Discrimination of Snakes by Two Populations of Black-tailed Priarie Dog
Loughry WJ. 1988. Discrimination of Snakes by Two Populations of Black-tailed Priarie Dog. Journal of Mammalogy. 70(3):627-630
Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) are large, diurnal, colonial rodents whose basic social unit is the coterie (Hoogland, 1981; King, 1955), normally containing one adult male, several adult females, yearling males and females, and young of the year (pups). Black-tails are commonly confronted with both venomous rattlesnakes (Crotalus sp.) and nonvenoumous bullsnakes (Pituophis melanoleusus sayi) and actively harass these snakes (Halpin, 1983; Loughry, 1987a; Owings and Loughry, 1985; Owings and Owings, 1979). Other ground squirrels also harass snakes and behave differently toward different species and sizes of snakes (Coss and Owings, 1985). In this paper I ask whether prairie dogs make such distinctions among snakes. I also examine whether population history influences snake discrimination by comparing the behavior of a snake-experienced and snake-naive population.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Loughry, W
- Units
- WICA
- Keywords
- adaption, Aggression, Animal Behavior, Animal Studies, Animals, Behavior, Black-Tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicians), bullsnake (Pituophis melanoleucus sayi), habits, Herbivores, Mammal Behavior, Mammals, Native Species, poisonous snakes, Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus virdis virdis), rattlesnakes (Crotalus & Sistrurus), Reptiles (Reptilia), Rodents (Rodentia), Snakes (Serpentes), Social Behavior, Sociobiology, Wildlife, Zoology