Abstract
Prey-searching behavior in a seminatural arena was observed in adult western diamondback rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox). Adult house mice were used as prey items and their position in the arena was controlled. Rattlesnakes receiving visual or thermal cues from the mice responded with a depressed tongue-flick rate (TFR) but following the prey's disappearance they showed an elevated TFR. These snakes alternated to a chemosensory mode of prey detection in response to cues other than the prey strike sequence. Rattlesnakes may maintain a flexibility in their predatory behavior in nature greater than that which has been indicated in previous studies.
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