Misunderstood rattlesnakes have a tender side, study finds

New research showed that the snakes seem to gain a sense of well-being when they wriggle into sort of a group hug with other rattlers

Warm and cuddly are adjectives that seldom spring to mind when one thinks of rattlesnakes.

But a new study from Loma Linda University near San Bernardino, California, may change that by showing that the venomous rattler appears to take comfort in being close to its own kind, much like people.

The research showed that the snakes seem to gain a sense of well-being when they wriggle into sort of a group hug with other rattlers, according to the study published this week the journal Frontiers in Ethology. The findings challenge the notion that reptiles are solitary hunters that display little in the way of complex social behaviour.

The study is the work of Chelsea Martin, a Loma Linda doctoral student in biology, and her faculty adviser William Hayes, a professor of earth and biological sciences.

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Ethology, the study of animal behavior, has long recognized that birds and mammals, including humans, find comfort from being physically close to their own kind. Such proximity tends to make reptiles more relaxed, lowers their heart rates and reduces stress - not much different from people, Hayes said.

"Unfortunately for rattlesnakes and other lower vertebrates and invertebrates, we seldom give them that credit," Hayes said.