ABOVE: Western diamondback rattlesnake
TOBIAS KOHL
Imagine walking through a field of tall grass gently rustling in the hot, dry wind of the American West. Suddenly, you hear an unmistakable whispery rattling. You look around, certain a rattlesnake is right under your feet and ready to strike. But it’s nowhere to be found.
Melissa Amarello, cofounder and executive director of a nonprofit organization called Advocates for Snake Preservation, says this has happened to her when studying rattlesnakes in the wild. “They sound like they are right here,” she says. “And they are not.”
New research published in Current Biology today (August 19) may provide an explanation. Scientists based in Germany and Austria found that western diamondback rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox) quickly ramp up their rattling frequency when a potential threat appears to be getting closer to them. The sound produced by the switch to a higher-frequency rattle is perceived by human listeners ...
