Red Shouldered Hawk Eating Black Racer Snake

Video:  Red Shouldered Hawk Eating Black Racer Snake

A beautiful Red Shouldered Hawk has caught a Black Racer Snake and proceeds to eat it on a dead pine branch in the Backyard. Hawks sit on fences and watch for young snakes active in  the daytime - not only are they easy to catch, but they are like tender gourmet food for the hawks. 

The Red-shouldered Hawk is one of the most beautiful and distinctively marked hawks in North America. Adults are barred with rusty-red on the underparts and have bright rufous shoulders. Their underparts are dark brown, and the tail is black with 4 or 5 narrow white bands. When in flight, pale crescents in the wings are visible from below. They breed from northern California south to Baja, in the Midwestern United States east to New Brunswick; and south to the Florida Keys and Texas. Habitat. In Florida, Red-Shouldered Hawks nest in a wide variety of woodland habitats, but they are particularly identified with cypress swamps and river bottomlands. It most frequently still-hunts from a relatively low, inconspicuous perch but may also forage from a low, coursing flight (Palmer 1988; Johnsgard 1990). Its diet is characterized by sluggish, easily captured animals, such as toads, frogs, snakes, rodents, and small birds and their nestlings (Kimmel and Frederickson 1981, Palmer 1988, Kale and Maehr 1990). Typical nest sites are located in large mature trees with good canopy cover. A bulky well-built nest is usually placed a little more than halfway up the tree in a major fork (Kimmel and Frederickson 1981, Bednarz and Dinsmore 1982, Palmer 1988). Usually two whitish eggs marked with brown are laid and incubated for approximately 33 days. The young birds fledge at 40 to 45 days of age (Palmer 1988; Johnsgard 1990). Seasonal Occurrence. In Florida, Red-shouldered Hawks breed from January through May (Kale and Maehr 1990), or through June (B. Millsap, pers. commun.). Most birds reside in Florida, but the states' population is augmented in September and October by fall migrants from northern states. 

Source: http://legacy.myfwc.com/bba/docs/bba_RSHA.pdf

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Video:  Red Shouldered Hawk Eating Black Racer Snake

Garter Snake Hunting Among Rocks

Video: Garter Snake Hunting Rocks

A Garter Snake is out looking for a meal among the rocks. By flicking its sensitive tongue close to the ground and moving its head side to side to get air moving into its nostrils it hopes to find something tasty to eat. In this case, perhaps a mouse or more likely a salamander or other small reptile or amphibian.

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Video: Garter Snake Hunting Rocks

Green Anole Lizards Mating and Changing Color

Video: Green Anole Lizards Mating and Changing Color

Lizard love is in the air. Mating between Native Green Anole Lizards takes a long time - on the order of 30 minutes. It took five minutes for the male to realize he was on a brown fence :-)  Watch him turn from bright green to dark brown! Green Anole Lizards are not chameleons, but they have the ability to change from brilliant green to darkest brown.  I have not seen this many Green Anole's around for many years - perhaps they are making a comeback against the invasive Brown Anole Lizards from the south! They are attractive little lizards with textured bright green and turquoise eyes! 

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Video: Green Anole Lizards Mating and Changing Color

Green Anole Lizard Surviving in the Trees

Video: Green Anole Lizard Surviving in the Trees

A rare sighting of a big native male Green Anole Lizard looking to mate in the Loquat trees in the Backyard. Agressive and invasive Brown Anole Lizards have pretty much taken over the patios, house, tree trunks and ground areas of the backyard. See for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO9urKRcmoM

But it is encouraging to see a few true native Green Anole Lizards surviving higher up in the trees. Hard to believe, but the classic green lizard of Florida is becoming a rare sight in residential areas. Hopefully this one will find a mate!

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Video: Green Anole Lizard Surviving in the Trees

Striped Mud Turtle Laying Eggs

Video: Striped Mud Turtle Laying Eggs

Three Striped Mud Turtle lays two eggs in the Florida Backyard. It grows only to 4 inches and can live 30 years or more. First time seen in the backyard - an attractive and fascinating little turtle that closes up tight when you pick it up. This female was discovered after she had already committed to laying the eggs and the process took two more hours. These turtles only have access to seasonal standing water and temporary standing water nearby, but the woodland environment they live in is at least generally moist soil with extensive wet vegatation litter except during the winter season.

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 One of the smallest turtles in the world at 4 inches or less can live more than 30 years. Laying eggs that are 1 3/16" long is a pretty tall order. The process took over two hours from beginning to end.
Video: Striped Mud Turtle Laying Eggs

 Video: Striped Mud Turtle Laying Eggs

Video: Striped Mud Turtle Laying Eggs

Wild Florida Red Rat Snake Swallows Lizard

Video: Wild Florida Red Rat Snake Swallows Lizard

Video: Wild Florida Red Rat Snake Swallows Lizard

A young Red Rat Snake (also called a Corn Snake) captures and squeezes a Brown Anole Lizard not much small than itself and spends the next 15 minutes slowly swallowing it. Florida Red Rat Snakes are constrictors just like their large exotic cousins such as the invasive Burmese Pythons and they capture, kill and eat their prey the same way, just on a much smaller scale. This one does it all while hanging upside down from a backyard outbuilding. Mostly nocturnal, the snakes learn that the outdoor lighting attracts lizards and that is prime hunting ground. Unlike the invasive pythons that kill and displace native wildlife, this snake is a native and performs an invaluable service by keeping the lizards, mice and rats in check. The Brown Anole Lizard being eaten is itself an invasive species that is relatively larger than native lizards and more agressive and rapidly displacing Green Anole Lizards and timid Gecko's. These snakes should not be killed. Unfortunately finding a small snake like this doing its job in the backyard too often leads to the killing of the snake. This little backyard drama allows us a closeup look at the process. The camera was only 3 or 4 inches from the snake the entire time. This snake is undoubtedly the offspring of this large Red Rat Snake filmed earlier this summer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z577-h9JiAQ&list=SP9ODW2GQ3n8J3CB3zRtWfRjQphAFUqpSA&index=1

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