Rattlesnake poststrike trailing cues

Consequently, the purpose of our experiments was to see if blood alone carried chemical cues used during poststrike trailing by the rattlesnake to relocate its envenomated prey. 

Second, envenomation does produce a chemical cue that is formed quickly after the strike and immediately secreted fi om the rodent into the environment to produce an odor trail followed poststrike by the rattlesnake (Chiszar et al., 1992b Kardong, 2001). Poststrike, rattlesnakes can follow an odor trail produced by an unstruck mouse (Treatment 2). However, the poststrike trailing success of rattlesnakes significantly improves if provided with the odor trail of a struck mouse (Treatment 1 compared to Treatment 2). Whatever this strike-induced odor cue might be, it is not carried in the blood to surface sites on the rodent for release to the environment. 

Essentially, poststrike trailing rattlesnakes ignored the blood cue, as they exhibited no preference for it over an unstmck mouse odor trail (Treatment 3). Therefore blood odor and mouse odor do not interact in a synergistic way to produce a scent trail of increased perceptibility for the rattlesnake. 

Smith, T. L, Kardong, K. V., and Lavin-Murcio, P. A., 2000, Persistence of trailing behavior cues involved in poststrike behavior by the rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis oreganus). Behavior 137 691-703. 

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