Abstract
Rattlesnakes, Crotalus viridis, struck mouse carcasses misted with water or with diluted perfume. Envenomated carcasses were removed, and later the snakes were presented with a pair of non-envenomated carcasses, each misted with one of these liquids. Snakes preferred the carcass with the same odour as the prey that was struck, even when the test occurred 60 min after the predatory strike. Under natural circumstances, rodents may acquire distinct chemical identities through their diet. In further tests, snakes preferred carcasses of mice that had been eating the same diet as the mouse that had been struck. These results indicate that rattlesnakes rapidly acquire chemical information from rodent prey during predatory strikes and use this information in subsequent search for prey.
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