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Animal Behavior: Snake vs. Prairie Dog
Jul. 4th, 2013 11:49 pmAt the risk of losing more ground on LJ popularity polls, I am sticking with the animal behavior theme. I have discussed prairie dog communication before on this blog, mentioning how they have distinct calls for particular predators and can explain direction, speed and particulars to mark one person from another by clothing and size.
And here we see some prarie dog ingenuity, as a particularly brave female practices snake charming. Someone in the comments for this vid, quite correctly, points out that there are two different rattlesnakes used in this documentary. Probably that is because the footage is cut and pasted for maximum drama and these events were not the focus of the daily shoot. Stand-in snakes and prairie dogs were probably used for close ups. Still, the overall validity of the video could still be accurate. I have seen a gerbil kick the bejeebers out of a snake that was many times larger than said gerbil. The snake became so flustered it ran away. So, snakes can be outwitted by rodents.
And here we see some prarie dog ingenuity, as a particularly brave female practices snake charming. Someone in the comments for this vid, quite correctly, points out that there are two different rattlesnakes used in this documentary. Probably that is because the footage is cut and pasted for maximum drama and these events were not the focus of the daily shoot. Stand-in snakes and prairie dogs were probably used for close ups. Still, the overall validity of the video could still be accurate. I have seen a gerbil kick the bejeebers out of a snake that was many times larger than said gerbil. The snake became so flustered it ran away. So, snakes can be outwitted by rodents.