Post by Ryan Wunsch on Apr 11, 2006 16:36:19 GMT -5
Again, talking to Ryan Wilker last night, I remembered this research.
I know I've read the whole thing, but I can't seem to find the entire article. If anyone knows where it is, please post it.
www.newscientist.com/article/mg14319392.400.html
But on to the theory aspect....
The article mentions the snakes using this to find hiding spots and prey (and I thought I remembered that they thought water too)
Rattlesnakes have been found to travel very far from their dens (I think up to 20 miles) to forage for food in the summer, and then come back to the exact same hole for over wintering. I’ve seen the same snake at the same exact densite for 3 years in a row, but I do not know how far those ones traveled.
I've heard theories that they use the sun, or a pheromone trail to help navigate their way back to the same densite. I’m sure I emailed the person in charge of the study to let him know the idea I had, but I never heard from them again (I also don’t remember reading about “hiding spots” the first time I read the article, so I guess it is possible he may have got my email and is incorporating that thought into his study, I’ll likely email him again soon in either case.)
But, if rattlesnakes can become electro-charged, could they not be using this as a magnetic compass to leave and return to the dens?
I think that a good research idea for a University student might be to study this theory. Perhaps the snakes all travel due south (magnetic) from the many densites along the river, or possibly each snake remembers what direction they left, so that they can travel back the same way.
I will try to find the full article, and post it here. I might also again try to contact the people involved with the magnetic study about my theory, and to see if they have an update.
I will keep you posted of my findings…..
Ryan
I know I've read the whole thing, but I can't seem to find the entire article. If anyone knows where it is, please post it.
www.newscientist.com/article/mg14319392.400.html
Why do rattlesnakes shake their rattles? In order to charge themselves with static electricity, says a zoologist in the US. Theodore Vonstille of the Envi-Sci Center in Winter Park, Florida, claims that rattlesnakes use their charged tongues to 'electro-sense' good hiding places and prey.
As snakes slither along, friction with the ground quite naturally causes a charge to build up on their bodies. It is a phenomenon familiar to anyone who has shuffled across a carpet on a dry day, then felt a static discharge after touching a filing cabinet or other metal object.
Snakes, however, retain this static electricity to a degree that other animals do not. This is because they have dry, highly insulating skin and lack the hairs, feathers, spines and bristles that other creatures possess and which help them to shed the static build-up.
Vonstille suggests that the rattle of the rattlesnake generates static for electro-location ...
As snakes slither along, friction with the ground quite naturally causes a charge to build up on their bodies. It is a phenomenon familiar to anyone who has shuffled across a carpet on a dry day, then felt a static discharge after touching a filing cabinet or other metal object.
Snakes, however, retain this static electricity to a degree that other animals do not. This is because they have dry, highly insulating skin and lack the hairs, feathers, spines and bristles that other creatures possess and which help them to shed the static build-up.
Vonstille suggests that the rattle of the rattlesnake generates static for electro-location ...
But on to the theory aspect....
The article mentions the snakes using this to find hiding spots and prey (and I thought I remembered that they thought water too)
Rattlesnakes have been found to travel very far from their dens (I think up to 20 miles) to forage for food in the summer, and then come back to the exact same hole for over wintering. I’ve seen the same snake at the same exact densite for 3 years in a row, but I do not know how far those ones traveled.
I've heard theories that they use the sun, or a pheromone trail to help navigate their way back to the same densite. I’m sure I emailed the person in charge of the study to let him know the idea I had, but I never heard from them again (I also don’t remember reading about “hiding spots” the first time I read the article, so I guess it is possible he may have got my email and is incorporating that thought into his study, I’ll likely email him again soon in either case.)
But, if rattlesnakes can become electro-charged, could they not be using this as a magnetic compass to leave and return to the dens?
I think that a good research idea for a University student might be to study this theory. Perhaps the snakes all travel due south (magnetic) from the many densites along the river, or possibly each snake remembers what direction they left, so that they can travel back the same way.
I will try to find the full article, and post it here. I might also again try to contact the people involved with the magnetic study about my theory, and to see if they have an update.
I will keep you posted of my findings…..
Ryan