Birds Fall Prey at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

Many younger and inexperienced birds fall prey to predators, hunters, or other causes of death during their first year, but most goose families remain relatively intact throughout their wintering and migration periods. When they return to the breeding grounds in spring, the yearling birds separate from the adult breeders and usually spend the summer months well apart from the nesting birds.

Food and Control.—Most rattlesnakes live on small mammals, such as rats, mice, and other rodents. The largest can engulf a cottontail rabbit. The prey is usually secured by ambushing mammal trails or by seeking it down holes. The snake generally does not hold its prey after striking ; the venom is so quickly fatal that the prey runs only a short way before dying. The snake follows by scent and swallows its victim at leisure. The venom, circulated in the prey before death, aids in digestion. Birds and amphibians also are sometimes eaten. Lizards, with their attenuated shape, are important in the diet of small rattlesnakes, which have difficulty in finding rodents small enough to eat. The prey is always swallowed whole.

In the wild, boas feed on young rats, mice, birds and their young, insects, and lizards. Boas are constrictors; however, they sometimes grasp prey with mouth and swallow it without using constriction. In captivity, give young rats, mice, and baby chicks. If snake kills prey but does not proceed to swallow it, prey is probably too large; offer smaller mouse or rat.