Prey
Common Name
Towhee - Piplio erythrophthalmus
Eastern meadowlark - Sturnella magna
Bobwhite - Colinus virginianus
King rail - Rallus elegans
Brown thrasher - Toxostoma rufum
Black rat - Rattus rattus
Cotton mouse - Peromyscus gossypinus
White-footed mouse - Peromyscus species
Pine vole - Microtus pinetorum
Harvest mouse - Reithrodontomys humulis
House mouse - Mus musculus
Eastern wood rat - Neotoma floridana
Hispid cotton rat - Sigmodon hispidus
Fox squirrel - Sciurus niger
Gray squirrel - Sciurus carolinensis
Flying squirrel - Glaucomys volans
Cottontail rabbit - Sylvilagus floridanus
Marsh rabbit - Sylvilagus palustris
Below: Adult Eastern Diamondback found eating a wild cottontail in Polk County Florida.
Below: A Florida Eastern found waiting in ambush against a log on the forest floor. Rodents use the tops of logs as runways keeping them above the surface of the forest floor. Easterns and Canebrakes have been observed hunting using this method. The snakes have evolved their hunting methods to catch more wary prey. Sorry for the poor quality of the photograph. Photographed by Giff Beaton in Georgia.
