Canines v Reptiles

[Ceratodromeus]

A favorite thread of mine from Carnivora. Post any accounts of predation or interspecific conflict between canines & reptiles!

[Ceratodromeus]

Interesting predation accounts:

Komodo dragon(from Auffenberg's book)


Green anaconda





Python predation on young and adult jackals

Recent account!
""It was a fairly overcast morning as my Australian guests and I set off on an early boat cruise. Despite the weather, everyone’s spirits were soaring (especially after an Amarula coffee!)

As soon as we reached the open water of the dam, we were greeted by the magnificent sight of several young elephants drinking from the opposite bank. They were exceptionally relaxed and allowed us to get ‘up-close and personal’, giving us a unique perspective and incredible photographic opportunities.

After watching them for quite a while, we continued with the cruise. One of my guests was curious about the likelihood of finding black mambas (one of Africa’s deadliest snakes) out in the dam, but I told him the chances of finding a python would be better.

Sure enough, a couple of minutes later that same guest pointed to something in the water and excitedly said ‘snake!’ There, in the shallows, was an African rock python. We soon realised that the snake we were watching was quite a large specimen. It was coiled up in the river, and on closer inspection we could see that it was strangling or constricting something. At this point we were unsure what the prey animal was, as only an ear was sticking up out of the water. The rest of the body remaining hidden within the snake’s coils in the murky water. Judging from the size of the ear and of the snake, this could be anything from a young antelope, to a fox or small predator.
The snake seemed a bit distracted from the task at hand by the boat’s presence, so I decided to carry on up the river knowing that we would return to the same spot later on. Maybe the serpent would have relaxed by then, and already have started feeding.

When we returned, the python was still in the same spot and still constricting the animal. But all of a sudden, it loosened the coils and straightened its body before biting its prey directly on the head! We watched in awe and horror as this giant reptile began to slowly eat its prey from the head down. The python was at least three metres in length, yet it seemed to be struggling with its prey. We could see the coils writhing around in the cloudy water, but at last we could make out what the snake was attempting to feed on: a black-backed jackal.[ One of my guests suddenly noticed that there was another jackal on the banks of the river watching its partner being consumed. It was squealing in a high-pitched tone. Quite haunting, actually.

When the python got to the shoulders of the jackal, it realised that it was simply too large to consume in the water and proceeded to spit it back out. The snake then submerged the jackal in the water again, constricting it further within its coils. At this stage its head was out of the water, and it was eyeing us suspiciously. As I felt that we might be disturbing it (and knew we had already enjoyed such an amazing sighting), I decided to carry on with our cruise."

Click the link to see the images
link

From Pienaar(1969)





African rock pythons are known predators of the diminutive bat eared fox;
"Other causes of mortality include predation(three individuals) and road accidents (three individuals). Predators, all of which eat at least some. Of the foxes they killed include martial eagles(polaematus belicosus), pythons(Python sebae), and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta)."
From Biology and conservation of wild canids(link)

