10 learning & exploring
Snake training
A mother Rock Squirrel brings to her two pups a diamondback snake skin from a nearby packrat nest. The recently emerged pups obsessively study the skin’s smell, taste, and texture until nothing is left of it. Rock squirrels and western diamondbacks coexist in the same habitat in the Sonoran desert ecosystem, which dictates the necessity for complex behavioral displays towards each other. The skin lesson is the first introduction of the pups to their life-long neighbor and enemy.
See "Living with Snakes" gallery under the "Features" tab
