Scientists Create RoboSquirrel to Test Rattlesnake-Squirrel Interactions
Posted on March 14, 2012
Researchers at San Diego State University and the University of California-Davis have been studying interactions between Northern Pacific rattlesnakes and California ground squirrels. The rattlesnakes like to feed on squirrel pups. They will bite a squirrel pup and drag it to their burrow and release it. The researchers say the snake will then later emerge from its burrow to find the envenomated squirrel pup and consume it.
The researchers have found during their observations of rattlesnake squirrel attacks that the rattlesnakes generally do not attack squirrels that are flagging their tails. The researchers say this behavior may signal to the snake that the squirrel is aware of the snake. It may act as a "vigilance signal."
The researchers created RoboSquirrel to test whether tail flagging protects squirrels from rattlesnake attacks. RoboSquirrel was mounted on a track so it could slide down the track close to a rattlesnake. RoboSquirrel was also heated with copper writing to give it a heat signature. This video shows a test of RoboSquirrel with its tail wagging, where the rattlesnake does not attack. It then shows a second test with RoboSquirrel not flagging its tail. In the second test the rattlesnake bites RoboSquirrel's head. The researchers say they collected several large deposits of expelled venom from RoboSquirrel. Take a look: