Meeting Abstract
Animals can obtain social information from monitoring chemical cues within their environment left behind by conspecifics, competitors, predators, or prey. Whereas many studies have addressed the ability for snakes to trail scents within a laboratory along a homogenous substrate (typically butcher paper), our objective was to determine if the scent-trailing behavior of a snake was affected by changes in substrate type. In our first experiment, we brought 5 gravid timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) into the laboratory where each gave birth to an average 9 neonates. After each neonate shed, we conducted Y-maze trials. For each trial, the Y-maze floor was covered in either paper, sand, leaf litter, or burnt leaf litter. The scent of the mother was applied down one arm of the Y-maze. Prior to each trial, we replaced the substrate and scent. Each neonate was tested on each substrate. Neonates non-randomly chose the arm with the mother’s scent 87% of the time when tested on paper (P < 0.001) and 73% of the time when tested on sand (P < 0.011). When tested on leaf litter and burnt leaf litter, neonates chose the arm with the mother’s scent 67% and 53% of the time (P < 0.068 and P < 0.715 respectively). Substrate affects the ability for neonates to scent trail their mother. In our second experiment, we brought adult male C. horridus into the laboratory and repeated Y-maze trials; replacing the mother’s scent with the scent of freshly struck and envenomated mouse. We will discuss preliminary results of the second experiment and how they compare to neonate trials. In a natural setting, the mosaic of substrates may facilitate scent-trailing behavior. However, as prescribed fire becomes a more popular forest management tool, care should be taken in where this tool is applied given that it may affect scent-trailing behaviors.
