Sea Gulls Play Tug of War with Snake

Gulls Tussle Over Snake

One Gull Starts to Win

Sometimes the most common animals really put on a show, making them more fun to see than some rare bird you only catch a glimpse of. On a trip to the West Creek beachhouse of my friends Jeff and Padla, I got to see two sea gulls fight over a snake.

I think the gulls were  just Herring Gulls, (Larus argentatus) your typical, generic big sea gull. Looking over all the snakes that live in New Jersey, I’ll say it was an Eastern Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus amoenus), which looks just like a big worm. In other words, they couldn’t have been more pedestrian species, but their battle was spectacular.

The action started when one gull flew by with the snake dangling from its mouth, hotly pursued by another gull. They landed and got into a minute-long tug-of-war over the unfortunate snake. Those gulls really had some moves. Eventually one won out and quicker than I could get a picture, swallowed the little snake.

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