Stimulus control of prey attack in naive rat snakes: A species duplication

Previously unfed, newborn rat snakes (Elaphe) were found to exhibit a greater response to prey-object extracts than to a distilled-water control stimulus. Response to the different prey-object extracts was not different. The results indicate that young rat snakes accept a wide variety of prey-objects-those normally eaten by the adult and prey of a convenien t size.