Are bullsnakes opportunistic ?????

doggin coyotes

Well-known member
Here's the scenario:: a full grown cottontail rabbit has been hit by a vehicle while crossing a seldom traveled gravel road at some time during the night. The rabbit is not flatened out like a pancake, but is pretty mangled up with a few guts hanging out, but otherwise still all in one piece.
Now let's say a fullgrown, healty bullsnake (4 1/2 to 5' long) somehow happens upon this dead cottontail in the road around mid morning.
Here's the question. Will this bullsnake eat, or try to eat, this cottontail rabbit he found?
 
Hmm...Good question. One of my nephews raised snakes (boas and pythons). They definitely preferred food alive and kicking, but he did feed them stuff that had been frozen. I'm thinking he had to train them to do it though?
 
i think most animals are opportunists, ive even seen gold eagles, numerous falcons of different species feasting on road kill. and those birds are notorious for being majestic, "raptors" not road kill eating scavengers. know what i mean? im sure it would eat it! snakes are cold blooded and im sure if it came across an easy meal it would snarf it down!
 
all i know is i get the hell scared out of me every time i see one @ a glance they sure look like a rattler...i dislike snakes...actually i despize them...
 
I used to keep snakes as a youngster. We lived in a semi-rural area. I particularly enjoyed hog nosed snakes but would catch just about anything... I think the only way one would ever eat anything dead or frozen would be if it were force fed. (And you do sometimes have to force feed snakes that are new to captivity.)

As "majestic" as we may try to portray eagles...
They'll scavange as quickly as hunt.

me!
 
Quote:
a full grown cottontail rabbit/a fullgrown, healty bullsnake (4 1/2 to 5' long). Will this bullsnake eat, or try to eat, this cottontail rabbit he found?



No. First, the rabbit is too large for a 4 1/2' bullsnake. They would normally feed on baby bunny sized prey, or smaller. Second, in the wild, bullsnakes are not carrion scavengers. A captive bullsnake can be "conditioned" to eat freshly killed mice and rats, but it takes time and patience, and it is not always successful.
 
A 4 1/2 foot Bull snake could and would eat an injured cottontail adult. The rabbit would need to be alive enough that it was still generating body heat. If it's still warm, I say it's dinner.
 
I used to keep a lot of snakes, mainly boas and pythons. I had an 8' Burmese that I fed pigeons and cottontail sized rabbits. My 5' Rock Python could not open it's mouth wide enough to eat anything larger than a full grown rat. I've had many other 4-6' colubrids that refused to eat large rats and would only accept large mice to medium rats. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

I just spent the last 3 days clearing 4 sections of jack rabbits. Cottontails couldn't be shot. Many times it was difficult, just judging by size, whether it was a jack or a 'tail, when the ears were flat. A full grown cottontail is a good sized rabbit.
 
I've saw dozens of our majestic national bird (bald eagles) competing with vultures for carrion in a dead hole ( hole in the ground where poultry farmers discard the dead ones) and when they scatter the litter on the fields, the eagles set around with the buzzards on the ground looking for the source of the odor. So many eagles here they are almost a nuisance
RR
 
While prairie dog shooting in Colorado I had shot a dog and it was left laying on the mound. About 3 hours later shooting buddy ask "didn't I shoot that dog on that mound" I replied that I had and he said "well, it's moving."

We scoped it and sure enough it was. Shot it again and as it flopped up in air something big and long was attached to it. We decided it could not be intestines so we walked the 300 yds to it and found a large rattlesnake was trying to swallow it. It was about halfway down the snake. We dispatched the snake and took pictures of it.
 
