Squirrel waves hot tail at rattle snake

[cosbyfish]

how does that trick it. it looks no bigger than it did before

[xKappash]

Moron.

[cosbyfish]

Idiot. I don't even care about that anymore. but of course there is always the rude guy who thinks its cool to call people morons... please go get a life.

[facildecorar]

The rattlesnake has special infrared sensors and is able to sense the body heat of a smaller mammal and able to attack them, but the California ground squirrel has a secret weapon that wards off the rattlesnake. The squirrel heats up its tail than waves it in the snake's face, hence confusing the snake, making it think the squirrel is a bigger animal. The snake senses the heat with the infrared sensor and gets confused by the size of the squirrel.

[FancyUnicorn]

It wags its hot tail? Is that it?

[richj005]

silenced smg: why? is an amazing thing that has been discovered, thats fairly interesting. And you call it gay? how is it gay? thats the worst insult ive ever seen. Whats wrong with homosexuality anyway.

[newscientistvideo]

Hi richj005, thanks for flagging up that previous comment. I've deleted it.

Michael Marshall, online editorial assistant.

[BobmanMedia]

Admittedly a bad insult, but this video shows nothing to most people - You can't see what's happening, and I personally have no idea what it's about.

[CrumpledHen]

Squirrels are violent.

[StreetL1fe]

I see dead people...

[JohnDeBunkTest]

Thanks .. I see now.

The rattler has an infrared sensing organ.

Squirrel tails heat up, presumably due to increased blood flow, confusing the snake.

A gopher snake has no infrared sensory organ, and the squirrels know how to tell the difference.

[JohnDeBunkTest]

first .. how do squirrels regulate their tail temperature.

second ... why does it make a difference to the snake?

[PolliFaxToaster]

well isn't that fancy. are there any other species this might be effective against. how many predatory species see in heat, i wonder.