Foraging Ecology of Timber Rattlesnakes, Crotalus horridus

Reinert, Howard K.; MacGregor, Gylla; Esch, Mackenzie; Bushar, Lauretta M.; Zappalorti, Robert T.

doi:10.1643/ce-09-130

Cited by 40 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…We positioned a battery-powered portable surveillance camera over a snake if it appeared to be actively hunting within a squirrel colony (as evident by a stereotyped ambush posture; Clark 2004;Reinert et al 2011). At Frog Pond and Ohlone, we used fixed security cameras (Swann PNP-150 and SuperCircuit PC161IR-2) that recorded data onto mini-digital video recorders (SVAT CVP800 and Supercircuits MDVR14-3).…”

Section: Field Videographymentioning

confidence: 99%

The ontogeny of antipredator behavior: age differences in California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi) at multiple stages of rattlesnake encounters

Putman

Coss

Clark

2015

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Newborn offspring of animals often exhibit fully functional innate antipredator behaviors, but they may also require learning or further development to acquire appropriate responses. Experience allows offspring to modify responses to specific threats and also leaves them vulnerable during the learning period. However, antipredator behaviors used at one stage of a predator encounter may compensate for deficiencies at another stage, a phenomenon that may reduce the overall risk of young that are vulnerable at one or more stages. Few studies have examined age differences in the effectiveness of antipredator behaviors across multiple stages of a predator encounter. In this study, we examined age differences in the antipredator behaviors of California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi) during the detection, interaction, and attack stages of Pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus) encounters. Using free-ranging squirrels, we examined the ability to detect free-ranging rattlesnakes, snake-directed behaviors after discovery of a snake, and responses to simulated rattlesnake strikes. We found that age was the most important factor in snake detection, with adults being more likely to detect snakes than pups. We also found that adults performed more tail flagging (a predator-deterrent signal) toward snakes and were more likely to investigate a snake's refuge when interacting with a hidden snake. In field experiments simulating snake strikes, adults exhibited faster reaction times than pups. Our results show that snake detection improves with age and that pups probably avoid rattlesnakes and minimize time spent in close proximity to them to compensate for their reduced reaction times to strikes.

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Section: Field Videographymentioning

confidence: 99%

The ontogeny of antipredator behavior: age differences in California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi) at multiple stages of rattlesnake encounters

Putman

Coss

Clark

2015

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…Clark's (2002) review of C. horridus diet, including 590 prey items from literature records and recovered from museum specimens, revealed only 17 Eastern Gray Squirrels, plus 8 remains attributed to either Fox Squirrels (Sciurus niger) or unknown Sciurus. More recently, Reinert et al (2011) reported only three Eastern Gray Squirrels among 253 prey items from four Pennsylvania and New Jersey populations. Crotalus horridus dietary data combined from Clark (2002), Reinert et al (2011), and Wittenberg (2012) indicated only 29 Sciurus among 884 prey items, or 3.5% of the total dietary items.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At each radiolocation, we recorded whether the snake's body was tightly coiled, loosely coiled, extended, or moving. Ambush behavior (lying in wait to attack unsuspecting prey) was strictly defined as a snake being tightly coiled and exhibiting several sharp folds of the anterior portion of the body (Reinert et al, 2011). Ambush posture was categorized as log-oriented, non-logoriented, vertical-tree, or other.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The diet of predators is likely influenced by a number of interrelated factors, including habitat structure (Mullin and Mushinsky, 1995;Mullin and Cooper, 1998;Reinert et al, 2011), relative sizes of prey and predator (Shine, 1991;Arnold, 1993), prey availability (Reinert et al, 1984;Capizzi et al, 1995;Beaupre, 2008), and temporal (Santos et al, 2000;Willson et al, 2010) or geographic (Kephart, 1982;Kephart and Arnold, 1982) variation in prey species. Strategies used by predators that result in the selection of prey with specific taxonomic affinities may lead to closely linked relationships between predator and prey.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alternatively, C. horridus will coil at the base of a tree, often with the anterior portion of its body looped against the tree and its head oriented vertically (Brown and Greenberg, 1992). Interestingly, geographic variation in foraging behaviors occurs, because not all tactics are observed in all populations studied (Waldron et al, 2006;Reinert et al, 2011;Wittenberg, 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Diet and Foraging Behaviors of Timber Rattlesnakes,Crotalus horridus, in Eastern Virginia

Goetz

Petersen

Rose

et al. 2016

Journal of Herpetology

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Hunting behavior and feeding ecology of Mojave rattlesnakes (Crotalus scutulatus), prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis), and their hybrids in southwestern New Mexico

Maag,

Francioli,

Shaw

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Predators must contend with numerous challenges to successfully find and subjugate prey. Complex traits related to hunting are partially controlled by a large number of co‐evolved genes, which may be disrupted in hybrids. Accordingly, research on the feeding ecology of animals in hybrid zones has shown that hybrids sometimes exhibit transgressive or novel behaviors, yet for many taxa, empirical studies of predation and diet across hybrid zones are lacking. We undertook the first such field study for a hybrid zone between two snake species, the Mojave rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus) and the prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis). Specifically, we leveraged established field methods to quantify the hunting behaviors of animals, their prey communities, and the diet of individuals across the hybrid zone in southwestern New Mexico, USA. We found that, even though hybrids had significantly lower body condition indices than snakes from either parental group, hybrids were generally similar to non‐hybrids in hunting behavior, prey encounter rates, and predatory attack and success. We also found that, compared to C. scutulatus, C. viridis was significantly more active while hunting at night and abandoned ambush sites earlier in the morning, and hybrids tended to be more viridis‐like in this respect. Prey availability was similar across the study sites, including within the hybrid zone, with kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.) as the most common small mammal, both in habitat surveys and the frequency of encounters with hunting rattlesnakes. Analysis of prey remains in stomachs and feces also showed broad similarity in diets, with all snakes preying primarily on small mammals and secondarily on lizards. Taken together, our results suggest that the significantly lower body condition of hybrids does not appear to be driven by differences in their hunting behavior or diet and may instead relate to metabolic efficiency or other physiological traits we have not yet identified.

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Foraging Ecology of Timber Rattlesnakes, Crotalus horridus

Cited by 40 publications

References 63 publications

The ontogeny of antipredator behavior: age differences in California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi) at multiple stages of rattlesnake encounters

The ontogeny of antipredator behavior: age differences in California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi) at multiple stages of rattlesnake encounters

Diet and Foraging Behaviors of Timber Rattlesnakes,Crotalus horridus, in Eastern Virginia

Hunting behavior and feeding ecology of Mojave rattlesnakes (Crotalus scutulatus), prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis), and their hybrids in southwestern New Mexico

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