WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF &IRCF AMPHIBIANS REPTILES • VOL &15, AMPHIBIANS NO 4 • DEC 2008 • 189 25(3):192–193 • DEC 2018

IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURE ARTICLES Consumption. Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer of sayi) in Wisconsin:Shed Skin and Scavenging On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 Behavior. The Shared Historyby of TreeboasCommon (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans Indian on Grenada: Trinket , A Hypothetical Excursion ...... Robert W. Henderson 198 CoelognathusRESEARCH ARTICLES helena helena (Daudin 1803) . The Texas Horned in Central and Western Texas ...... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204 Rahul V. Deshmukh. The Knight Anole1, Sagar (Anolis A. equestris Deshmukh) in Florida 2, Swapnil A. Badhekar3, Prajwal S. Raut4, and Shubham D. Katgube5 ...... Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 1H. No. 26, Teacher colony, Brahmani – Kalmeshwar, Nagpur, M.S. – 441501 (rahul30.@gmail.com) CONSERVATION ALERT 2Behind Potdar Nursing Home, Kalmeshwar, Nagpur, M.S. – 441501 ([email protected]) . World’s Mammals3Tiwaskarwadi, in Crisis ...... Raipur, Hingana, Nagpur, M. S. – 441110 ([email protected])...... 220 . More Than Mammals4Bank of ...... Road, Kalmeshwar, Nagpur, M.S. – 441501 ([email protected])...... 223 . The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity ...... 225 5Saoner Road, Kalmeshwar, Nagpur, M.S. – 441501 ([email protected]) HUSBANDRY . Captive Care of the Central Netted Dragon ...... Shannon Plummer 226

PROFILE he Common Indian Trinket Snake ( hel- 6 min to ingest the skin. We released the snake into appropri- . Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ...... Michael L. Treglia 234 Tena helena) is one of the most frequently encountered ate habitat in the outskirts of the city. snakes in India. TheCOMMENTARY is widely distributed throughout At 2255 h on 5 August 2018, during a survey along the . India and also occurs Thein TurtlesNepal, Have Bangladesh,Been Watching Me ...... and Kalmeshwar-to-Saoner road Eric near Gangloff the 238 Chandrabhaga River, (Whitaker and CaptainBOOK 2004). REVIEW Typical prey consists of small Maharashtra, India (21°28’69.42”N, 78°91’44.51”E), we , , snakes,. Threatened and Amphibians frogs (Whitaker of the World edited and by Captain S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann,encountered J.S. Chanson, a road-killed N.A. Cox, Common Indian Trinket Snake R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young ...... Robert Powell 243 2004). Herein we report consumption of a shed snake skin (total length 960.25 mm; Fig. 2) with a piece of chicken and an instance of scavengingCONSERVATION behavior. RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published(approximately Conservation Research 50.8 Reports mm ...... in diameter), 245 such as that used in At 2025 h on 15 NATURALJuly 2018, HISTORY we rescued RESEARCH an adult REPORTS Common: Summaries of Publishedchicken Reports biryani, on Natural in History its mouth...... A plastic 247 bag containing scraps  NEWBRIEFS ...... 248 Indian Trinket Snake EDITORIAL near Tel INFORMATIONGhani, Kalmeshwar, ...... Nagpur, of biryani, plastic plates, boiled...... rice, 251 and paper was nearby. Maharashtra, India (21FOCUS°14›08» ON CONSERVATIONN, 78°54›34.7»: AE) Project. During You Can the Support ...... The improper disposal of food waste 252on or along roads might rescue, we noticed that the snake was ingesting a recently shed attract mammals, birds, and, in this instance, a snake, expos- molt of an unidentified snake (Fig. 1). The snake took about ing them to vehicular mortality.

