Oyster Toadfish Predator

[AmberjackYakin]

Last week I got the chance to see one of the Oyster Toadfish predators while crabbing, a water snake. So next time, think twice about killing water snakes like I've seen most people do.

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[silasvirus82]

Damn nature, you scary. I never kill snakes, including venomous ones. Everything has a place in my world except mosquitos, kill them all!


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[Big Mike]

I saw the exact same thing at St Inigoes 2 years ago. Awesome to see. I’ll take mosquitoes over biting flies.

[J.A. Veil]

I am curious about how the snake got a toadfish. I don't know much about water snakes but don't imagine they can dive to deep water bottoms where the toadfish typically live. I don't question what you saw (a snake eating a toadfish). But I wonder if the snake dove and caught a live toadfish. Perhaps the toadfish was already dead or had been weakened by getting caught in a pound net and the snake was an opportunist. In any case, it is a great photo and observation. Thanks for sharing it.

[Crotalus]

Fish are the primary food for water snakes and they can dive under water for a while in search of prey. Madtom catfish are a common prey item, so it doesn't surprise me too much that one would scrounge up another bottom dwelling species like a toadfish. Great observation. (I have a strong affinity for snakes)


Also, my wife occasionally helps sample for terrapins. They use bank nets and catch quite a few toadfish, so they must come in to pretty shallow water.

[Big Mike]

http://www.snaggedline.com/showthrea...ighlight=Snake

The toadfish I saw three years ago was very much alive as it swam off after I startled or annoyed the snake.

[Mark]

I believe I've seen more water snakes this year than in past years. However, I haven't seen any feeding like the photos shared by AmberjackYakin and Big Mike. Instead, I have observed them swimming close to shore and even in open water. As I've watched their side-to-side swimming motion, they remind me very much of a Zara Spook at work, zig zagging its way back to my kayak. No doubt, one day I will see a topwater explosion on a water snake where it becomes the prey.

[kevinfry]

Toadfish regularly raid pier-side

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[kevinfry]

Toadfish regularly raid peir-side crabpots. So I know they are accessible. ,,.... question is, can they be trained to eat CNR?

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[kevinfry]

(gasp, more CNR bashing)

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[whenican]

I once watched a northern watersnake swim under some bluegills to ambush one of them. Then it dragged it onto land
where
it devoured the fish. This was at Great Falls, MD-side.