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RE: Snakes Are Crucial Seed "Rescuers" and Distributors

in #science6 years ago

Reading this, it made me wonder: is there any snake species that is herbivorous - at least partially? I know it seems unlikely, but I have found that there is a exception to almost any rule in nature.
Did you ever hear anything like that about a snake?

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Actually, that rule may be the one constant for snakes! There actually aren't any herbivorous or even omnivorous snakes in the world known to science (and I think it is highly unlikely that a herbivorous snake is yet to be discovered). Plant matter has been found in the droppings of snakes, but lab studies have concluded that this was by accident and snakes did not readily eat plants for the sake of eating plants (cottonmouths occasionally ate seaweed for no other reason than it smelled like fish, but they simply aren't capable of the digestion of vegetation).

This article by herpetologists from British Columbia delves a little further into the matter.
http://snakesarelong.blogspot.com/2012/10/why-are-there-no-herbivorous-snakes.html

Thanks for the comment! The more that I think about this, it would be a great post in the near future!

Thank you for answering! I sort of expected it, since I never heard of any herbivorous snakes - but I'm no expert.
And yet its surprising, because there are so many different snake species and not all of them are big venomous beasts. I mean, I wouldn't expect them to eat grass or other green stuff, but perhaps fruits or seeds with a high fat content or so.
But well, it seems they managed to survive without going in that direction.

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