Response of brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) to human blood

D Chiszar; T M Dunn; H M Smith

doi:10.1007/BF00987474

Response of brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis) to human blood

J Chem Ecol. 1993 Jan;19(1):91-6. doi: 10.1007/BF00987474.

Authors

D Chiszar¹, T M Dunn, H M Smith

Affiliation

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, 80309, Boulder, Colorado.

PMID: 24248514
DOI: 10.1007/BF00987474

Abstract

Ten specimens ofBoiga irregularis were presented with clean or bloody tampons. The latter were used by women during menses. Trial duration was 60 sec, intertrial interval was 24 hr, and the dependent variable was rate of tongue flicking (a measure of chemosensory investigation). Bloody tampons elicited significantly more tongue flicking than did control tampons. An additional snake is shown attacking and ingesting a soiled tampon, confirming that chemosensory interest was associated with predatory behavior.