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Dr. Harvey Lillywhite, Professor of Reptology, University of Florida conducted effectiveness tests. Dr. Lillywhite is internationally recognized as one of the worlds leading research reptologists. Dr. T's Nature Products, Inc., also conducted over ten years of independent research and follow-up tests. Address:
Department of Zoology University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611 Education:
PHD (Zoology: Physiological Ecology) UCLA, 1970 George A. Bartholomew, Committee
Chairman. Professional Experience: 1985 to present Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville January, February 1988 Research Expedition, central Philippines (study and collecting of marine snakes). March, April 1986 Research Expedition, central Philippines (study and collecting of marine snakes). Funded by NIH. 1984 to 1985 Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville. January, February 1985 Research Expedition, Visayas, Philippines (Study and collecting of aquatic snakes). Funded by NIH. 1982 to 1984 Professor, Departments of Physiology and Cell Biology and Systematic and Ecology, University of Kansas, Lawrence. August 1979 to August 1980 Visiting Scientist, (sabbatical leave), Physiological Research Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego. Funded by NIH. June 1976 to June 1982 Associate Professor, Departments of Physiology and Cell Biology and Systematic and Ecology, University of Kansas, Lawrence. June 1975 to June 1976 Visiting Lecturer and Visiting Scientist, Department of Zoology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia. July 1976 Research expedition, Papua New Guinea (study and collecting of sea snakes. Funded by Australian Research Grants committee. October 1971 to June 1976 Assistant Professor, Physiology and cell Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence. Summer 1968 Training in development of miniature telemetry systems: Biocom, Inc, Culver City, California. October 1966 to June 1967 Blood Technician, veterans Administration Hospital, West Los Angeles.
University of Florida: 1. Animal Physiology University of Kansas: 1. Biology of Organisms (undergraduate core
requirement) Monash University: 1. Physiology Ecology University of California, Los Angeles: 1. Animal Physiology (head teaching assistant)
American Society of Zoologists; American Physiological Society; American society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists; American Association for the advancement of Science; Ecological Society of America, Sigma XI, and Phi Beta Kappa.
Wilderness Society; Desert protective Council; National Geographic Society; League of Conservation voters; The nature Conservancy; Union of Concerned Scientists; National Parks and Conservation Association; Cultural Survival; Word Wildlife Fund; Sierra Club legal Defense fund; Natural resources Defense Council.
1968.
Lillywhite, H. & Maderson, P.F.A Histological changes in the epidermis of
the subdigital lamellae of Anolis carolinensis during the shedding cycle.
J.Morph. 125:379-402 Responses of snakes to odors are known to be important in several contexts of their behavior. Such as locating prey and responding to conspecifics (reviewed in Ford, 1986). Snakes are very sensitive to chemosenory input, which involves the vomeronasal system. The tongue of a snake picks up odorants, which mediates its analysis (Burghardt, 1980; Gillingham & Clark, 1981: Ford & Low, 1984). The vomeronasal system is involved in the detection, localization and identification of odors (Cowles & Phelen, 1958; Hapern & Kkubie, 1983). Thus, responses of snakes to Dr. T's Snake-A-Way presumably are mediated by the detection of odorant molecules via the tongue and vomernasal system. Behavioral tests designed to establish the efficacy of the product in repelling snake must take into account the means of chemosensory detection. Visual, tactile and auditory stimuli presumably are not relevant to the intended use of this product. Thus, behavioral test were designed such that moving snakes exploring their surroundings with tongue flicks encountered the Snake-A-Way product as they might in real field situations. In use, the resulting granular product is spread on the ground across an area where it is desired to prevent or discourage snakes from entering. Preferably, the granules should be spread in a strip 10-30 centimeters wide, although generally the wider the strip the better. In this manner, an odor barrier is provided that snakes are reluctant to cross. Additionally, a smaller amount of the product may be scattered in a diffuse or non-continuous manner just beyond the strip, on the side away from the area to be protected. This added scattering of the repellent serves to lessen the probability of occasional snakes wandering beyond the strip. Snakes Tested: All of the tests were conducted in outdoor enclosures, which approximated natural situation insofar, as was practical within constraints of the experimental design. Most of the snakes used in the study were either newly born or recently captured, so the data was not dependent on the long-term captives. Attempt was made to maximize the numbers of both species and individuals subjected to testing. The following snakes (scientific and common names were tested for response to Snake-A-Way. 87.5% Agkistrodon contortirix, copperhead In testing, snakes reacted to the repellent and exhibited overt signs of distress or avoidance