ASP changes how people view and treat snakes
ASP changes how people view and treat snakes
Each spring, festivals are held throughout Texas in which thousands of rattlesnakes are kidnapped from their dens, kept without adequate food or water, tortured, and finally killed for entertainment and profit (find out more at RattlesnakeRoundups.com). If you have ever been out looking for snakes, or even spent time in rattlesnake habitat, you’ve probably noticed
Ban rattlesnake gassing in Texas! Read More »
As I reflected on my favorite snake moments of 2013, I realized we hadn’t shared the best story of all! We added Luna and Cat to our study at Muleshoe in 2012 for one reason – we wanted to observe maternal care in Arizona black rattlesnakes at our new site. Despite all we’ve seen, mother
Year of the snake (family) Read More »
How viper* behavior increases their effect on prey populations *Vipers are a family of venomous snakes that includes Copperheads, Cottonmouths (Water Moccasins), and Rattlesnakes in North America. The sound of domestic cats fighting is probably familiar to many readers. Like most predators, cats defend their turf and the resources within. Prey is often scarce and
Snakes Are Good Neighbors Read More »
Have you ever watched a Whiptail Lizard run from you at lightning speed and wondered how anything ever manages to catch and eat them? Well, I’m about to tell you. One summer afternoon, I noticed a Western Patch-nosed Snake stretched out in the bare soil next to a walking path. She immediately continued on her
Western Patch-nosed Snake Digs for Her Dinner Read More »
The male combat “dance” of snakes – rattlesnakes among them – is an affair wherein the obvious isn’t the truth, and the truth is stranger than the obvious (Laurence Klauber, in Rattlesnakes, p. 703) How do snakes fight? And why do they do it? When we think of combat, graphic images of violent competition come
Lovers and Fighters Read More »
There’s something special about moms, right? So, today’s post is about an under-appreciated group of moms (you guessed it), Arizona Black Rattlesnakes! Human moms – you think you have it tough? Rattlesnake maternal duties may only last a couple weeks, but during that time they may have to protect their kids from extreme temperatures, a
Happy Mother’s Day! Read More »
When SocialSnakes started working at the Muleshoe Ranch Preserve in September 2011, we were interested in whether Arizona black rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerberus) den in groups here at the southern and low elevation end of their geographic range. They do! Last year we observed at least one Arizona black rattlesnake sharing a den at Muleshoe with
They’re everywhere! Read More »
“To endow animals with human emotions has long been a scientific taboo. But if we do not, we risk missing something fundamental, about both animals and us.” “Science is only as good as the question, and we cannot learn the answers to questions we don’t ask.” Many scientists, in their efforts to be unbiased and
Removing the Blinders Read More »
From the website “How can you cuddle without arms?” I was contacted a while ago by a student in the Animal Behavior class at Reed College. For this class, pairs of students design a website on an animal behavior of their choice and this student was working on social snake behavior. Check out their excellent
How can you cuddle without arms? Read More »
This summer we presented our preliminary findings on social snake behavior at the World Congress of Herpetology in Vancouver, British Columbia. Because our presentation was so well received (we won the Herpetologists’ League Graduate Research Award!), we decided to adapt it for the blog. Enjoy! And we’d love to hear your feedback below, by email,
Arizona black rattlesnake aggregations exhibit hallmarks of sociality Read More »
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