Sensory Deprivation Effects on the Predatory Behavior of the Rattlesnake, Crotalus viridis oreganus

• Published in: Copeia 1996-05, Vol.1996 (2), p.419-428
• Main Authors: Haverly, Joseph E., Kardong, Kenneth V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Crotalus viridis oreganus; Experimentation; Eyes; Mental stimulation; Mice; Odors; Prairies; Sensory deprivation; Snakes; Vibration; Visual deprivation
• ISSN: 0045-8511; 1938-5110
• DOI: 10.2307/1446858

Rattlesnakes rely upon three primary sensory organs to deliver an effective predatory strike: the eyes, facial pits, and vomeronasal organ, of which the eyes and facial pits play the major role. To determine the degree to which visual, infrared, and chemical cues influence predatory behavior, rattlesnakes were selectively deprived of these senses, and 13 dependent variables of the predatory behavior were recorded from prestrike, strike, and poststrike phases of feeding. When eyes and facial pits were covered simultaneously, the effectiveness of the strike to kill prey showed no change, but there were significant differences in the number of tongue flicks during both the prestrike and poststrike phases, in the range from snake to prey, and in both the tendency and latency to strike. Motion of the prey was an important predatory stimulus. Chemoreception contributed to predatory performance but much less so than visual/infrared cues. Differences in prey odors affect strike-induced chemosensory searching. Auditory stimuli were not significant. In rattlesnakes, visual and thermal cues play a major role in eliciting a successful predatory strike, whereas the poststrike phase relies primarily upon proximate chemical cues.