Red-tailed Hawks are known to prey on snakes but it’s something I’ve not seen often and I’d never documented it well.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Ten days ago I found this adult Red-tailed Hawk with a snake on top of a power pole in Montana’s Centennial Valley. They were strongly side-lit but I was able to get quite a few images that were good enough for documentary purposes.
The hawk must have just landed there with the snake because it was still alive. I include this shot for two reasons – the light on the serpent shows the longitudinal stripes that suggest to me that it might be one of the species of garter snakes (which would be appropriate for the habitat nearby) and we can clearly see that the snake is still alive.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
But the hawk was intent on killing it and it didn’t take long, though it was a slower process than usual for typical small mammal prey. It worked over much of the body of the snake with its beak but it concentrated on its head and a few inches behind the head. It was almost is if it was trying to “tenderize” the entire snake.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Once the bird was satisfied that the snake was dead it took off with it again. Here we can see, several inches behind the head, the only place on the snake’s body with obvious damage.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Perhaps to compensate for the weight of the snake the hawk took off at a much steeper angle than I anticipated so I clipped body parts in many of the images taken after launch. As far as I could tell the bird didn’t eat any of the snake – it was likely intended for chicks in the nest. There are nests nearby in the tree line directly south of this location.
When I’ve (rarely) seen Red-tails with snakes in the past they’ve usually been high in the sky so it was quite interesting to be significantly closer to this one and watch as it killed the snake.
Ron
I had a friend who had a crow fly over head and drop a snake on her windshield. Thank goodness she wasn’t driving!
That was a first.Very interesting though I found myself sympathizing with the snake.
Wonderful find and shots Ron!
Charlotte
Wow. My wimpy self has difficulties with snakes. Another reason to welcome raptors. And another fascinating series from you.
EC, If I lived in Australia I might have difficulties with snakes too. You have some doozies down there!
In one of our homes a red-belled black snake lived under the front steps. For about nine months of the year I only used the back door.
I don’t blame you!
I find the feathers (primaries?) on the bird’s left wing in the second to last shot confusing….
I think it’s just because those primary tips have been twisted by air pressure resulting from the moving wing.
I’ve seen redtails and goldens flying with snakes but never saw them kill one…a young teenage Lakota friend reached for the severed head of a big old grandfather rattler once at a sundance. The snake’s head, though just killed, snapped at him when the shadow of his hand crossed it’s eyes. I stopped the kid with a hard, swift jab to his middle with my elbow just in time to avoid his being bitten. His father carried the head away on a long handled shovel and buried it. It took a long time for the body to stop moving. Scary!
Wow, that was quite an experience, Patty.
Some folks eat rattlesnake and I saw a video once where the snake was beheaded, gutted and skinned – then washed in a creek and when it hit the cold water it continued to twitch and jerk.
WOW! First time I have ever seen a raptor with a snake. Thanks, Ron!!
I think I’ve only seen it four or five times, Jane.
Indeed wonderful with interesting details.
Thank you, Janice.
Great documentation Ron, Nice job!
This is a first for me. Yes, I know raptors kill snakes, but I’ve never observed the actual capture.
Thanks for sharing.
Dick, I once photographed a kestrel, both perched and flying, with a snake. That was fun to see too.
What a lovely series starring my favorite raptor (along with all the others) 🙂 I particularly like the take-off shot.
My redtail (again, no more MINE than the air I breathe) caught several snakes in her time in Wyoming, but then seemed not to like the eating part. That came after a bull snake almost killed her back. When I arrived at the scene, the snake had coiled around her neck. In a classic case of why it’s not a bad thing to have a human slave, I unwound the snake, she killed it, but she never caught another.
The Cornell male redtail, Ezra, generally brings a dozen-ish garter snakes to the nest every year–this year, there were only two or three, but included the eyeas’ first meal(s). And, as you know, it can take a while to kill a snake, even after its head is removed.
Laura, BNA lists bullsnakes (along with rattlesnakes) as the two types of snakes most commonly preyed upon by Red-tails.
Good series, Ron! 🙂 Sure worked it over making sure it was dead – don’t imagine they want it wrapping around their legs or biting them! Beautiful hawk! 🙂
I think you’re right, Judy. Thanks.