Prairie rattlesnakes

Graves B.M. and Duvall D. (1985). Mouth — gaping and head — shaking by Prairie Rattlesnakes are associated with vomeronasal organ olfaction. Copeia, 496-497. 

Neonate garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis, and brown snakes distinguish conspecific from heterospecific odors (Burghardt 1977, 1983). Newborn timber rattlesnakes, Crotalus horridus, are able to follow conspecific odor trails (Brown and MacLean, 1983). Neonate water snakes are attracted to conspecific odor (Scudder et ah, 1980) and neonate prairie rattlesnakes, Crotalus viridis, to lipoids from the epidermis of adult conspecifics (Graves etal., 1987). 

Odor trails lead from the birthing rookeries of pregnant snakes to their ancestral winter dens. These trails probably help the neonates to find shelter (Graves et al., 1987). Socially naive neonate prairie rattlesnakes were tested for odor... 

Chiszar, D., Melner, T., and Lee, R. (1990). Chemical cues used by prairie rattlesnakes Cro-talus viridis) to follow trails of rodent prey. Journal of Chemical Ecology 16,79-86. 

Chiszar, D., Grant, H., and Hobart, M. (1993b). Prairie rattlesnakes Crotalus viridis) respond to rodent blood with chemosensory searching. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 41,229-233. 

Duvall, D. and Chiszar, D. (1990). Behavior and chemical ecology of vernal migration and pre-and poststrike predatory activity in prairie rattlesnakes field and laboratory experiments. In Chemical Signals in Vertehrates, vol. 5, ed. D. W. Macdonald, D. Miiller-Schwarze, and S. E. Natynczuk, pp. 539-554 New York Plenum. 

Graves, B. M. and Duvall, D. (1985). Avomic prairie rattlesnakes [Crotalus viridis) fail to attack rodent prey. ZeitschriftfurTierpsychologie 67,161-166. 

Evidence of an alarm pheromone from the cloacal sacs of prairie rattlesnakes. Southwestern Naturalist 33,339-345. 

Crotalus Viridis Viridis Common Name(s) Prairie Rattlesnake... 

A myonecrotic toxin found in the venom of the prairie rattlesnake Crotalus viridis. Basic polypeptide, MW 4600. Binds to sarcoplasmic reticulum, affects Ca++ levels produces cellular swelling and necrosis. 

Duvall, D., J. Goode, J., Hayes, W. K., Leonhardt, J. K., and Brown, D. G., 1990, Prairie rattlesnake vernal migration Field experimental analysis and survival value, Nat. Geographic Res., 6 457-469. 

Furry, K., Swain, T., and Chiszar, D., 1991, Strike-induced chemosensory searching and trail following by prairie rattlesnakes (Crolalus viridis) preying upon deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) chemical discrimination among individual mice, Herpelologica 47(l) 69-78. 

Distance traveled by mice (Mus muscuius) after envenomation by prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis), Bull. Psychon. Sci., 18 108. 

Trailing behavior in prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis),... 

Radcliffe, C. W., Estep, K., Boyer, J., and Chiszar, D., 1985, Stimulus control of predatory behaviour in red spitting cobras (Naja mossambica pallida) and prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus v. viridis), Anim. Behav., in press. 

It was originally reported that pheromone trails might guide rattlesnakes to their dens in the fall (Klauber, 1972). However, it now appears that only juveniles and yearlings use trails and that adults may rely on other orientation mechanisms. Brown and MacLean (1983) documented juvenile timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) following adult pheromone trails in the fall (Table 3), but King et al. (1983) found that adult prairie rattlesnakes ( viridis, would not trail conspecifics. Adult Crotalus apparently find dens by celestial cues (Landreth, 1973, Duvall et al., 1985) and... 

King, M., McCarron, D., Duvall, D., Baxter, G., and Gern, W., 1983, Group avoidance of conspecific but not interspecific chemical cues by prairie rattlesnakes, Crotalus viridis, J. Herp., 17 196. 

INITIAL DEN LOCATION BY NEONATAL PRAIRIE RATTLESNAKES FUNCTIONS, CAUSES, AND NATURAL HISTORY IN CHEMICAL ECOLOGY... 

PRAIRIE RATTLESNAKES IN WYOMING SOME RELEVANT NATURAL HISTORY... 

A replication of this experiment was performed using a different method for quantification of water loss and with measurements of metabolic rates to control for any changes in RWL. This experiment was performed the following year with different neonatal prairie rattlesnakes. Nine groups of three neonates each were subjects. The experiment was performed in the same manner as the previous experiment except that water loss was quantified using a dew point hygrometer (EG B, Environmental Equipment Division, Waltham, MA,... 

How do neonate prairie rattlesnakes find a hibernaculum of unknown location They may follow adults that have hibernated there before and, hence, know its location (Klauber, 1972). However, rather than using visual and tactual cues to do so, we propose that neonatal rattlesnakes follow odor trails or markings of other snakes - principally adults - to the den. This... 

Hence, if chemical signals mediate den location by neonatal prairie rattlesnakes, skin lipids would seem to be the best candidates. Odorous substances used in the experiments to be described next were obtained by extracting shed skins in a soxhlet apparatus with methylene chloride as a solvent. 

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