How Snakes hunt
Snakes, are footless or nearly footless reptiles, have a segmented spine. Snakes have no outer ears or tympanic membranes. Then, you may have a question, how do snakes hunt their prey? There are few points of their hunt.
First, snakes will actively search for prey. Although they don’t have outer ears, they can hear sounds in the air. Reptiles receive different sounds from the tympanic membrane, but snake sounds travel from the skin to the muscles and then to the bones. In particular, the sound waves are converted to the mandibular muscles and then to the square bones when they hit the skin surface of the temporal bone. The ear bones (axial column and stapes) are adjacent to the square bones and are loosely attached to the underside of the skull. Just like other reptiles, instant shock waves are transmitted from the inner ear and its sensitive cells.
Secondly, snakes will sit and wait for their prey to arrive. Active searchers and ambushers use sight, smell, hearing and touch to confirm, identify and capture their prey. One of the senses may be more important, but it is impossible for a snake to search for its prey by relying on only one of the senses. For example, the Northeast American rattlesnake using multiple senses to ambush is a good example. Rattlesnakes traverse the forest to find rodents by smell.
Third, most of the snakes follow the trail until it sees the proper ambush, and the arrival of the prey is detected by vibration (hearing and touch); at this time, if there is enough light, the snake can also see the prey. When the snake attack, the fangs touch the mouse and inject venom. The mouth bite the prey for a short time. The prey would struggle but quickly escape the scene and die of poisoning not far away. Rattlesnakes use their sense of smell to track and find their prey.
Finally they will eat their prey. The mouth of a snake is usually closed or barely opened when it attacks, but it opens completely when it touches the prey (in some cases the angle of the upper and lower jaws is almost 180 degrees). The crooked teeth are inserted almost directly into the prey and quickly bring the prey deep into the mouth. The struggle of the prey only deepens the control of tooth penetration and tightening of the mouth. If the prey is small, they swallow it directly, otherwise using entanglement or poison to subdue the larger prey. When preparing to eat the subdued prey, the snake usually releases its mouth and moves its head to face the head of the prey. The left and right independent jaw structure can move prey. The prey slowly and continuously moves to the esophagus and secretes a lot of saliva. Once the prey passes the teeth, the neck and trunk muscles twist and the body curls; the contraction of the body pushes the prey towards the stomach behind. Once the prey is safely in the esophagus, the snake completes a series of yawning movements. These yawns can readjust the mouth and mandible back to their original state and prepare for the next meal.
In conclusion, most snakes hunt their prey based on four steps: searching for their prey, ambushing, attacking , and eating. From learning to find the inertia of foraging; I understand where, how and what snakes are searching for and how to eat, etc. I have benefited a lot from this essay.
Sources
https://www.snakesforpets.com/how-do-snakes-catch-their-prey/
