Now this was REALLY COOL!

[reptileshed]

I have a female Dumeril that is about 2+ years old. The other night....I clearly saw her doing some "caudal luring". This went on (observed) for about 10 minutes before I tapped her tail with my hook. She immediately jumped up to see what was at her tail. I have heard of this in pit vipers and some other snakes....but never in any boa species. Has anyone ever witnessed this before with any of your boas?

Chris

[PythonTamer]

Hey Chris,
Although I have a 5'6" Dum (among other types of boa), I have not witnessed this with her but have read that it is common among snake species that are predominantly 'ambush predators' like Dumeril's boas. They are a lot more inactive compared to other boa species, and prefer to hide under leaves or substrate with just their head and tip of their tail slightly sticking out, waiting for an unwary rodent or curious bird to pass by. Here is an article in case anyone doesn't know what we are referring to:
PT
Q: Just curious, what is caudal luring and
what causes a snake to do this?

A: "Caudal" refers to the snake's tail, and "luring" (derivative of "lure") is like what someone does when they go fishing, using a lure on the end of a line to attract fish. Some snakes wiggle their tails to attract prey close enough for capture, and that's caudal luring. In fact, numerous species of snakes are born with bright-colored tail tips (i.e. yellow tail tip on an otherwise brownish snake), so the snake can lie camouflaged in leaves, for instance, and the tip of the tail would be the only part of the predator that's visible. However, even snakes that don't possess a light colored tail tip are known to caudal lure. It's an adaption that evolved to help increase the animal's chance of getting food and therefore allowing it to survive long enough to reproduce and pass on its genetic code.