Strange Death of a Snake

1 Pages·2000·0.96 MB·

by  V P Ajith

MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
STRANGE DEATH OF A SNAKE
14.
OnMay27, 1999 whilewatching grizzled mouth. The snake and its prey were remarkably
giant squirrels (Ratufa macroura) in Chinnar undamaged. Twoclawsofthe lizard’shindlimb
Wildlife Sanctuary, I saw a dead snake lying were stuck in the comer ofthe snake’s mouth,
entangledamongthebranchesofatamarindtree. and probably during its effort to regurgitate the
At my request, the ‘Hill Pulaya’ accompanying prey, the claws of its right forelimb also
meclimbedthetreeandbroughtthesnakedown. penetrated the snake’s gullet and skin, resulting
It must have been dead for at least a couple of in the death ofthe snake.
weeksandwasabsolutelydry. Stuckinitsmouth Behura (JBNHS 50(1): 183) mentions a
was a large Calotes calotes, about 40 cm in Xenochrophispiscatordyinginapondasaresult
length (including tail) that had been almost of‘swallowinga8.1 inchlongfish’ andprobably
completel—y swallowed. The hot dry climate of getting thepectoral spines ofthe fish stuckin its
Chinna—r in May, day temperature reaches mouth, so that it could not be swallowed or
38 °C hadmummifiedthe snake and itsprey. regurgitated. Snakesrarelychoketodeathonprey,
The snake was identified as Dendrelaphis fortheycanextendtheirwindpipealongthefloor
tristis (Family Colubridae). Its total length was ofthe mouth to breathe during feeding, and also,
78 cm. The lizard couldbe seen clearly through theyseldomtackle animalstoobig to swallow.
the tautly stretched skin of the snake’s neck
region. Even the white bands on the lizard’s March 3, 2000 V.P.AJITH
green body were visible through the snake’s Panikaseril House,
stretched skin. The 20 cm long tail and the hind KodungallurP.O., Pin 680 664,
legsofthelizardwerestickingoutofthesnake’s Kerala, India.
15. SIZE ANALYSIS AND DISTRIBUTION OF JERDON’S BULL FROG
HOPLOBATRACHUSCRASSUS(JERDON 1835) IN ASSAM
Hoplobatrachus crassus a close relative breeding season (April to September, 1998). The
,
ofH. tigerinus (Family Ranidae), was recently date and time of collection, habitat and micro-
reportedfromnortheasternIndiabyBordoloiand habitat, andweather conditions were noted. Each
Bora (1999). Earlier, the easternmost limit of specimen was measured for morphometric ana-
distribution of H. crassus was West Bengal lysis. Statisticalanalysis (ttests) were carriedout.
(Sarkar et al. 1992). It is possible that previous Hoplobatrachus crassus has a wide
workers confused the two congeners and failed distribution inthe Brahmaputra Valley ofAssam,
m
to record the former from parts of its range up to an altitude of 180 above msl. It is most
(Daniel 1975).Thepresentcommunicationdeals abundant in the flood plains, especially in
withthe distribution ofH. crassus inAssamand waterlogged agricultural fields. Of 23 specimens
providesacomparisonofmorphometricfeatures collected, 12 were frompaddy fields, 5 fromwet
ofthese two species. grasslands,3 fromsugarcanefields,2fromoxbow
Specimens ofHoplobatrachus crassus and lakeslocallyknownasbeelsandonefromamoist
H. tigerinuswerecollectedusingvisualencounter open field with short broad-leaved grass. It was
surveys. A total of 73 man-hours were spent in found on both banks of the Brahmaputra river:
collecting 23 adult(15d and 8 9)//. crassus and Sibsagar, Golaghat, Kamrup, Goalpara, Barpeta,
49 adult (27 d and22 9) H. tigerinus during the Nalbari, Darang, Sonitpur and Lakhimpur.
286 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 97(2), AUG. 2000