首页|Food supplementation of the Montpellier snake Malpolon monspessulanus in the wild
Food supplementation of the Montpellier snake Malpolon monspessulanus in the wild
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Under natural settings, a variety of snake species are occasional scavengers, especially piscivorous snakes and pit vipers (DeVault & Krochmal, 2002). In the case of the Montpellier snake Malpolon monspessulanus the species has been observed both eating bait intended for other animals and roadkill (Valverde, 1974; Ventura, 2012). Several researchers have taken advantage of the propensity of wild snakes to accept carrion (e.g. mammals, fish) offered by humans to address a variety of ecological questions (Sazima & Strüssmann, 1990; Marques & Sazima, 1997; Wasko & Sasa, 2012; Glaudas & Alexander, 2017). Further investigation of the foraging response of wild snakes to carrion offered by researchers is of interest because it has the potential to improve animal welfare, for example to place electronic devices without the need for force-feeding (Shine, 1987). It could also be used to supplement the food intake of wild snakes, thereby promoting reproduction and recruitment in fragile populations (Taylor et al., 2005). Weitzmann & Pretus (2018) made an unsuccessful (prey not consumed despite snake interest) attempt at food supplementation with the Montpellier snake and this led us to undertake a feeding test in 2021 in Bédarrides, Vaucluse district, France, with two large free-ranging male Montpellier snakes both in the range of 1.7-1.8 m long and 1.5 to 1.6 kg body mass.
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