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Watch out for ringnecks!
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by BobH on October 3, 2007
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Here is a summary of a recent paper on nw ringnecks...pretty amazing. This is from an email from cnah.org. They have pdf of some great herp papers there. Well worth purusing!!
http://www.cnah.org
3 October 2007
EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE THAT ORAL SECRETIONS OF NORTHWESTERN RINGNECK SNAKES
(DIADOPHIS PUNCTATUS OCCIDENTALIS) ARE TOXIC TO THEIR PREY
Toxicon 50: 810-815 (2007)
Ryan P. O’Donnell, Kevin Staniland & Robert T. Mason
Abstract: Ringneck Snakes (Diadophis punctatus) are suspected of being venomous
because their Duvernoy’s gland secretions have high levels of phospholipase activity,
which is characteristic of many viperid and elapid venoms, and because anecdotal reports
of feeding behavior are consistent with the use of a venom. We tested the toxicity of
Northwestern Ringneck Snake oral secretions to a natural prey species, Northwestern
Garter Snakes (Thamnophis ordinoides), by injecting 2-35 ul of oral secretions
intraperitoneally. All doses were 100% lethal within 180 min. The dose significantly
affected the time to loss of a righting response. Neither injection of saline nor denatured
oral secretions resulted in loss of a righting response or any visible detrimental effects. We
suggest that Northwestern Ringneck Snakes may have evolved venom to subdue larger
prey items than the snake would otherwise be capable of taking.
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RE: Watch out for ringnecks!
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by Chance on October 3, 2007
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Interesting stuff. My students are always kind of amazed when they're telling me a story about a ringneck, earth snake, or brown snake they saw the previous evening or weekend and then I say something like "And you know they're venomous right?" Of course I then go into the whole spiel about the differences between venomous and dangerous, but it always adds a bit of shock factor which helps keep their attention and retain the information.
-Chance
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RE: Watch out for ringnecks!
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by 23bms on October 3, 2007
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When I was five or six years old living in Manhattan KS (long long before it turned into the Kansas equivalent of New Jersey suburbi-blight) we would go out in the fields near our house "snake hunting." The hapless quarry were Ringnecks, quite common in the area, at that time anyway. I remember once a friend of mine and I flipped a flat stone that was a foot and a half or so in diameter. The ground underneath was literally covered with Ringnecks - probably 50 or 60 even allowing for the imaginativeness of a child's mind. We managed to grab a few unlucky ones before the rest disappeared in to the grass. Our parents made us let them go a few days later.
To this day, they are one of my favorite nonven- oops, sorry - Colubrids. To think, I was chasing venomous reptiles even then. :)
Incidentally, never since then have I seen more than one Ringneck at a time. Has any one ever seen, heard or read about group aggregation behavior in Diadophis?
jrb
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RE: Watch out for ringnecks!
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by 23bms on October 3, 2007
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Regarding the above mentioned Diadophis aggregate, I seem to recall that it occurred sometime shortly after school let out for the summer, ie mid june. If so, it would not appear to have been a brumation related event.
jrb
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