We investigated food habits of the Japanese striped snake (Elaphe quadrivirgata) by analyzing their feces. From 2018 to 2020,we captured 56 striped snakes in a paddy field surrounded by forest in Gifu Prefecture,Japan,and placed them in plastic cases for several days. Forty-five (80.4%) of these captured snakes excreted feces,and most of these feces contained some parts of prey animals,including frogs (unidentified),lizard (Takydromus tachydromoides),snakes (Lycodon orientalis and Rhabdophis tigrinus) and shrew (Crocidura dsinezumi). Although small land snail (Allopeas kyotoense),lepidoptera larva,small insects and spider (unidentified) were also included in the feces,these small invertebrates may be stomach contents of preyed frogs. Among these prey animals,frogs were the most common (81%) and were thought to have been directly eaten by the snakes,and this tendency was similar to the food habits of the striped snake analyzed based on forced regurgitation in previous studies. We also fed reared striped snakes in this study with the frog (Pelophylax nigromaculatus) and mouse (Mus musculus). These snakes defecated 2.5 ± 0.9 days after being fed,and the prey animals were found to be mostly digested. This suggests that the captured snakes excreted incompletely digested food in their feces under stress. Although the method used in this study induced some stress in the snakes,much information on snake food habits could be obtained.
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