Snake Stomach Contents 
159 
Pollack (1955), Goodman (1958), Laughlin (1959), Wharton (1969), 
Collins and Carpenter (1970), Kofron (1978), and Brown, show that this 
species will feed on certain members of every class of vertebrates. In 
addition, Collins and Carpenter (1970) reported insects in the stomach 
contents of two snakes. 
Only three individuals contained mixed categories of food items: a 
Nerociia s. sipeclon contained four toads and a fish; an Agkistroc/on p. 
piscivorus contained a small mammal and a bass; and an A . c. confortrix 
contained a Rana catesheiana and a small mammal. None of the other 
snakes contained more than a single class of food item. The total number 
of snakes containing any food items was therefore 24, including the three 
individuals mentioned above. 
Whether certain snake species can be characterized as “opportunists” 
in terms of food items consumed is conjectural. Of the species examined, 
A^kistrocion piscivorus most readily can be characterized this way, but 
some species of Nerociia also may be opportunists. Brown mentioned 
observing N . f. fasciata eating road-killed anurans; I have seen N. ery- 
throgaster transversa eating chunks of fresh fish. Snakes generally are 
considered to be predators, but these kinds of observations indicate that 
under certain circumstances some species can adopt other feeding habits. 
LITERATURE CITED 
Brown, E.E. 1979. Some snake food records from the Carolinas. Brimleyana 
1:113-124. 
Collins, Jospeh T., J.E. Huheey, J.L. Knight and H.M. Smith. 1978. Standard 
common and current scientific names for North American amphibians .and 
reptiles. Soc. Study Amphib. Reptiles Herpetol. Circ. No. 7. 36 pp. 
Collins, Richard F., and C.C. Carpenter. 1970. Organ position-ventral scute 
relationship in the water moccasin (A^ki.strodon piscivorus leucosionia), 
with notes on food and distribution. Proc. Okla. Acad. Sci. 49:15-18. 
Goodman, John D. 1958. Material ingested by the cottonmouth, AykistroJon 
piscivorus, at Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee. Copeia 1958 (2): 149. 
Hamilton, W. J.,. Jr., and J.A. Pollack. 1955. The food of some crotalid snakes 
from Fort Benning, Georgia. Nat. Hist. Misc. (Chic.) No. 140:1-4. 
Kofron, Christopher P. 1978. Food and habitats of aquatic snakes (Reptilia, 
Serpentes) in a Louisiana swamp. J. Herpeto! 72:543-554. 
Laughlin, Harold E. 1959. Stomach contents of some aquatic snakes from 
Lake McAlester, Pittsburgh County, Oklahoma. Tex. J. Sci. 77:83-85 
Mushinsky, Henry R., and J.J. Hebrard. 1977. Food partitioning by five 
species of water snakes in Louisiana. Herpetologica JJ: 162-166. 
Oliver, George V., Jr. 1970. Black ratsnake predation upon nesting barn 
and cliff swallows. Bull. Okla. Ornithol. Soc. i: 17-20. 
Wharton, C.H. 1969. The cottonmouth moccasin on Sea Horse Key, Florida. 
Bull. Fla. State Mus. Biol. Sci. 74:227-272. 
Accepted 18 June 1980 
