[M.D. Holloway]

Consider this...

According to various reports, the behavior of rattlesnakes has changed in recent years such that the venomous critters have begun striking at people without the customary aural "warning" — namely sounding the tiny rattle consisting of dry, molted scales in the tip of their tail.

Some experts disagree as to whether this claim is true or false. Steve Reaves, owner of Tucson Rattlesnake Removal in Arizona, says it's true. Some rattlesnakes have stopped rattling for one simple reason, he told Associated Press in July 2010: to avoid being killed by humans. Those born with a genetic predisposition to stay quiet have a better survival rate wherever they come into contact with people, Reaves explained. Jerry Feldner of the Arizona Herpetological Association agrees, as does herpetologist Daryl Sprout of Dallas, who told KLTV 7 News in Tyler, Texas that "natural selection is already beginning to prefer snakes that do not bring attention to themselves and therefore draw incoming fire from humans." Also in agreement with the general proposition is Gene Hall of the Texas Farm Bureau, though he, like the author of the message above, attributes the behavioral change to the threat posed by snake-eating feral hogs, not people.

Other herpetologists dismiss the whole thing as a myth. Stephane Poulin, Curator of Herpetology at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, says he he's noticed no major changes in rattlesnake behavior over the past quarter-century. "Overall, rattlesnakes just don't rattle very often," he explained in an Associated Press interview. "Most of the time they use their camouflage and try not to be seen." Another naysayer is biologist Randy Babb of the Arizona Game and Fish Department, who says the existing research suggests rattlesnakes simply don't rattle that much in the first place. According to Keith Boesen of Arizona's Poison and Drug Information Center, there's no evidence that rattlesnakes striking without warning constitutes a "recent phenomenon."

What the experts do agree on — and what readers of this article should take to heart — is that whatever the reason, rattlesnakes don't always sound a warning before striking. When you're in rattlesnake country the best way to avoid an unfortunate encounter is to stay alert, keep your eyes peeled as well as your ears, and never assume these poisonous pests will announce their presence in advance.