Rattlesnakes feel the final bite.Movies of rattlesnake rattlesnake, poisonous New World snake of the pit viper family, distinguished by a rattle at the end of the tail. The head is triangular, being widened at the base. The rattle is a series of dried, hollow segments of skin, which, when shaken, make a whirring sound. strikes don't leave much time for popcorn. The snake can zap a lethal dose lethal dose n. Abbr. LD The dose of a chemical or biological preparation that is likely to cause death. of venom into its scurrying scur·ry intr.v. scur·ried, scur·ry·ing, scur·ries 1. To go with light running steps; scamper. 2. To flurry or swirl about. n. pl. scur·ries 1. The act of scurrying. victim, then jerk its head away in about half a second. Yet in these shortest of movie shorts, the snakes display impressive accuracy, says Kenneth V. Kardong of Washington State University Washington State University, at Pullman; land-grant and state supported; chartered 1890, opened 1892 as an agriculture college. From 1905 to 1959 it was the State College of Washington. in Pullman. He and Vincent L. Bels of the Agronomic a·gron·o·my n. Application of the various soil and plant sciences to soil management and crop production; scientific agriculture. ag Center of Applied Research in Hainaut, Belgium, analyzed the strike motion in movies of northern Pacific rattlesnakes biting mice. The results appear in the Feb. 18 Journal of Experimental Biology. In 20 out of 21 bites, the snakes landed a lethal strike on the first try "They're really very good," Kardong says. The snakes' sense of touch may play a role in that accuracy by guiding final adjustments, he suggests. Kardong did not see any midair, midstrike swerves that might have corrected the rattlers' course, although some other snakes do alter the trajectory of their heads as they strike. What he saw instead were shifts in fang position for optimal venom injection after the snake touched its victim. The use of touch intrigued another maker of bite movies, William K. Hayes of Loma Linda (Calif.) University. "I don't think, we've appreciated the importance of tactile stimuli," he says. |
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