Different behavior according to type of prey is correlated with ability of prey to retaliate, although some animals may not be released because they could easily escape. For instance, a frog could hop far enough to escape in a matter of seconds if released. A 73-millimeter _Rana pipiens_ that I observed was bitten twice within one and a quarter hours and died 45 minutes after the last bite. Its movement was uncoordinated by the time of the second bite, but it could have escaped had the frog not been confined. Although it is doubtful that normal, healthy fish are frequently captured by cottonmouths, Allen (1932:17) reported that a cottonmouth was seen pushing a small, dead pike about on the surface of a stream. A wound on the belly of the fish indicated that it had been bitten. A 17-gram creek chub (_Semotilus_) and a 13.7-gram bass (_Micropterus_) were injected by me with one-fourth cubic centimeter of fresh venom near the base of the tail in order to determine whether the fish could escape after being bitten and released. The creek chub flipped onto its back after a minute and 45 seconds and gill movements stopped in eight minutes and 35 seconds; the bass flipped over after 50 seconds and died in two minutes and 10 seconds. The venom immediately affected both fish, and it is unlikely that either could have swum more than a few feet. After its prey has been killed, a cottonmouth examines the body from end to end by touching it with the tongue. Then the animal is grasped in the mouth without the use of the fangs and is slowly manipulated until one end (usually the head) is held in the mouth. The lengthy process of swallowing then takes place, the fangs and lower jaws alternately pushing the prey down the throat. Food and Food Preferences The cottonmouth seems to be an opportunistic omni-carnivore, because it eats almost any type of flesh that is available, including carrion. It feeds primarily upon vertebrates found in or near water; but invertebrates and eggs have also been found in the diet. The only potential prey items that seem not to be normally eaten are bufonid toads and tadpoles. I have occasionally offered tadpoles and frogs to cottonmouths, but only the frogs were accepted. But, Stanley Roth kept a cottonmouth in captivity that ate both toads and tadpoles. If tadpoles are commonly eaten, their probable rapid digestion would make identification almost impossible. Following is a list of known foods of the cottonmouth: Captivity: "... rattlesnake.... The same moccasin also killed and ate a smaller snake of its own species...." (Conant, 1934:382.)