Squirrels' Tail Trick Confounds an Enemy

Summary


WASHINGTON California ground squirrels have learned to intimidate rattlesnakes by heating their tails and shaking them aggressively.

Because the snakes, which are ambush hunters, can sense infrared radiation from heat, the warming makes the tails more conspicuous to them signaling that they have been discovered and that the squirrels may come and harass them, explained Aaron Rundus, lead author of a study in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Extract


Squirrels' Tail Trick Confounds an Enemy

The tail "flagging" places the snakes on the defensive, he sa...

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