National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Photo: Snake-Ridden Florida Island Provides Unlikely Haven for Birds


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A cottonmouth snake on Seahorse Key, Florida, displays its namesake white mouth as biologist Harvey Lillywhite approaches to capture it with a hook.

Cottonmouths on the island don't prey on the seabirds that nest there and instead live almost entirely on fish that the birds drop from their nests. In return for the bounty of half-digested fish, the snakes seem to deter would-be predators such as invasive rats from raiding the birds' nests, Lillywhite says.

Photograph by Blake de Pastino/NGS