IRCFREPTILES&AMPHIBIANS•23(2):102–103•AUG2016

Herbivory and Inanimate Objects in the Diet of the Oriental Ratsnake, Ptyas mucosa

(Linnaeus 1758)Vivek Sharma1, Amit Sayyed2, and Rita Bhandari3

1DepartmentofZoology,Govt.ModelScienceCollege,Jabalpur(MadhyaPradesh),482001,India(vrks1007@gmail.com)2WildlifeProtectionandResearchSociety,Satara(Maharashtra),415002,India(amitsayyedsatara@gmail.com)

3DepartmentofZoology,GovernmentO.F.K.College,Jabalpur(MadhyaPradesh),482005,India(ritabhandari06@yahoo.com)

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IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189TABLE OF CONTENTS

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S

Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190

The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198

R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E S

The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida

.............................................Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212

C O N S E R V A T I O N A L E R T

World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................... 225

H U S B A N D R Y

Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ....................................................................................................... Shannon Plummer 226

P R O F I L E

Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234

C O M M E N T A R Y

The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238

B O O K R E V I E W

Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243

CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252

Front Cover. Shannon Plummer.Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos accullabo.

Back Cover. Michael KernTotat et velleseque audant mo

estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus

aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque

moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia-tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as

IRC

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REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSC O N S E R V AT I O N A N D N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y

Copyright©2016.VivekSharma.Allrightsreserved.

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Snakestypicallyarecarnivorous,withvariousspeciescon-sumingavarietyofinvertebrateandvertebrateprey,often

inaccordancewithsizeofpredatorandprey(e.g.,Greene1997).Scavengingalsohasbeenrecordedinanumberofsnakespecies(e.g.,DeVaultandKrochmal2002),butreportsofherbivoryandtheconsumptionofinanimateobjectsarerare.D’Abreu(1911)notedthepresenceofastoneinthestomachofaCheckeredKeelback(Xenochrophis piscator)andsuggestedthatitmightserveasimilarpurposeasstonescon-sumedbycrocodilesandbirds.Dalziel(1937)mentionedsnakesfeedingonfruitsunderVitex micrantha,atropicalAfricantree.Mookerjee(1946)reportedanIndianPython(Python molurus)thathadconsumedfourmangoesinfestedwithinsectlarvae.Irvine(1953)notedsnakesfeedingontheyellowfruitsofMomordica foetida,aperennialAfricanvine.Perry(1954)indicatedthatherpetLeopardSnake(Zamenis situla)opportunisticallyswallowedcheeserindsbeforerevert-ingtoitsnormalcarnivorousdiet.Lillywhiteetal.(2008)discussed the consumption ofmarine plants by FloridaCottonmouths(Agkistrodon conanti).Herein,wereportacaseofherbivoryandinstancesofOrientalRatsnakes(Ptyas mucosa)feedingoninanimateobjects. At1132hon19January2008ontheperipheryofabusyvegetablemarketinSatara,Maharashtra(17°41'N,74°0'E),anOrientalRatsnake(Ptyas mucosa)withatotallengthof~173cm(Fig.1)swallowedanonionwithadiameterof~5.5cm.Withtheonion~40cmbehindthehead,thesnakestartedwrithingandthendiedin~3min.Anexplanationforsuchunusualfeedingbehaviorfollowedbydeathremainselusiveevenafterreviewingtheliterature,gatheringunpub-lisheddata,anddiscussingthesituationwithcolleagues.Didthatonionretainsomerodentorhumanodorthatcouldhaveattractedthesnake?Orwasthismerelyanoddchoiceandamisguidedattempttofeedonaningestibleobjectbythatparticularindividual?

At2215hon6October2015adjacenttothenormallybusysquareinthesuburbanoutskirtsofJabalpur,MadhyaPradesh,VSobservedanotherindividual(totallength~157cm)swallowingalong,somewhatrolledpieceofcloth(Fig.2).Thelatehourwasunusualforthisnormallydiurnalspe-ciesbutthepresenceofhigh-intensitystreetlampsmightaccountfortheprolongedactivityperiod.Only8cmofthe38-cmlongclothhadbeenswallowedwhenVSinterruptedtheprocess.Duringtheapproximately50-minperiodwhenthesnakeattemptedtoswallowthecloth,VSpreventedcom-pleteswallowingbyholdingontotheexposedportionandeventuallyinducedregurgitation.Thefoldedinnerpartofthecloth,whichremaineduntouchedbythesnake’salimentarycanal,wasdryorrandomlycoveredwithgreasyanddustymatter,suggestiveofadiscardedclothusedtocleanvehicles.Itlikelyretainedahumanodorthatmighthaveactedasachemicalstimulus. Inadditiontothesedocumentedcases,earlierinJuly2012,VSobservedajuvenileofthesamespeciesswallowing

Fig. 1.AnOrientalRatsnake (Ptyas mucosa)consumingononion inSatara,Maharashtra,India.Photograph©AmitSayyed.

