RESPONSE TO PREY CHEMICAL CUES BY HATCHLING PINE SNAKES (PITUOPHIS-MELANOLEUCUS) - EFFECTS OF INCUBATION-TEMPERATURE AND EXPERIENCE

The ability of hatchling pine snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus) to select and follow or avoid chemical odors of prey (mice, Mus musculus) on a shavings and paper substrate was investigated in Y-maze experiments, as a function of incubation temperature and experience. Incubation temperature affected behavior in the maze, and the maze choices of naive snakes, but not of snakes that had already eaten a mouse. The data indicate that snakes that have eaten, preferentially enter the arm bearing chemical stimuli from mice, whereas those that have not eaten show no preference.