So...what does a snake eating a squirrel have to do with a nasty winter? Snake's gotta eat too, you know.
So...what does a snake eating a squirrel have to do with a nasty winter? Snake's gotta eat too, you know.
Snakes are odd. They don't hibernate in the sense of napping for a for months, that's a mammal thing. Reptiles go through brumation, which is similar but different. They stay awake the whole time, and they'll be active on the few days warm enough for them, but it's a period of strict lathargy. Alligators across the cold swamps do the same thing. It's a wild trait of nature.
If what I saw today is any indication, that is. This afternoon I heard what sounded like a rabbit crying out behind the house. Once I got back there I saw my Great Pyrenees looking across the fence, but it seemed like she was looking up in the trees for some reason. I heard the crying again, although much fainter, and finally saw movement up in an oak tree about 30 yards over on the neighbor's property. About 20 feet up I could barely make out a squirrel's tail, but something didn't look right. The squirrel looked to be on top of a limb where its whole body should be visible, but I could only see the tail which looked kind of limp. Then I was able to see its head even though it hadn't seemed to move a muscle, which really piqued my interest. A few seconds later I realized what I was looking at...a dadgum snake constricting a squirrel to death 20 feet up a tree!
I'm not a fan of snakes. I don't kill them like I used to, but damn if it isn't my first thought when I see one. I started heading for the house to grab a shotgun, but changed my mind and decided to try to get a picture. All I had was my old iPhone SE so the quality is lacking, but you can still make out what's what. The squirrel was a young one, not a baby but "good eating size". I'm pretty sure the snake is a rat snake, but not a huge one. I've seen them close to 6' and I'm guessing this one was around 4'. By the time I took the pic, it had moved off of the limb and was hanging from a much smaller branch. I'm not sure what happened after that because I was standing in tall grass and my snake allergy started acting up something fierce.
Never in a million years would I have believed this if I hadn't seen it. Has anyone else ever heard or seen the like? I wonder if any old timers have a saying about how bad the winter's going to be when snakes start eating squirrels!
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@Timmy59 yo TimmyFiddyNine ain't that how anamacondas (snakeus biggius maximus gonekillyoues) kills its prey? Yep I'm pretty much a snakeocololologist nowadays.
Snakes are odd. They don't hibernate in the sense of napping for a for months, that's a mammal thing. Reptiles go through brumation, which is similar but different. They stay awake the whole time, and they'll be active on the few days warm enough for them, but it's a period of strict lathargy. Alligators across the cold swamps do the same thing. It's a wild trait of nature.
Just a little snake humor. Makes me wonder though, could a snake that relatively small eat that squirrel in the first place?
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