I've submitted the grass snake pictures to several pros within the herp/bird/ mammal community, so we shall see what they think too.
Who Dunnit?
- Thread starter zorro
- Start date
That's fair enough, but here are my reasons for it not being:
* Numerous holes in the body, raptors would have torn out not pecked in.
*Raptors don't leave holes like corvid or heron due to hooked beaks.
* Head caved in, in typical corvid fashion as they peck at the side of the mouth which is the weakest point of the head and eat the brain from inside the mouth. Heron don't leave the same marks but usually show peck marks on top of head. Raptors, again, rip out.
*Classic corvid kill signs, all there from body pecks, to side of mouth attack and cave in, eyes also pecked out.. classic corvid again.
* Corvids would attack without eating, it is rare a sparrowhawk or owl would leave such a small prey item.
*Corvids attack not just the head but the whole body, especially if in pairs or more and are mobbing it. Raptors go for the head.
*Corvid nest nearby, grass snakes predate baby birds.
*Owls very rarely take snakes
Don't doubt I could be wrong, may be heron, but I rule out bird of prey entirely. All the evidence rules it out. I can't see even one sign of raptor behaviour or sign here... sorry.
I have seen a Tawny on several occasions take a snake into a large oak and attack the head, I watched one do it very recently when I was shooting.
We have a railway line near me and the owls hunt them there.
We have a railway line near me and the owls hunt them there.
Yes they do and Sparrowhawks, kestrels and buzzards attack the head also. What I'm saying is that they leave entirely different wounds to that shown in the grass snake in the picture above.
The majority of research into this has been done by Wolfgang Wuster and Tony Phelps who used plasticine models to draw in attacks and logged the results from that. Raptors tend tyo make very clean kills, with the head being ripped apart from above or below. Corvids attack the whole snake by pecking in the eyes and head through the mouthline, and also the length of the body. Given time, they rip the whole snake apart in some circumstances. Raptors sometimes nipped the tail off too. In all cases corvids attacked the eyes, raptors never did. Raptors predominantly attacked the underside and ripped the lower jaw off, and then the head. They didn't peck like a corvid, but ripped outwards, causing very different wounds.
Also corvids don't always kill to eat, raptors do.
Herons also attack the head in one or two pecks. The holes they leave are very large and the above picture doesn't represent an attack from such a large and powerful beak. They also leave the eyes. That seems to be a corvid trait alone. Pheasants peck at the head and swallow whole, but the snake in this thread is far too big for a pheasant and they only take neonates.
It's also interesting to note that carrion crows have learned to flip over artificial refugia like tins and roof tiles that we lay down to attract reptiles. On the isle of Wight it has gotten to be such a problem that they now stake them down. Slow-worms and grass snakes were observed to be taken the most from these.
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Literally just had a call out that someone has found a snake in their utility room. I'm off to investigate. So far the description is olive grey and looks foreign. Hope it's not a mamba, I've only got a two and a half foot snake hook to hand 
If it will help........
I found the body very close to the house in the middle of the afternoon, it was sunny, quite warm. The crows are nesting at the bottom of a long garden, they don't usually come right up to the house but they have been doing so for a couple of weeks now, and have been harassing the collared doves which roost and nest in a large old monkey puzzle tree just behind the house.
I have never seen a heron on my garden in 23 years, though they do fly over occasionally, usually at dawn or dusk.
I have seen owls in the orchard at the bottom of the garden very occasionally, but not recently and only at dusk.
There is lots of kestrel activity, they take collared doves very regularly.
There has also been lots of magpies around the back of the house the last couple of weeks, causing mayhem and general disturbance as they tend to do.
There is a cat next door, but my dog keeps it on its toes, when it crosses my garden it does so at high speed and on full alert.
I found the body very close to the house in the middle of the afternoon, it was sunny, quite warm. The crows are nesting at the bottom of a long garden, they don't usually come right up to the house but they have been doing so for a couple of weeks now, and have been harassing the collared doves which roost and nest in a large old monkey puzzle tree just behind the house.
I have never seen a heron on my garden in 23 years, though they do fly over occasionally, usually at dawn or dusk.
I have seen owls in the orchard at the bottom of the garden very occasionally, but not recently and only at dusk.
There is lots of kestrel activity, they take collared doves very regularly.
There has also been lots of magpies around the back of the house the last couple of weeks, causing mayhem and general disturbance as they tend to do.
There is a cat next door, but my dog keeps it on its toes, when it crosses my garden it does so at high speed and on full alert.
Cheers for the extra info. I'm 99.9 convinced that it was the crows or magpies. Maybe both
Incidentally, here is the snake I was called out to catch....
Luckily, not a mamba.
Incidentally, here is the snake I was called out to catch....
Luckily, not a mamba.
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Recently shed or just good photography? Strikingly marked all the same
In it's bright new breeding colours and ready to get it on with the ladies....
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