114 E. E. Brown 



RESULTS 



Nerodia erythrogaster erythrogaster, Redbelly Water Snake. 



Five stomachs of this species contained 12 food items: 10 amphibians 

 (6 undetermined tadpoles, 4 Bufo terrestris); and 2 fish (a Micropterus 

 salmoides and a "sunfish"). 



Snakes involved were from Columbus Co., NC, and Horry and Sumter 

 cos., SC. 



Nerodia sipedon sipedon, Northern Water Snake. 



Specimens were mostly from a number of sandy-bottomed, channelized 

 streams of the North Carolina Piedmont and several mountain streams in 

 the northwestern corner of the state. Food habits in lacustrine habitats 

 might differ. 



Forty-five items were recorded from 30 stomachs: 17 anurans (6 Bufo w. 

 fowleri, 3 Hyla chrysoscelis, 3 Scaphiopus holbrooki, 2 Rana catesbeiana, 1 Hyla 

 cruafer, 1 Rana spenocephala, and 1 undetermined); 17 salamanders (5 un- 

 determined larvae, 4 Desmognathus fuscus, 2 larvae of Pseudotnton sp., 1 

 Eurycea bislineata wilderae, 1 Plethodon glutinosus, 4 undetermined); and 11 

 fish (5 Semotilus atromaculatus ; 1 Etheostoma sp., 1 Ictalurus sp., 1 Hypentelium 

 nigricans, 1 "sunfish," 2 undetermined). 



I was surprised at the prominence of amphibians (75.6 percent of all 

 items), and initially felt that this might correlate with the limited fish life 

 in the channelized streams. However, 15 of the 19 food items from the un- 

 channelized mountain streams were amphibians. Two of the larger 

 snakes had eaten Rana catesbeiana with displacement volumes of 110 and 

 135 ml. Three of the largest meals taken represented 26, 40 and 56 per- 

 cent of the weight of the respective snakes. 



Specimens were from Alleghany, Ashe, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Lincoln, 

 Mecklenburg, and Watauga cos., NC. 



Nerodia fasciata fasaata, Banded Water Snake. 



Twelve stomachs of this Coastal Plain form contained 20 food items: 12 

 frogs and toads (6 Bufo terrestris, 3 Hyla gratwsa, 1 Hyla chrysoscelis, 2 un- 

 determined); 4 salamanders (2 Desmognathus auriculatus, 1 Necturus 

 punctatus, 1 undetermined); and 4 fish (3 Fundulus sp., 1 undetermined). 

 This species has been observed eating dead anurans on the highway on a 

 rainy June night in Brunswick County, North Carolina. 



Snakes examined were from Brunswick, Carteret, Craven and Colum- 

 bus cos., NC, and Chesterfield and Sumter cos., SC. 



Regina septemvittata, Queen Snake. 



Raney and Roecker (1947), reporting on 45 stomachs from Erie 

 County, New York, found crayfish in 44 and a dragonfly nymph in each 



