Adrenocortical Effects of Human Encounters on Free-Ranging Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

Stressed snakes strike first: Hormone levels and defensive behavior in free ranging cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

“…Studies that have examined the relationship between CORT and behavior have focused on the role of elevated CORT following an acute stressor (Thaker et al, 2009), with less attention given to the potential role of baseline CORT in determining the behavioral response to an initial encounter (but see Berger et al, 2007). Mean baseline CORT for snakes in this study (Table 2), correspond to previous studies on this species (Graham et al, 2008;Bailey et al, 2009). We found that variation within baseline CORT concentrations was related to the initial antipredator behavioral response of cottonmouth snakes.…”

“…For this reason, and because they display a suite of quantifiable antipredator behaviors, cottonmouth defensive behavior has been studied extensively (Glaudas and Gibbons, 2005;Glaudas and Winne, 2007;Glaudas et al, 2006;Roth and Johnson, 2004). Concurrent with the behavioral research, P a g e | 6 the endocrinology of cottonmouths has also been subject to recent extensive study (Bailey et al, 2009;Graham et al, 2011;Graham et al, 2008;. While there has been substantial research separately examining the antipredator behavior and field endocrinology in this species, potential connections between these two areas have remained unexplored.…”

Responses of Natricine Snakes to Predatory Threat: A Mini-Review and Research Prospectus

“…Stress is a physiological response to unfavourable environmental conditions, or stressors, that is measured by changes in glucocorticoid (e.g., CORT in birds, reptiles, and amphibians, and cortisol in humans and teleost fish) levels and the subsequent alteration of other physiological and behavioural processes (Bailey et al, 2009;Lupien et al, 2009). Reptiles display this 'classical stress response' (Moore and Jessop, 2003;Taylor and Denardo, 2011).…”

Toe Clipping of Amphibians and Reptiles: Science, Ethics, and the Law1

“…With the notable exception of return rates in frogs, our review supports this conclusion as do some studies on stress in other organisms. Two additional studies examined the effects of capture and confinement on stress hormone levels in snakes, and both of them found significantly elevated levels of stress hormones resulting from these noninvasive procedures (Mathies et al, 2001;Bailey et al, 2009). Another two examined the effect of toe clipping on rodents (Castelhano-Carlos et al, 2010;Schaefer et al, 2010).…”