catch them alive and impale them on barbed wire fences and come back later to pick out the organs. Brutal.