Ophiophagy

Ophiophagy (Greek: ὄφις + φαγία, lit. 'snake eating') is a specialized form of feeding or alimentary behavior of animals which hunt and eat snakes. There are ophiophagous mammals (such as the skunks and the mongooses), birds (such as snake eagles, the secretarybird, coucals and some hawks), lizards (such as the common collared lizard), and even other snakes, such as the Central and South American mussuranas and the North American common kingsnake. The venomous king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is also named for this habit.

Ophiophagy in myth and legend

The mythic associations of snakes are discussed at Serpent (symbolism).

A snake-eating raptor appears in a legend of the ancient Mexican people, who gave rise to the Aztec empire; this is represented in the Mexican flag. The Mexica people, guided by their god Huitzilopochtli, sought the place where a bird lands on the prickly pear and devours a snake. They found their sign on an island in Lake Texcoco, where they erected the city of Tenochtitlan ("Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus"; present-day México City) in 1325. On the coat of arms of México, this bird is said to be depicted as a golden eagle, though it is also often said to be a crested caracara. It is also possible that the bird was inspired by a laughing falcon or red-tailed hawk, both raptors which feed on a large number of reptiles, including snakes.

The golden eagle will actually eat snakes, but does not specialize in them, preferring larger mammalian prey, from medium-sized rodents and lagomorphs to mustelids even small mammalian carnivores, all the way to deer fawns and lambs.