Discovering a unique hunting technique of snakes

The new research that has cleared up misconceptions suggests that passive snakes are waiting for their prey to die without being able to track the poisoned prey.

In the event of a mouse passing through the bush, the ambush snake will come out in the blink of an eye and inject poison into the prey. When attacking prey, the venomous snake will have two different options.

For some snakes like the tiger-bearing tiger, it will use the technique of holding the prey in the mouth until the animal is poisoned to death. So his meal was at hand. But will also be in danger because prey can fight back in the last moments. Even snakes can lose their lives by the more vicious carnivores.

The snake will flick the tongue in succession to confirm the poison in the prey has escaped.(Photo: animals.pawnation.com)

Some other snakes, like rattlesnakes, use a bite technique and release their prey . At that time the prey is poisoned and it will wait until the poison kills the enemy. It will be safe for the snake, but if the animal does not die immediately and flees, it is indeed a search for the snake's meal.

Of course, the reality is not so simple. Through observation of the snake in the laboratory and in nature, scientists at the University of North Colorado and the University of Colorado at Boulder discovered a number of tricks to locate the bitten by the poisonous snakes. .

The rattlesnakes in the experiment poisoned mice with cages. After moving these mice to another cage, the snake flicked its tongue in succession to find its prey. This behavior has caught the attention of researchers.

By analyzing the protein, disintegrins, which plays a major role in snake venom to prevent the clotting of prey bites, scientists found it to be the substance that sniffed snakes to locate the mouse. run away, not the snake sniffing through urine, feces or the smell of prey.

However, researchers are still unsure about how this protein can produce a 'basic sign' so that the snake can track its poisoned prey. While this protein only accounts for 2% of the venom population.

The team speculates, it is possible that the protein is disintegrins capable of interacting with other chemicals in the prey to create a signal that makes the snake sniff its prey more easily. Scientists are still continuing to discover the mystery of the prey of poisonous snakes.