I'm not saying anybody was right or wrong with your answers. But I'm going to tell you what I saw with my own two eyes last Sunday. I still don't believe it, but I saw it, I swear I did.
This is how it went down. I left my house at 5:30 am to be at my favorite prarie dog pasture at 6:30 am. About 300 yards from the pasture gate I see the formentioned rabbit laying in the road. Didn't give it a second thought. I see road killed rabbits all the time on these back roads. Now it's about 10:30 am, it's getting hot and I've slayed my share of prarie dogs (and missed way to many, lol). I head back outta the pasture and go by the rabbit. As I drive by I see a snake right next to the rabbit. I'm thinking rattlesnake and another set of rattles for my collection. I hit the brakes and back up beside the rabbit. Now I can see it's a bullsnake, a BIG bullsnake. I just sit in the jeep and watch. The old bullsnake is sizing this oversized meal up from every direction you can imagine. He crawls under it, over it, nudges it, latches on and lets go, he seems confused as to how he's going to handle the situation. He gets all of one front leg in his mouth and lets go. He gets all of one rear leg in his mouth and lets go. He gets one ear in his mouth and lets go. He acts like he's getting frustrated. WHERE'S MY CAMERA!! I make it sound like this all happens fast, but all this is like in slow motion, probably about 10 minutes worth of watching now. I'm thinking no way in he!! is this snake ever going to get a meal this big down the hatch. Well he finally finds where he wants to start this major undertaking. Head first of course. Slowly but surely he gets the head entirely in his mouth. WHAT A BULGE THAT MADE. He keeps working, stretching out, coiling, stretching and the frigging rabbit is slowly dissapearing. I'm amazed, shocked, in disbelief. Then I pulled out the rifle and killed the snake! That's a joke guys. I did NOT kill the snake. Long story shortened up, he did eat that BIG cottontail. I still can't believe it. And I did let him crawl off into the weeds off the road when he was done.
I would of never dreamed a bullsnake would eat road kill. I knew they were capable of swallowing some pretty big prey, but I would of never dreamed they could eat something as big as a FULL grown cottontail rabbit.
This must be my year for snakes. I had a strange run in with a rattlesnake about a month ago. That's a story in itself. ewwww I really don't care much for snakes. lol.
dc
 
That's an awesome story. I wish I'd have been there. Snakes don't "naturally" scavenge, since true scavengers usually beat them to it anyway. This old boy must live close by the road and has developed a knack for RK. Dangerous for him, as too many people would just as soon run him down as to look at him. The other unusual thing is the size of the prey he swallowed. Not normal. You won't be seeing him for 4-5 weeks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Nasa, The constrictors you talked about are still quite young at 4 1/2 feet and do not have the size head that a bull snake of the same length will have.
 
Au contraire! Bull snakes have a small head by comparison. I have a tanned Oklahoma bull snake skin that is 7' 2" long. The head only measures 1 1/4 x 2". The widest part of the skin is over 8". My 5' rock's head was almost twice that size.

You and I need to go on snake patrol some night before the weather cools. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Nasa, you wish you would of been there, I just wish I would of had my camera or better yet a camcorder. It really was something to see and something I'll never forget.
I was always under the impression that snakes wouldn't eat something that they didn't catch or kill. I know I've heard of people force feeding snakes, maybe that's where I got that impression. I'm sure you are very correct when you say snakes don't naturally scavange. This was just one of those freaky nature things that probably very seldom happens.
So how good is a snakes sense of smell? How good is their eyesight? I guess what I'm asking is, how in the world do you suppose the snake even found the rabbit? I'm guessing it was just pure luck on the snakes part. I'm just thinking you have this gravel road that runs for miles and this bunny is just a little tiny speck on that road, yet the snake finds the bunny. Just totally bizarre in my mind.
I mentioned a rattlesnake incident in my first post. It was kinda the same deal. An easy meal to be had out in the middle of acres and acres of vast prarie and the rattlesnake happens to find it. HOW? I'll tell ya, nature and natures critters blow my mind sometimes.
dc
 
Probably not. Although many pet pythons and boas are fed on frozen rats, from my experience, the snake has to be enticed with a feeding stick before it will grab it. After they become used to eating these the feeding stick won't be needed. It is possible for a bullsnake to eat road kill especially if it was still kicking, but it isn't likely.
An adult bullsnake could eat a full grown rabbit. Rabbits are flexible and when being swallowed, will be stretched out length wise.
I once saw a chicken snake kill a full grown bunny by constriction and swallow it whole. The first time I saw this, I thought the snake was going to burst open. It is amazing what snakes can swallow.
 
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