FAILED PREDATION OF A  NEWBORN CALF BY THE CENTRAL AMERICAN COMMON BOA (Boa imperator: SERPENTES: BOIDAE) IN COSTA RICA

Alejandro Solórzano; Mahmood Sasa Marín

doi:10.22201/fc.25942158e.2024.1.907

Authors

Alejandro Solórzano
Mahmood Sasa Marín Museo de Zoología y Centro de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Ecología Tropical, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, San José, Costa Rica.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22201/fc.25942158e.2024.1.907

Keywords:

Reptilia, Serpentes, predator-prey relationships, diet, feeding behaviour

Abstract

A failed predation attempt by an adult Central American Common Boa (Boa imperator) on a one-day-old calf is presented. The snake managed to kill the calf but was unable to swallow it as it could not overcome the width of the bovine's head. After several minutes he gave up and retired a few meters from the place where he remained with obvious signs of exhaustion. These miscalculations in predation are not uncommon in snakes, and although they usually manage to free themselves from prey, sometimes they cannot and die from exhaustion or other circumstances.

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