Final answer:
The statement not true about how predators deal with prey is 'c. gray rat snakes and milk snakes constrict their prey.' While gray rat snakes constrict their prey, milk snakes do not; instead, they overpower and consume other snakes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement about predators that is not true regarding how they deal with prey is that 'c. gray rat snakes and milk snakes constrict their prey'. This statement is not accurate; while gray rat snakes do indeed constrict their prey, milk snakes are a type of king snake, and they do not constrict their prey. Instead, milk snakes are known for eating other snakes, including venomous ones, and rely on their powerful jaw and muscle structure to subdue their prey.
Looking at the other options, they are generally true:
- 'a. a common merganser's serrated bill helps it catch fish' - Mergansers are ducks with serrated bills that allow them to grip slippery fish.
- 'b. a fisher skins a porcupine before eating it' - Fishers are one of the few predators that have developed a method to prey on porcupines by attacking their unprotected faces and flipping them over to avoid the quills.
- 'd. a bullfrog's tongue captures prey and its eyes swallow it' - Bullfrogs use their sticky tongues to snatch prey and then use their eyes to help push the food down their throats.
- 'e. a long-tailed weasel breaks a prey's neck by biting into its neck vertebrae' - Long-tailed weasels are known to kill their prey by delivering a fatal bite to the neck.