Abstract
The resistance of Sigmodon hispidus (hispid cotton rat), Neotoma micropus (gray woodrat), and Didelphis virginiana (opossum) to Crotalus atrox (Western diamondback rattlesnake) venom was studied by means of antihemorrhagic assay, hemorrhagic assay, mouse protection test and determination of the ld 50. The antihemorrhagic activity of serum and tissue extract was measured in the back of rabbits. In all three animals there was very little antihemorrhagic activity associated with tissue extract. There was antihemorrhagic activity associated with the three serum samples with the highest being D. virginiana. The hemorrhagic assay in the back of the three species of animals revealed that D. virginiana and N. micropus would neutralize the hemorrhagic factors in C. atrox venom at about the same rate. Sigmodon hispidus neutralized C. atrox venom but to a lesser degree. The ld 50 of the venom in S. hispidus was 172 mg/kg body weight which was 6·5 times less resistant than N. micropus but 21 times more resistant than white laboratory mice. The results clearly show that the three animals studied are resistant to rattlesnake venom.
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