Mentions of P.nataliensis predation on African wild dog

Boa constrictor predation on crab eating fox(account & photo)
"The Argentine Boa Constrictor is the southernmost subspecies of the Boa constrictor complex, inhabiting the semiarid plains of the Great Chaco region from Paraguay to central Argentina, and presumably, Bolivia (Di Cola et al., 2008; Waller et al., 2010). The confirmed diet of this ambush predator comprises small to medium sized mammals and birds (Sironi et al., 2000; Laspiur et al., 2010). During a recent field trip to Northern Argentina, we were able to record a failed intake attempt by B. c. occidentalis upon a Cerdocyon thous (Crab-Eating Fox; Carnivora, Canidae). The observation site is located in the Dry Chaco eco-region, near Palma Chueca, La Union, Rivadavia Department, Salta Province, Argentina (24.06639° S, 63.29889° W, datum: WGS84; 220 m elev.), and corresponds to a Ruprechtia triflora (Polygonaceae) and Ceiba choratii (Bombacaceae) dominated shrubland that runs over an elevated dry levee among interconnected temporary ponds and creeks, tributaries of the Bermejito River. On the 10th of April, 2011, at ca. 12:00 h, we heard the distress howls of a fox coming from the near shrublands. After a short walk, an adult B. c. occidentalis (total length ca. 2.5 m) was found just in the process of constricting an adult C. thous. Upon arrival the fox was still alive but no longer howling. The boa remained wrapped around its prey for at least 20 minutes when it finally raised the head and the team decided to leave the area to avoid disturbing the swallowing process (Figure 1). Returning to the site at ca. 1500 h showed that the snake had abandoned the dead fox that rested completely stretched on the forest floor (Figure 2). The fox exhibited the hair of the head and neck wet and smoothed up to the level of the clavicles, as an evidence of a failed swallowing attempt. The female snake was found at one-meter distance resting coiled among the multiple trunks of a Rupechtia triflora shrub with its mouth partially opened as a sign of the intake attempt. Sironi et al. (2000) confirmed seven different mammals as part of the diet of this subspecies. Although they found no traces of any carnivore in gastrointestinal contents studied, they mentioned the related fox species Lycolapex gymnocercus as a probable prey, based on interviews to local inhabitants. The finding here reported actually confirms that B. c. occidentalis is able to prey on medium-sized carnivores. At the other hand, this case presents the paradoxical situation in which the boa was strong enough to subdue its prey but exhibited a morphological constraint to swallow it."

[Ceratodromeus]

Black mambas kills multiple dogs

"I lost a number of dogs through snakes, especially mambas, (1) and on one occasion I lost seven dogs at once, all killed by one mamba! In this instance my dogs had put up the snake from a patch of grass, run him down, and now stood round him barking. One dog would rush in, and the snake would strike with such speed that we could hardly follow its action: the dog would let out a yelp, and in a few minutes it would be dead.

Unfortunately it was quite impossible for me to interfere, as the thoroughly excited dogs were all mixed up with the snake, and had I fired at the latter I would almost certainly have killed some of the dogs as well. The remaining dogs, after the fourth or fifth dog had succumbed, took longer to die - I expect on account of the gradual lessening of the quantity of venom with each additional bite. I could do nothing, as I had no serum with me at the time, and all of the dogs finally died. I revenged them all, however, by shooting the snake at the first opportunity."

Link died..

[Ceratodromeus]

some stuff i found yesterday
Rock python takes dog in what appears to be a direct confrontation(From the book The Man-eaters of Eden: Life and Death in Kruger National Park)





from here

[Ceratodromeus]

Unfortunate video of a crocodile taking a dog


mention of a rock python killing and consuming three jackals in quick succession, from pope's book

[Ceratodromeus]

"it was a pleasant morning in keoladeo national park when we started our trip from the sadar gate(main gate) of the park.we hired bicycles anad we were off to our trip.that wasnt the luckiest of the day coz i wasnt having much luck that day with me camera.then we decieded to move to koladehar area of the park which is one of the areas not much visited by the tourist.when i reached there i heard some sounds of hissing and grunting in the bushes ,i thought it to be a wild boar or smthing but much to my surprize i saw this amazingly beautiful indian rock python catching hold of this golden jackal....by the time i saw them jackal was already dead and python had already stated swallowing it....after much of effort the python swallowed whole of the jackal and went in search of cool place in bushes...truly amazing moment of natural history i witnessed ....defenitely not the day of the jackal"


www.facebook.com/Rajeevvaidyaphotography/photos/a.474334425934012.114585.474332069267581/645786972122089/?type=3&theater

[Supercommunist]

www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/mamba-kills-4-dogs-in-durban-home-2011444

Durban - Four dogs died after a battle with a black mamba in Reservoir Hills while a group of men carrying a dead python on a pole had motorists transfixed on the N2 near eMkhomazi (Umkomaas).

In Reservoir Hills, Krish Govender, 67, said he had gone into his back yard to polish his bakkie on Friday morning when he noticed his three Jack Russell dogs – Jackie, Destiny and Tia – barking ferociously in the direction of the grates over the drain near the garage.

