1. Ground squirrels use an infrared signal to deter rattlesnake predation Aaron S. Rundus, Donald H. Owings, Sanjay S. Joshi, Erin Chinn, and Nicolas Giannini Squirrels versus Snakes

2. Introduction: Mommy ground squirrels use different tactics to deal with different predators Birds, mammals Snakes Vocal displaysVisual displays: “Tail flagging” Richard G. Coss

3. Introduction: tail flagging is used for rattlesnakes and gopher snakes RattlesnakeGopher snake

4. Hypotheses and Predictions H1: Squirrels use an infrared component to tail flagging when confronting rattlesnakes P1: infrared t.f. with rattlesnakes but not with gopher snakes H2: Tail flagging + infrared helps to prevent rattlesnake predatory behavior P1: rattlesnakes will display more defensive behavior (coiling, rattling) with infrared t.f. compared to normal t.f.

5. Methods + heated tail - heated tail rattlesnake gopher snake

6. Results

8. Hypotheses and Predictions H1: Squirrels use an infrared component to tail flagging when confronting rattlesnakes P1: infrared t.f. with rattlesnakes but not with gopher snakes H2: Tail flagging + infrared helps to prevent rattlesnake predatory behavior P1: rattlesnakes will display more defensive behavior (coiling, rattling) with infrared t.f. compared to normal t.f.

9. Future directions Squirrel power: Do other squirrel behaviors help the effectiveness of tail flagging? (ex: substrate throwing) Using the correct lingo: Are there more examples of animals that use infrared signals to “talk” with other species?