Bad Match Breeding

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I've seen racers do that... Not rat snakes though... Man when they do that, you know it's gonna hurt whenyou grab him

pretty much every species of rat snake I have ever kept does the tail rattling. Even the asian king rats. I believe it's actually a defense mechanism common among many snakes from all over, but the rattle snake took it to the next level. It's not that snakes are trying to mimic the rattle snake, it's that a lot of snakes have always done the tail rattling and the rattlesnake took it a step further.

[ConcinusMan]

pretty much every species of rat snake I have ever kept does the tail rattling.

Want to hear something even more interesting? Yellow bellied racers do that from Southern Oregon into CA but only where rattlesnakes also occur. They will often not flee but instead will sit in dry brush and rattle their tails. They do not rattle their tails here in the northwest where rattlesnakes do not also occur, instead preferring to flee rather than stand their ground. Same snake, but different behavior depending on where they are. Now that on the surface seems to support a mimicry theory.

It's either that or the snakes simply evolved the behavior and of course, it was only an advantage where rattlesnakes also occur. Tail rattling was not an advantage where rattlesnakes do not occur, and so they simply dropped the behavior or never developed it in the first place.

In those areas where racers, fence lizards, and rattlesnakes occur, I've seen yellow bellied racers twitch their tails while sitting still, to attract lizards to come closer. In those areas the racers feed almost exclusively on lizards. Here in western WA/OR, they feed mainly on small rodents such as shrews and voles and the very young snakes even eat locusts/grasshoppers.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Want to hear something even more interesting? Yellow bellied racers do that from Southern Oregon into CA but only where rattlesnakes also occur. They will often not flee but instead will sit in dry brush and rattle their tails. They do not rattle their tails here in the northwest where rattlesnakes do not also occur, instead preferring to flee rather than stand their ground. Same snake, but different behavior depending on where they are. Now that on the surface seems to support a mimicry theory.

It's either that or the snakes simply evolved the behavior and of course, it was only an advantage where rattlesnakes also occur. Tail rattling was not an advantage where rattlesnakes do not occur, and so they simply dropped the behavior or never developed it in the first place.

In those areas where racers, fence lizards, and rattlesnakes occur, I've seen yellow bellied racers twitch their tails while sitting still, to attract lizards to come closer. In those areas the racers feed almost exclusively on lizards. Here in western WA/OR, they feed mainly on small rodents such as shrews and voles and the very young snakes even eat locusts/grasshoppers.

It's actually an advantage anywhere... snakes from all over the world do the tail rattling specifically when agitated or threatened. Especially my chinese king rats, and those guys are from china where there are no rattlesnakes to be found. Defensive rattling is something that intimidates a predator even in snakes without a rattle because the snakes purposely slap it against something to make sounds. When my king rats do it, I often get a look of surprise from people who are new to the snakeroom and are nervous about the sound it makes. Snakes using their tails as lures is not uncommon, baby copperheads are born with yellow tails just for this purpose, and the mangshan viper keeps a glow-in-the-dark colored tail it's whole life! (it doesnt actually glow but it looks like it would) Also, females will slap their tails around, especially garters I noticed, when being courted by a male. I have also seen garters do this when introduced to an unfamiliar food item, or to a new snakes they have not met before and are unsure about.

if you want to see a REALLY cool tail luring species, check out Pseudocerastes urarachnoides. Search it on youtube and watch the first video. They literally have a centipede for a tail!

[Stefan-A]

It's actually an advantage anywhere... snakes from all over the world do the tail rattling specifically when agitated or threatened.

Conclusion: Tail rattling is much older than the rattle.