Posted by DougT on September 10, 2000 at 21:37:07:
In Reply to: Re: Do TX Indigos keep Rattlers out of Santa Ana NWR? posted by Tom Lott on September 10, 2000 at 16:50:24:
Tom,
Do you know how old your 7'+ Texas Indigo was? I have a male eastern that is in that size range. I'd love to see my male T.I. get that big.
dt
: Joe,
: I too have often wondered about the apparent absence of C. atrox at Santa Ana NWR; there certainly is enough habitat for them there that would be occupied elsewhere (wood rat nests in cactus thickets, etc.). I doubt that the Indigo is entirely responsible, however. I think that atrox probably avoids the first or second terraces of the larger streams in S. Texas, whereas the Indigos love these areas.
: I have never seen an Indigo eating an atrox in the wild. But, many years ago, when I was a kid and keeping Indigos was legal, I commonly fed atrox to my captives. Usually, these were the super-abundant two-foot atrox that show up in the spring, but I did have a couple of 7+ foot Indigos that easily dispatched and swallowed fairly stout 4 foot adult atrox. The Indigos reacted to atrox placed in their cage much like a corn snake reacts to a mouse, so it seems that rattlers are a common prey item in the wild. The Indigos invariably seized the rattlers by the head, however, indicating that they knew exactly what they were dealing with.
: Tom Lott