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amalecontraceptivediscardedinagarden.Thesnakeescapedintodenselantanabushesbeforeanyphotographsweretaken.InOctober2014,VSobservedanotherindividualswallow-ingolddiscardedsocks.ArpitJain(pers.comm.)describedyetanotherindividualinMarch2015inIndore,MadhyaPradesh,feedingonadiscardedpolythenerollthatappearedtohaveretainedsomesalvageableediblematerial. Theinanimateobjectstakenbysnakesallappearedtoinvolvetheretentionofsomeattractivechemicalstimulus.Althoughwebelievetheretentionofanimalodorsunlikelyinthecaseoftheonion,Lillywhiteetal.(2008)demonstratedthatFloridaCottonmouthsactivelyconsumedalgaewithachemical(fish)stimulusbutalgaewithoutafishodorwere

ignored.TheconsumptionoftheonionalsodifferedfromtheobservationsofDalziel(1937)andIrvine(1953),duringwhichsnakesconsumedfruits,inthatthesnakediedaftereatingtheonion.Also,onionsareunlikelytobeinfestedbyinsectslikethesweetfruitsrecordedbyMookerjee(1946). OrientalRatsnakesarefrequentlyencounteredinandaroundhumanhabitations(WhitakerandCaptain2004),whererodentsarecommon.Variousartificialmaterialscar-ryingahumanorothermammalianodorcouldlureanactivefeeder like Ptyas mucosa.If,assuggestedbyourobservations,consumptionofsuchinanimateobjectsisnotrare,furtherstudiesmightexaminetheextentofdigestionofsuchunusualobjects,positiveornegativeeffectsonthehealthofasnake,anynutritivevalueofinanimateitemsconsumedbysnakes,andthepotentialimpactonpopulationsofsnakesinthesesituations.Suchstudiescouldevenleadtothedevelopmentofartificialsnakeattractantsforpurposesofscientificorcom-mercialcollections.

AcknowledgementsWethankA.ShahandU.SomwanshiforassistanceinthefieldandDavidBirdforprovidingsomeusefulliterature.WealsothankH.Joshi,S.Thakur,A.Jain,andZ.Khanforcon-structivediscussionsonthesubject.

Literature CitedD’Abreu,E.A.1911.Dosnakesswallowstones?The Journal of the Bombay Natural

History Society21:281.

Dalziel,J.M.1937.The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa.CrownAgentsfortheColonies,London,UnitedKingdom.

DeVault,T.L.andA.R.Krochmal.2002.Scavengingbysnakes:Anexaminationoftheliterature.Herpetologica58:429–436.

Greene,H.W.1997.Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature.UniversityofCaliforniaPress,Berkeley.

Hughes,B.1968.Snakekilledbyplantburr.British Journal of Herpetology4:39.

Irvine,F.R.1953.Herbivoroussnakes.British Journal of Herpetology1:173.

Lillywhite,H.B.,C.M.Sheehy,andF.Zaidan.2008.Pitviperscavengingattheintertidalzone:Anevolutionaryscenarioforinvasionofthesea.BioScience 58:947–955.

Mookerjee,S.1946.Mango-fruit—OnthemenuoftheCommonPython(Python molurus).The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society46:733.

Perry,F.L.1954.[Correspondence].British Journal of Herpetology,1:225.

Whitaker,R.andA.Captain.2004.Snakes of India: The Field Guide. DracoBooks,Chennai,India.

IRCFREPTILES&AMPHIBIANS•23(2):102–103•AUG2016SHARMAETAL.

Fig. 2.Amedium-sizedOrientalRatsnake(Ptyas mucosa)consumingarolledpieceofclothinJabalpur,MadhyaPradesh,India.Photograph©VivekSharma.