STRIKE-INDUCED CHEMOSENSORY SEARCHING BY INGESTIVELY NAIVE GARTER SNAKES (THAMNOPHIS-SIRTALIS)

Neonatal, previously unfed garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) exposed to aqueous chemical cues from earthworms tongue flicked at higher rates during the 5 min after withdrawal of the stimulus than after aqueous control trials. If snakes struck at but did not touch, the worm stimulus, they showed a much greater increase over control trials in postexposure tongue flicking than when they did not strike, and the increased rate persisted longer. These results demonstrate strike-induced chemosensory searching (SICS) by ingestively naive snakes. It is highly probable that other squamate reptiles show a similar well-integrated suite of sequential foraging behaviors at birth or hatching. Differences among species in SICS may be related to details of sequential prey capture tactics in reconstruction of broad phylogenetic patterns.