by glasbyb » Tue Oct 26, 2010 8:10 am
I believe that the stumpy tails could definitely be from kelp gulls, there are loads of them and they are very opportunistic. The temperatures on the island are always a few degrees lower than the mainland due to wind chill and being surrounded by water. I have seen several birds of prey hunting rabbits and rats on the island but have not seen them hassle the snakes yet.
Interestingly the snakes seem more reluctant to bite than their mainland cousins and prefer to stick their heads below ground. This particular one saw me coming and put his head into a rabbit burrow leaving half the body exposed, this made it easy to pick him up and have a closer look.
"A field without a snake is like a kiss without a squeeze"