Rattlesnake Perfume

Ask, May/Jun 2008 by Moss, Meg

How does a small mammal protect itself from hungry rattlesnakes? The California ground squirrel has a special trick: Find some old skin shed by a rattler. Chew it up. Lick yourself all over. Sit back and relax. Researchers have discovered that squirrels mask their natural scent this way and fool rattlers into thinking that other snakes are lurking about. They tested their observations by exposing rattlesnakes to separate pieces of paper doused with snake scent, squirrel scent, and then a combination of the two. Sure enough, the snakes went only for the squirrel-scented paper. Scent camouflage is particularly useful for female squirrels and their babies, as males have a natural resistance to snake venom. Wearing the snakeskin perfume, mama and her pups can sleep soundly in their burrow without fear of prowling rattlers.

Watch squirrels applying rattlesnake perfume at

* http://www.ucdavis.edu/ spotlight/1207/squirrels.html.