Snake experts believe that venomous snakes inject different amounts of venom when killing their prey. Researchers at the University of Wyoming tested this hypothesis to determine whether young prairie rattlesnakes use more venom to kill larger mice and less venom for smaller mice (“Venom Metering by Juvenile Prairie Rattlesnakes, Crotalus v. Viridis: Effects of Prey Size and Experience,” Animal Behavior [1995]: 33–40). In the first trial, the researchers used three groups of seven randomly selected snakes that were inexperienced hunters. In the second trial, three different groups of seven randomly selected “experienced” snakes were used. The amount (mg) of venom each snake injected was recorded and categorized according to the size of the mouse.

For the small prey, is there a significant difference between the inexperienced and experienced snakes? For the medium prey? For the large prey?

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Small Mouse Medium Mouse X S X Inexperienced 3.1 1.0 3.4 Experienced 2.6 .3 2.9 S .4 .6 Large Mouse X 1.8 4.7 S .3 .3