158 
Richard F. Collins 
Table I. Stomach contents of snakes from eastern and central North Carolina 
No. 
No. with 
Species 
e.xamined 
food 
Food items 
Colubridae: 
Etaphe ohsoleia oh.solcia 
2 
1 
coleopteran larvae 
Elap/ic ohsoleia quculrivittala 
2 
1 
small mammal 
Nerodia erythro^aster ervihroyasiei 
6 
1 
frog 
Nerodia faseial a fasciata 
10 
1 
Rana palustris 
Nerodia sipedon sipedon 
21 
1 
fish (Centrarchidae) 
1 
salamander 
1 
Notophthalnius viridescens 
4 
frog 
2 
Rana catesheiana (tadpole) 
2 
Bufo woodhousei fowleri 
Nerodia taxispilota 
16 
3 
fish (Centrarchidae) 
1 
Ictalurus sp. 
Crotalidae; 
Aykistrodon contortrix contortrix 
2 
1 
Rana catesheiana 
1 
small mammal 
Aykistrodon piscivorus pisc ivorus 
16 
1 
Micropterus sp. 
1 
Ictalurus sp. 
1 
frog 
1 
Chelydra serpentina 
(hatchling) 
2 
small mammal 
ana in the two individuals in my study. Amphibians were not found in 
any of the 35 A . contortrix examined by Brown. 
The Nerodia species examined in my study comprise the majority of 
individuals examined. There are no major differences between the classes 
of food items found by Brown and by me. However, some additional 
species were seen. Amphibians were the major food of N. s. sipedon. In 
addition to the items listed by Brown, one individual contained an adult 
Notophthalnius viridescens. This snake was captured in a farm pond. A 
N . f. fasciata contained a Rana palusfris, an item not found by Brown in 
12 snakes of this species. This snake was captured in a swamp near the 
Northeast Cape Fear River in Duplin County. Natrix taxispilota was not 
studied by Brown. As noted above, this species is primarily riverine in 
eastern North Carolina. Unlike the other species of Nerodia studied, 
which apparently feed mainly on amphibians, its primary food source 
probably is fish. This was also noted by Laughlin (1959) for this species 
from a lacustrine habitat in Oklahoma. 
A^kistrodon p. piscivorus exhibited a more varied diet than any of the 
other snakes examined. These data, along with those of Hamilton and 