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

Fig. 1. An adult Common Indian Trinket Snake (Coelognathus helena helena) ingesting a recently shed molt of an unidentified snake. Photographs by Rahul V. Deshmukh. Copyright © 2018. Rahul V. Deshmukh. All rights reserved. 192 IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians ISSN 1098-6324 DESHMUKH ET AL. IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 25(3):192–193 • DEC 2018

Fig. 2. A road-killed Common Indian Trinket Snake (Coelognathus helena helena) with a discarded piece of chicken in its mouth. The plastic bag visible in the second image contained pieces of chicken biryani, plastic plates, boiled rice, and paper. Photographs by Rahul V. Deshmukh.

Ayres (2012), who reported scavenging by snakes in the Literature Cited Natrix, suggested that such behavior in snakes might be Ayres, C. 2012. Scavenging in the genus Natrix. Acta Herpetologica 7: 171–174. more common than previously thought, often overlooked, or Deshmukh, R.V., S.A, Deshmukh, and S.A. Badekar. 2015. Rescued records of simply not observed. Lillywhite et al. (2002, 2008) recorded snakes from Nagpur District, Maharashtra with data on unrecorded species. Rap 17: 34–43. scavenging by Florida Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon conanti) at Deshmukh, R.V., S.A. Deshmukh, and S.A. Badhekar. 2016. A second record of island bird rookeries and in an intertidal zone, respectively. scavenging behavior in Common Indian Krait (Bungarus caeruleus [Schneider Shivik and Clark (2012) noted that snakes, such as the Brown 1801]) from India. Reptiles & Amphibians 23: 169–170. Treesnake (Boiga irregularis), that use chemical cues to find Deshmukh, R.V., S.A. Deshmukh, and S.A. Badhekar. 2017. A plastic bag con- sumed by a Common Indian Krait, Bungarus caeruleus (Schneider 1801). food appear to scavenge more frequently than those relying Reptiles & Amphibians 24: 172–174. on visual or thermal cues. Sharma et al. (2016) reported the Lillywhite, B.H., C.M. Sheehy III, and M.D. McCue 2002. Scavenging behaviors consumption of inanimate objects by an Oriental Ratsnake of Cottonmouth snakes at island bird rookeries. Herpetological Review 33: (Ptyas mucosa) using chemical cues. Mohopatra (2011) and 259–261. Lillywhite, B.H., C.M. Sheehy, III, and F. Zaidan, III. 2008. Pitviper scavenging at Deshmukh et al. (2016) reported scavenging behavior in the intertidal zone: An evolutionary scenario for invasion of the sea. BioScience Common Indian Kraits (Bungarus caeruleus), and Deshmukh 58: 947–955. et al. (2017) documented consumption of a plastic bag that Monopatra, P.P. 2011. Bungarus caeruleus (Common Krait). Scavenging. had contained food by another Common Indian Krait. Herpetological Review 42: 436–437. Sharma, V., A. Sayyad, and R. Bhandari. 2016. Herbivory and inanimate objects in the diet of the Oriental Ratsnake, Ptyas mucosa (Linnaeus 1758) Reptiles & Acknowledgements Amphibians 23: 102–103. We thank Dr. Pratyush Mohopatra, ZSI, Jabalpur, Rahul Shivik, J.A., and L. Clark. 1997. Carrion seeking in Brown Tree Snakes: Importance Khot, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, Dr. B.V. of olfactory and visual cues. Journal of Experimental Zoology 279: 549–553. Jadhav, Swapnil Bhondawe, Sarang Hadke, Sushil Pillewan, Ajit Smith, M.A. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, Including the Whole of the Indo-Chinese Sub-Region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Volume III – Deshmukh, Majesh Thawakar, Ankush Kukde, Gaurav Bhujade, Serpentes. Taylor and Francis, London, UK. Atul Bhelkar, Lalit Nehare, Tushar Thakur, and Akshay Puri for Whitaker, R. and A. Captain. 2004. Snakes of India. The Field Guide. Draco Books, encouragement, support, and assistance in the field. Chennai, India.

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