Rare snake found at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, that died while eating a large centipede!

Rare snake found at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, that died while eating a large centipede!

The state-threatened rim rock crowned snake (Tantilla oolitica) lives in pine rockland and hammock habitats in eastern Miami-Dade County and the Keys. This burrowing species, typically only 7-9 inches long, is seldom seen because it lives under debris, rocks or in cavities in underlying limestone. A visitor to the park observed a small, dead snake on a trail with the rear portion of a centipede protruding from its mouth. Other species of crowned snake often eat centipedes, but this specimen represents the first food record of any kind for the little-known rim rock species. Crowned snakes immobilize their prey using mild venom but are unable to bite humans because of their small size. The prey item appears to be a juvenile Keys giant centipede (Scolopendra alternans), which can reach the size of a crowned snake as an adult. Crowned snakes are usually immune to the venom of centipedes, whose bites are painful to humans, but something went wrong during this encounter. This snake, along with the centipede, will be deposited in the Florida Museum of Natural History collection.

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