Notes on Turtle Egg Predation by Lampropeltis 



getulus (Linnaeus) (Reptilia: Colubridae) on the 



Savannah River Plant, South Carolina 



James L. Knight 



Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, 



Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29801 



AND 



Raymond K. Loraine l 



Museum of Natural History, 



University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045 



ABSTRACT. — Observations on turtle egg predation by the colubrid 

 snake Lampropeltis getulus on the Savannah River Plant, South 

 Carolina, indicate that, during the turtle nesting season, some king- 

 snakes apparently search out and consume the contents of multiple 

 turtle nests. This seems especially true for nests of kinosternid turtles. 

 Future studies of predators on turtle nests within the range of L. getu- 

 lus should take that taxon into account as a potentially prominent 

 predator. Eggs of Sternotherus odoratus may hatch even after passing 

 through the digestive tract of L. getulus. 



Kingsnakes of the colubrid genus Lampropeltis have long been 

 known to feed on a wide variety of vertebrate prey (for a review, see 

 Wright and Wright 1957). Of particular interest is the tendency of these 

 snakes to consume the eggs of other reptiles, especially turtles. Brown 

 (1979) listed two turtle eggs from two Lampropeltis getulus, and Hamil- 

 ton and Pollack (1956) listed prey items found in L. getulus from Fort 

 Benning, Georgia, including the eggs of lizards and snakes. Wright and 

 Bishop (1915) reported the eggs of Pseudemys floridana and Kinoster- 

 non spp. from stomachs of Okefenokee swamp L. getulus and observed 

 that ". . . so addicted are they [L. getulus\ to this egg diet, that the 

 natives consider that it is a common happening to find the snake await- 

 ing the egg deposition." They also said that, aside from "the Florida 

 bear, there is no form in the swamp which eats turtle's eggs in such 

 quantity as the kingsnake. It will take a whole nest of eggs at one time, 

 as many as 14 being found in the stomach of one snake." Ernst and 

 Barbour (1972) cite numerous turtle species whose young are eaten by 

 various species of snakes, but relatively few turtles whose eggs are eaten. 



Present address: Department of Zoology, University of South Florida, Tampa, 

 Florida 33620. 



Brimleyana No. 12:1-4, September 1986 



