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Natural History Notes 857 NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 857 and sometimes small mammals (Whitaker and Captain 2004. SUBRAT DEBATA, Department of Biodiversity and Conservation of Snakes of India. Macmillan India Ltd., New Delhi. 354 pp.). Natural Resources, Central University of Orissa, Koraput, Odisha, India; e- Cannibalism and scavenging are also known in this species mail: [email protected]. (Smith 1913. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 23:373; Mohapatra 2011 Herpetol. Rev. 42:436–437; Deshmukh et al. 2016. ICRF Reptiles CHILABOTHRUS CHRYSOGASTER CHRYSOGASTER (Turks and Amphibians 23:169–170). On 30 November 2015, at ca. 0052 Island Boa). DIET. Chilabothrus chrysogaster chrysogaster con- h, we observed a B. caeruleus (total length ca. 128 cm) preying sumes a variety of small to medium-sized endothermic and ecto- on an Eryx whitakeri (Whitaker’s Boa; total length ca. 45 cm) at thermic prey (Reynolds and Gerber 2012. J. Herpetol. 46:578–586). Goa University Campus, Goa, India (15.2736°N, 73.5008°E, WGS On small islands, adults and juveniles are largely saurophagous 84; 57 m elev.). Eryx whitakeri is a medium-sized nocturnal (Reynolds and Niemiller 2011. Herpetol. Rev. 42:290), or sea- constrictor in the family Boidae, endemic to Western Ghats of sonally prey on native or migratory songbirds (Schwartz and India (Whitaker and Captain, op. cit.). The B. caeruleus bit and Henderson 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: held the prey mid body and the snakes struggled for ca. 43 min, Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. University of until venom began to subdue the E. whitakeri (Fig. 1). The prey Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida. 720 pp.; Tolson and Hender- was then devoured headfirst in approx. 5 min. After ingesting son 1993. The Natural History of West Indian Boas. R&A Publish- its prey, the B. caeruleus moved into the nearby forest. We thank ing Ltd., Taunton, UK. 68 pp.). Although these snakes consume a Amay Bhogte for his help. variety of native prey species, no records exist of them consum- SUBHADEEP CHOWDHURY, Krishnachak, Dhurkhali, Howrah ing introduced prey species. 711410, West Bengal, India (e-mail: [email protected]); ANIRBAN At 2103 h on 15 March 2017, we found an adult female C. CHAUDHURI), 211, Jodhpur Park, Kolkata 700068, West Bengal, India (e- c. chrysogaster (SVL = 757 mm) in the process of consuming mail: [email protected]. an adult Hemidactylus mabouia (Woodslave). The snake was positioned at the base of a grass tussock, with 1/3 of the anterior BUNGARUS CAERULEUS (Common Krait). DIET / SCAVENG- body length extended and coiled around the lizard (Fig. 1). The ING. On 13 June 2013, at 2018 h, after a heavy rainfall, we en- observation occurred in heavily modified habitat near a series countered a Bungarus caeruleus on the road feeding on a dead of large buildings on Big Ambergris Cay, located on the Caicos gecko at Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, Balasore, Odisha, India Bank, Turks and Caicos Islands. This island is privately owned (21.4490°N, 86.6830°E, WGS 84; 149 m elev.). The head of the prey and undergoing development. Hence there are serious risks was inside the krait’s mouth. The body of the prey was mutilated, for the introduction of invasive species. The Big Ambergris Cay exposing its intestine and abdominal parts (Fig. 1), apparently population of H. mabouia, first documented in 2011 (Reynolds indicating a roadkill incident. After close observation, the dead 2011. Caribbean Herpetol. 28:1), remains restricted to buildings prey was identified to be a Hemidactylus sp. (East Indian forest on the island, and is not yet found in native vegetation. It is gecko). It took around 6 min for the krait to swallow the prey, possible that the population is being kept in check by predation, after which the snake crossed the road and moved into the leaf as the boa population on this island is exceptionally dense litter. (Reynolds and Gerber 2012. J. Herpetol. 46:578–586). Bungarus caeruleus is known to feed on frogs, lizards, and other snakes (Whitaker and Captain 2016. Snakes of India, the Field Guide. Westland/DracoBooks, Chennai. 400 pp.). Recently, scavenging behavior of this snake has been reported from India (e.g., Mohapatra 2011. Herpetol. Rev. 42:436–437; Deshmukh BY JOSEPH BURGESS et al. 2016. IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 23:169–170), which a common opportunistic foraging strategy in many snakes PHOTO (DeVault and Krochmal 2002. Herpetologica 58:429–436). This is an additional report of B. caeruleus scavenging on lizard prey. I thank Manuwar Khan and Nilakantha Jena for their help in the field. Fig. 1. Adult female Chilabothrus chrysogaster chrysogaster consum- ing an adult Hemidactlyus maboiua, an introduced species, on Big Ambergris Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands. R. GRAHAM REYNOLDS, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina Asheville, Asheville, North Carolina 28804, USA (e-mail: greynold@ unca.edu); JOSEPH BURGESS, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estua- rine Research Reserve, Ponte Vedra, Florida 32082, USA (e-mail: Joseph. [email protected]); GEORGE WATERS, Gwanda LLC, Saint Augustine, Florida 32095, USA (e-mail: [email protected]); GLENN P. GERBER, In- stitute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, Escondido, Cali- Fig. 1. Bungarus caeruleus scavenging on a dead Hemidactylus sp. fornia 92027, USA (e-mail: [email protected]). Herpetological Review 48(4), 2017.
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