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Re: storing a food source



This thread took an interesting turn, but one that is probably more factual than the kind of info I was originally looking for. I guess what I was after, besides fat stores, was 'hoarding' behavior, you know, like a squirrel storing nuts for the winter etc.
D

On Sep 16, 2009, at 7:43 PM, Augusto Haro wrote:

2009/9/16 Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>:
On Thu, Sep 17th, 2009 at 8:48 AM, Augusto Haro <augustoharo@gmail.com > wrote:

Thanks for the data on snakes. May it be that these snakes lower their
metabolism after the abundance season?

I suspect they'd almost certainly have to lower their metabolism, since they'd be waiting for at least eight months for their next major meal. That doesn't stop them gorging themselves on
hatchlings when they're available though.

Well, if they barely hunt after the bird breeding season, perhaps the
time they are fat they have little locomotion to perform (few prey to
which move for), so their obesity may not hinder their locomotion...

I doubt they'd simply let the food hang around in their
stomaches undigested for that long though, so they'd pretty much have to store fat on themselves
for the lean times.

Neither do I think they simply let the food stay in their stomaches. I
was told once that it is not good to feed snakes close to the winter
(at least those species which are inactive at that epoch), because in
winter they do not digest what they swallow. Apparently because food
items rotten within their guts, because of microorganismal
proliferation, and the scarcely active animal dies because of
infection.