Rattlesnake use high-frequency sounds as warning signal

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Rattlesnakes increase their rattling rate as potential threats approach, and this abrupt switch to a high-frequency mode makes listeners, including humans, think they're closer than they actually are, researchers report August 19th in the journal Current Biology.

"Our data show that the acoustic display of rattlesnakes, which has been interpreted for decades as a simple acoustic warning signal about the presence of the snake, is in fact a far more intricate interspecies communication signal," says senior author Boris Chagnaud at Karl-Franzens-University Graz.

"The sudden switch to the high-frequency mode acts as a smart signal fooling the listener about its actual distance to the sound source. The misinterpretation of distance by the listener thereby creates a distance safety margin."

Additional results showed that rattlesnakes adapt their rattling rate in response to the approach velocity of an object rather than its size. "In real life, rattlesnakes make use of additional vibrational and infrared signals to detect approaching mammals, so we would expect the rattling responses to be even more robust," Chagnaud says.

Source - https://phys.org/news/2021-08-rattlesnake-rattles-human-ears.html 

[LateToCult 41,979]

My skin still crawls from the time I saw and heard a rattlesnake 

[A MESS 3,938]

shaaade

[PartySick 172,994]

I read some time ago that rattlesnakes are actually losing their rattles over time 

Before long they're just going to be some serpents with wiggly butts that you don't notice until they're biting you

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22 hours ago, PartySick said:

I read some time ago that rattlesnakes are actually losing their rattles over time 

Before long they're just going to be some serpents with wiggly butts that you don't notice until they're biting you

It seems that is actually a myth!

https://rattlesnakesolutions.com/snakeblog/science-and-education/are-rattlesnakes-evolving-to-rattle-less-or-losing-their-rattles/

While noisy rattlesnakes may get killed at a larger extend than quiet rattle snakes, they are saying it won't have an effect on the overall population because there are more rattlesnakes that simply don't get noticed.