Life is short, but snakes are long: Screech Owls and Blindsnakes: An Unlikely Mutualism http://t.co/OmwdMGckMS

— Bryan D. Hughes (@rattlesnakeguy) March 12, 2014

From the link:

Gehlbach and Baldridge observed some of the screech owls in their study carrying live Texas Blindsnakes (Rena [formerly Leptotyphlops] dulcis) to their nests in experimental nest boxes like those used by wood ducks and bluebirds (pictured at right). When they checked the nests the next day, they found, to their surprise, between one and fifteen live blindsnakes living among the owl chicks in fourteen different nests! In some cases, the snakes lived with the baby owls for at least a week! Many of the blindsnakes bore scars from adult owl beaks, but few had been killed.

Read the rest for more fascinating details. And a video. And a photo of baby birds ‘almost as cute as baby snakes’.