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Ground squirrels use an infrared signal
to deter rattlesnake predation
Aaron S. Rundus, Donald H. Owings, Sanjay S. Joshi, Erin Chinn, and
Nicolas Giannini
Squirrels
Snakes
Introduction: Mommy ground squirrels use different
tactics to deal with different predators
Birds,
mammals
Snakes
Richard G. Coss
Vocal displays
Visual displays:
“Tail flagging”
Introduction: tail flagging is used for
rattlesnakes and gopher snakes
Rattlesnake
Gopher snake
Hypotheses and Predictions
H1: Squirrels use an infrared component to tail
flagging when confronting rattlesnakes
P1: infrared t.f. with rattlesnakes
but not with gopher snakes
H2: Tail flagging + infrared helps to prevent rattlesnake
predatory behavior
P1: rattlesnakes will display more defensive
behavior (coiling, rattling) with infrared t.f.
compared to normal t.f.
Methods
rattlesnake
gopher snake
+ heated tail
- heated tail
Results
Results
Hypotheses and Predictions
H1: Squirrels use an infrared component to tail
flagging when confronting rattlesnakes
P1: infrared t.f. with rattlesnakes
but not with gopher snakes
H2: Tail flagging + infrared helps to prevent rattlesnake
predatory behavior
P1: rattlesnakes will display more defensive
behavior (coiling, rattling) with infrared t.f.
compared to normal t.f.
Future directions
Squirrel power:
Do other squirrel behaviors help
the effectiveness of tail flagging?
(ex: substrate throwing)
Using the correct lingo:
Are there more examples of
animals that use infrared signals to
“talk” with other species?