Water Hazard

by Dirk Bayer

I was on my way to feed the fish this afternoon when I spotted a large cottonmouth. I ran to get my camera, and, by the time I had returned, it had captured one of the koy and was dragging it out of the water.

Cottonmouth Water Mocassin, (Agkistrodon piscivorus), May 23, 2008,
Bon Secour, Baldwin County, Alabama, courtesy of Dirk Bayer.

It tried to swallow the fish, but didn't like my company so it dragged the fish about 10' up an incline and tried to swallow it again.

Cottonmouth Water Mocassin, (Agkistrodon piscivorus), May 23, 2008

After a valient try, it gave up, probably to return tonight after giving the fish time to soften up some.

Cottonmouth Water Mocassin, (Agkistrodon piscivorus), May 23, 2008

It was a big snake but the fish was big too-

++++++++++++++++

Dirk rears many butterflies and moths on his homestead in Alabama. Cottonmouths can be quite protective of their territory, and this snake is a big one. I hope the only run-ins Dirk has with this beauty are at "camera length".

If you plant flowers and larval hosts, the butterflies will come; if you "plant" fish, expect some other visitors.

Eacles imperialis female, form nobilis, Baldwin County, Alabama,
May 20 2008, courtesy of Dirk Bayer.

In a previous season Dirk had reported taking Callosamia securifera females at his lights. He noted that at least one fresh female was calling the following day and paired with an incoming male.

I suggested that maybe the female had eclosed very close to the light source and had been drawn in before pairing. Female Saturniidae usually do not fly until after they have paired, at least not until the third or fourth night.

On May 14, 2008 Dirk reports, "The female imperialis would flutter around in the cage every time her sibling male would come near her so I released him at 9p.m and by 1a.m. she had attracted a wild male and was mating. When I looked in her cage at 9am, they had seperated, so I should have some fertile eggs by morning."

On May 16, Dirk writes, regarding the female described above, "The imperial only laid about 30 eggs last night, so I could only fill+ mail the order for 12 eggs today. She laid about a doz.eggs so far tonight and then lowered her scent gland and attracted another wild male and is mating again at 1 am.

"I usually get my eggs from wild females, so I am not that familiar with the behavior of reared imperials. Is mating twice a common trait? I noticed that she mated for about 5 hr. the first time. Perhaps mating time was not suficient to fertilize all her eggs for some reason. What is the normal mating time for imperials?"

Based on recent communication with Eugene Morton (see Callosamia promethea Multiple Pairings: Impact on Egg Deposition Numbers, Dirk's earlier observations of C. securifera and this most recent report on E. imperialis, I am beginning to wonder if multiple pairings might be a much more common natural process than is reported.

The multiple pairings of E. imperialis did not involve the suffused form "nobilis" pictured above. It is believed she is a sibling on the much more common yellow form.

Use your browser "Back" button to return to the previous page.