Do snakes hear?

[Clovis]

Here is a link to an interesting summary of a recent paper published in The Journal of experimental biology. The authors studied the activity of the neurons connecting the snakes inner ear to its brain and subjected the snake to a variety of sounds. They concluded that sounds transmitted only through the air were perceived by the snake even though the snake did not react to them. They studied this in ball pythons.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/12/vibrating-skulls-help-snakes-hear.html

Yay! new research! That is totally awesome stuff.

 

[visceralrepulsion]

I agree. I read the links info, and it was pretty rad. I knew I wasn't crazy for talking to my scalebabies! haha

 

[Lyion]

If so, not very well, I'd imagine . My snakes won't budge or flee dispite my noisy house.

 

[legitimatehypnotist]

According to the study they are notorious for ignoring sound. That actually sort of cracked me up when I read it lol.
It really puts things into perspective. I remember reading once that snakes, although their hearing is mostly poor, have excellent hearing (in an electrophysiological sense) between 200-300Hz, one scientist actually said that after years of studying, he believed that within that range, their hearing was comparable to a cat. But only in that range. I thought that study was extremely interesting, I've been looking for the source for a half an hour, but I know I actually read it in a semi-recent paper publication. I'll post it when I come across it again.
I like to inspire their curiosity with low frequency sounds once in a while. They really do come right out and investigate

 

[proileri]

What I understood through browsing through a couple of these articles, is that snakes seem to have a hearing range of about 50 hz to 1000 hz, which is keenest around 200-600 hz. I think this was rattlesnakes.. And the ball python article states that their hearing is best around 80-160 hz.

Things I can find from the articles suggest that 1) snakes are very sensitive to vibrations, even more so than spiders for example, again most around 100-300 hz range, and 2) snakes don't have as good hearing as humans, but they can pick up sound in the range of 100-600 hz, except pine snake is shown to have actually better hearing around 100 hz than humans.

This data is summing up new and old data in article "Hearing with an atympanic ear: good vibration and poor sound-pressure detection in the royal python, Python regius"; Christensen; J Exp Biol; 2011

 

[Clovis]

There's a new study, which I can't seem to find right now, where they observed the brainwaves of several pythons and subjected them to various sounds and vibrations through air and substrate. had some very interesting results, including proving that snakes tend to simply ignore sound waves transmitted by air.

 

[proileri]

had some very interesting results, including proving that snakes tend to simply ignore sound waves transmitted by air.

In the rattlesnake study they measured the snake reaction to airborne sound, it did happen and it got progressively better as the sound volume increased.

I guess it can be hard to measure just by visible reaction, I think snakes can be pretty suspicious to anything they encounter, and I assume their first response is not to stop and ogle it for a moment - not much difference to normal behaviour

 

[Clovis]

In the rattlesnake study they measured the snake reaction to airborne sound, it did happen and it got progressively better as the sound volume increased.

I guess it can be hard to measure just by visible reaction, I think snakes can be pretty suspicious to anything they encounter, and I assume their first response is not to stop and ogle it for a moment - not much difference to normal behaviour

This particular study used brainwave activity monitors, which is how they determined that they are using the same part of the brain when given auditory stimuli as they do when feeling vibration through their substrate.

I can't find the paper now... but here's an article referencing it.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/12/vibrating-skulls-help-snakes-hear.html

 

[DMong]

My entire collection BOLTS into their hides and lock their doors when they hear "gangsta rap" or "hip-hop" coming from a distance down the road. I believe this is a natural protective instinct against dangerous "drive-by" shootings that they have evolved...



~Doug

 

[proileri]

I'm thinking that the vibration sensitivity means they can pick up sound traveling through surface easily, discerning for example what sounds like rodents scraping a surface.

There was a 2008 article, where they suggested that snakes use their separate jawbones to pick up 'stereo' vibrations, giving them sense of direction: http://www.physorg.com/news130165463.html

 

[WingedSweetheart]

My snakes hide during thunder and cruise when it's just heavy rain. My snakes like to investigate speakers when I play music (normally heavy metal). They ignore the tv and most everyday sounds. I believe they are used to those sounds.

 

[proileri]

My snakes like to investigate speakers when I play music (normally heavy metal). They ignore the tv and most everyday sounds. I believe they are used to those sounds.

It's also possible the television doesn't have enough oomph to perk the snake's interest, while the speakers have better low end response and cause louder vibrations.

 

[visceralrepulsion]

I'm still now sure why this thread is currently active anymore. Snakes are most active during the rain, say herpetologists, snake-hunters, and general snake experts. Also if you've missed it, there's a new study that shows that snakes do infact hear sounds both through vibration in surfaces, and through the air even moreso. They hear sounds at the decibles similar to a cello best. Their jaw takes the place of an eardrum, and while they may not hear exactly like we do, they do infact here sounds of some sorts. If you're interested in reading the recent study's article on how snakes hear, google "vibrating skulls help snakes hear", and the article on a science journal website will pop up of that exact title. (Sorry I'm too lazy to find the link myself, I'm doing some hella multitasking at the moment, haha.)

 

[proileri]

It's no longer a discussion if they can hear, but what they hear and how does it affect them, really

However, how is rain-time activity connected to hearing? I assume they more likely sense increase in moisture, and have evolved to be active during that time. Does anyone know how rain affects wild or tame rodents?

 

[visceralrepulsion]

The rain doesn't effect their hearing, atleast not that I'm aware. But the changes in bareatric pressure, moisture, etc. cause them the feeling to need to travel in those conditions I guess. One inference is because most animals that would prey on them wouldn't be walking around and hunting in the rain either. Storms effect any animal with joints, really. The changes in pressure cause pain in athritic and sore joints. And they can use the storm as a natural cycle clock to know what's out and about, what prey or plants may become available during a rainy period, who you can bump into and who you can avoid. Their sore joints certainly would make arthritic animals less active. But I have noticed that while my snakes dislike taking a swim, they do not mind being misted with a spray-bottle, even right in the face, haha.

 

[visceralrepulsion]

Also they're only so many studies to show the neurological responses snakes have in regards to sound. Though the hearing portion of the brain does light up, why don't they react to sounds? A lot of people like to think little fluffykins reacts to music, but it's not a reaction, it's an investigation. A reaction would be if you shot the volume up on your speakers full blast and they whipped their head around to recognize and respond to the sound. Snakes have evolved other senses that have allowed them to not rely on hearing as one of their main visceral senses. And studies suggest that "hearing" varies from species to species most likely due to different needs and adaptions. So where as some snakes may hear both air and surface vibration sounds, others may hear one or the other, or neither. More testing will definitely need to be done to find specifics in species. The study I mentioned the testing was carried out on Ball/Royal Pythons. Their adaptions, evolutions, and priorities may not meet those of Corns, or other species of snakes' hunting/communication/fight or flight responses. I think we will have a long way to go to understand the true meaning of snakes and how they hear.