Help- Baby Water Snakes and Fish

[snakeheadlures]

My son is working on a project. he is wondering how baby water snakes swimming in the lake or pond don't get eaten by surface feeding fish, like a large mouth bass. seems like a hatch of 10-30 8" snakes would be easy prey. do they hide in shallow streams? stay on the banks? help, please.

[infernalis]

Welcome.

1. Their belly pattern resembles the water surface in a light breeze effectively making them almost invisible from below while swimming.

2. Their back pattern works similar to keep birds from noticing.

4. The term "Water Snake" confuses people, they are in fact a terrestrial snake that is closely related to the common garter snake (Thamnophis). I have a wild population of Nerodia (water snakes) that live on my property, and I have been observing & photographing them for years.

[infernalis]

I will be right back, I have clear photo examples, feel frre to print them for your son.

[infernalis]

belly...



back patterns



This one has a nub tail....

[snakeheadlures]

Thanks Infernalis. But I am still trying to figure out why there aren't a bunch of 8"-12" baby snakes swarming in the water right after birth. do they head for the shore? are they born on land and don't even go in the water? any guess how the babies protect themselves? thanks a bunch.

[infernalis]

They give birth on land, the babies will sometimes head for shallow areas where tadpoles are. The camo works there too, because bullfrogs find baby snakes tasty.

In nature it's a numbers game, mothers have large litters, only a small percentage see adulthood.

[snakeheadlures]

Thanks again. We need some reference for our information. Can you share some of your qualifications? Also do you know others that would support your comments on this thread? This is very helpful information. Thank you again.

[Starbuck]

I'll second infernalis's posts. Countershading is used all over the animal kingdom in animals that are frequently found in or near water. Most fish, sea birds, and some mammals like seals and some beaked whales use countershading; some to avoid predators and others to conceal themselves from prey.

in reference to the q about why there arent hundreds of baby snakes running around: depending on how old your son is; do some research into R vs K selected species. K selected species like humans, penguins, and whales invest a lot of time and resources (high cost) into their offspring, but produce fewer over the span of their lifetimes. R selected species produce many offspring over the course of their lifespan, but with little parentla investment or resources (i.e. fish with thousands of eggs per spawn, chameleons with 50 eggs per season, mice with a dozen litters per year), in effect 'flooding the market'.
R vs. K selection is based on the reproductive biology of the animal (an elephant cant physically have dozens of babies at a time) as well as the ecological role and habitat of the organism.

Hope this helps, best of luck.

[snakeheadlures]

Thank you Starbucks. So do you think many baby snakes get eatten by fish?

[Pirarucu]

Oh yes, plenty do. That's why they have lots of them, not one or two.

[Starbuck]

i dont know what the number one predator of baby water snakes would be; but i would say birds, other snakes, fish, and mammals like coyotes.

[snakeheadlures]

OK. just a few more questions.
1. What do you think would be the most indigenous water snakes that might fall prey to top water feeding fish, like a bass, in the states of Florida, Texas, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama? in other words, im looking for different type snakes for different areas of the Southeast.
2. I don't know anything about fishing in the Northeast. So, in the Northeast, what species of fish would try to eat what species of snakes?

Thanks again. this is great information.

[snakeheadlures]

anyone? any suggestions?