Yeah, what’s weird is that plenty of non-rattlesnakes take advantage of that extremely memorable “watch out! rattling sound! back off or I’ll bite!” noise, including our good ol’ Texas Rat Snake (nonvenomous) which has adapted to vibrate its tail (in dry leaves, for instance) to simulate rattlesnake “rattle.”
Btw rat snakes do bite. And they are not kidding around–Texas rat snakes are basically fearless. I have a friend who is a biologist, she said she saw a rat snake eat a rattlesnake.
King snakes prey on other snakes too. I see one in my yard about once a year, usually in spring or early summer, and I suspect it may be the reason I’ve yet to see a rattler or copperhead, both of which my neighbors on the bluff side of our little neighborhood on a hill see in their yards.
It’s possible that the rattlesnakes’ rattle evolved as a refinement of this basic tail-rattling. It’s also been suggested that it’s related to caudal luring (i.e. using the tail to imitate a worm to attract prey) which has been observed in quite a few snake species.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