His dachshund, Tyson, then joined them as they circled between the inlet and outlet grates. Govender, a retired policeman and professional hunter, said he didn’t think much of it.

“I could not see inside the drain pipe unless I picked up the grates. I thought a crab was inside because of the old stream in the back yard. I placed the hose over the drain and opened the water to flush out whatever was inside twice in the space of an hour. The dogs were going ballistic and kept sniffing around it,” Govender said.

At midday, Govender went inside to have a glass of water. His dogs, which normally follow him everywhere, stayed behind, still barking.

While inside, his dog began barking in a tone Govender was not accustomed to.

“I rushed down the driveway and could see a snake under the bakkie. Its head was moving from side to side. The dogs were trying to get at it. The dachshund lay under the bakkie immobilised. It was a madhouse. My dogs eventually backed off. I asked my wife to watch the snake’s movements while I contacted a reptile specialist,” Govender said.

Meanwhile, his dogs had begun frothing at the mouth and walking around in a daze.

The dachshund was still under the bakkie.

The snake had moved to the corner of the yard near a plank and brick wall by the time Universal Reptiles snake catcher, Jason Arnold, arrived.

“The dogs had already succumbed to the extremely fast-acting neurotoxic (nerve attacking) envenomation. The homeowner pointed out to me the pile of household bits and pieces where the snake had taken refuge,” Arnold said.

He carefully removed items from the pile and found the snake badly hurt and exhausted.

“Upon exposing it, it just lay there and made no attempt to try to get away or defend itself further.

“The male snake measured 2.6m and had sustained dozens of dog bites along the full length of its body... It probably sustained heavy bruising, several broken ribs and possibly damaged organs and internal bleeding,” Arnold said.

He removed the snake to his enclosures, but the Mamba died on Sunday.

Govender said the dogs were bitten on their back legs, mouth and body.

They died on the driveway and were buried in the back yard. Govender was too emotional and was not yet ready to visit their graves.

“Destiny was 7 years old. Jackie was 5 and his daughter, Tia, was just a pup. My heart is sore. They were like my children. I brought them up from puppies. I have been dreaming of them since Friday,” Govender said.

Govender is, however, relieved that he had kept his pit bull, Trigger, chained, otherwise he fears he would have lost him too.

He said that had he seen the snake earlier, he would have chained his dogs up.

[Ceratodromeus]

brief interaction between some sort of fox and a timber rattlesnake

[Supercommunist]

[Supercommunist]

[Ceratodromeus]

Another python kills a fox

"IT’S a dog-eat-dog world out there, or in the case of this bizarre animal encounter, it’s snake-eat-fox.


The jaws of the fox had to be forced open to untangle the beasts. Picture: Robert Cregan
Or is it fox-eat-snake? It’d be hard to tell if not for witness Robert Cregan, who unravelled the mystery after his son spotted the warring pair on the NSW north coast.

“It was just by the side of the road. The fox had bitten the snake on the head, looking for a meal I guess,” Mr Cregan said. “Then the snake constricted the fox.”

But with the dying fox’s jaws still clamped tightly around the 2m carpet python’s neck on Monday, each strangling coil of its body made it more difficult to escape the clutches of its would-be assassin.

“We had to prise the jaws of the fox open but when the snake sensed we were doing that it constricted the fox’s head even more,” Mr Cregan said.

“We managed to prise the fox’s jaws open and then we were able to release the head of the snake. It had a bit of a look at me and my son and we just left it where it was.” "

www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/python-constricts-fox-in-epic-battle-of-nature/news-story/27eadef00c95dea73a04fbb9681e2d60

[Supercommunist]

members.tripod.com/khalil_pk/python.html

Warning following link contains nasty pics of a partially digested dog.

www.sareptiles.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=137&t=21580

[Supercommunist]

[Venomous Dragon]

Jan 26, 2017 7:25:20 GMT 5 Supercommunist said:

wrecked

[Ceratodromeus]

Adult male tegus are crazy