Calif. Squirrels Heat Tails for Defense


	Calif. Squirrels Heat Tails for Defense

cpltaiji

8-13-2007 5:58 PM

437 views

tags:

science, research, general interest, animals

cpltaiji says:

No guys! Whipping it out and waving it at the snake will NOT do the same thing!

2 Comments |

Add a Comment

8-13-2007 8:16 PM

dorine

8-13-2007 8:25 PM

skwirlinator

Yay!

Login to Comment. Not a member yet? Sign up

Today's Top Clips

visit the Top Clips page

View the Top Clips from August 13, 2007

Embed This Clip In Your Site...

<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/00edd207-dc18-41b0-997e-f899b66e0451/BD6F5D44-7313-4583-92CB-7676B542BBDA/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HOT_TAIL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT" href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HOT_TAIL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT" style="font-size: 11px;">hosted.ap.org</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HOT_TAIL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">     WASHINGTON     (AP) -- California ground squirrels have learned to intimidate rattlesnakes by heating their tails and shaking them aggressively.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HOT_TAIL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">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.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HOT_TAIL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">The tail "flagging" places the snakes on the defensive, he said.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HOT_TAIL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">Adult squirrels are not the snakes' prey, Rundus said in a telephone interview. The adults have a protein in their blood that allows them to survive the snake venom, and they have been known to attack and injure snakes, biting and kicking gravel at them.</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/BD6F5D44-7313-4583-92CB-7676B542BBDA/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

New from the makers of Clipmarks: Amplify.com - Don't just share the news...Amplify it!

Clipmarks: Home; New Clips; Top Clips; Dashboard

Popular Topics: News; Life; Science; Technology; Entertainment

Get Started: Sign Up; Install Clipping Tool; How Clipping Works; Clip-to-Blog™; ClipSearch

Tools and Resources: FAQ; ClipWeek; Top Clippers; Top Tags; Site Map

About Clipmarks: About Us; Contact; Copyright; Privacy; EULA

Search Options

Today's Top Clips