while in close contact with the pellets. In other case, snakes turning away from the repellent before coming within direct contact (with tongue) were sometimes re-tested and fount to consistently turn away from the repellent while at distances of 10-30 cm. These latter observations are noted as "apparent avoidance". The effectiveness of the repellent is demonstrated by the following experiments performed with various species and the product has been found to have a rate of efficacy that varies from 17% to 100% depending on the individual species. Snakes were re-tested at the end of one week, using week-old repellent. All snakes selected the benign branch of the Y and exhibited overt avoidance behavior. These same snakes were then re-tested within one hour and again avoided the repellent (seven snakes exhibiting the overt behaviors). The group of snakes was then re-tested once more, 21 hours following the last test just described. Again, these snakes avoided the repellent with the exception of one individual, which began rubbing its head on the ground, crawled haphazardly, and eventually "tunneled" its way through the repellent strip. Table 1; Figure 1
After 2 1/2 months, a group of 16 snakes was again re-tested. In this test the branches of the Y were "reversed" so that the repellent strip was at the branch opposite from that in the previous tests. Moreover, the repellent used was five weeks old (i.e., it had been on the ground, outside, but protected from heavy rainfall). Tests were conducted as described for the primary tests above. Eleven snakes exhibited overt avoidance of the repellent, and four snakes crossed the repellent. Two of the snakes which crossed the repellent exhibited avoidance behavior first, eventually moving across the repellent strip while rubbing the head against the ground, seemingly attempting to escape from the repellent. Repelled snakes showed no hesitation to enter the opposite (benign) branch of the Y. Efficacy and Species Variation: With respect to testing, Snake-A-Way was 100% effective in repelling snakes of some species while much less effective in repelling others (table 1; figure 1). It is important to note that some individuals of all species tested observed overt avoidance of the repellent. Extrapolating from these results, it is expected that a significant fraction of snakes encountering a strip of repellent in real-use situations will be repelled. The number or percentage of repelled snakes should vary as a function of the species involved. Snake-A-Way had the most dramatic effects in repelling garter snakes (Thamnophis Marcianus), pythons (Python Molurus), and most of the venomous snakes, particularly rattlesnakes(Crotalus SPP). The behaviors of garter snakes, pythons, and coral snakes suggest that the repellent chemicals are most obnoxious to these species. Other snakes (e.g. Crotalus Atrox)were repelled with equal consistency, however. Garter snakes are widespread throughout virtually the entire continental United States and are commonly encountered in many parts of the country. Although a single species was tested, it seems reasonable to assume that Snake-A-Way could be used with considerable effectiveness to repel garter snakes belonging to the Genus Thamnophis. The product also repels pythons strongly. The species tested is Asiatic and commonly kept as a pet by reptile fanciers in this country. Data for pythons suggest that the product likely will repel the two species of endemic boid snake that occur in the western United States. Snake-A-Way should be an effective repellent for rattlesnakes, which are a potential concern in many parts of the country. The avoidance behaviors exhibited by snakes representing six different species (and most geographic regions of the U.S.) suggest that the repellent is effective for the genus, hence rattlesnakes generally. These venomous reptiles are of widespread geographic occurrence and are locally abundant in many regions. Copperheads were strongly repelled by Snake-A-Way, while the related cottonmouths were not. This result is interesting insofar as cottonmouths inhabit swamps and readily feed on carrion. It is possible that the sulfurous smell of the repellent is normally encountered by the latter species, either in parts of its natural habitat or during carrion feeding, or both. Coral snakes exhibited overt avoidance of the repellent. Which suggests that the product may be generally effective against elapid snakes. Rat snakes (Genus Elaphe)were not strongly effected by Snake-A-way, although some individuals overtly avoided the repellent. Thus, the product is expected to provide only partial effectiveness in repelling these species. Conclusions and Discussions The principle conclusions from this study are as follows. (1) Snake-A-Way repels snakes some species are repelled with remarkable effectiveness, while others are not. However, all species tested exhibit some degree of behavioral avoidance of the repellent. (3) There are circumstances in which individual snake
of all species tested will cross a strip of repellent, so the product cannot be
regarded as an absolute barrier to these reptiles. Such situations are expected
to be rare in natural environments, however, and, In cases where snakes exhibited avoidance behaviors but nonetheless crossed the repellent strip in various ways, it seems likely that a diffuse scattering of Snake-A-Way pellets over the area beyond the strip would have caused the snake to eventually leave the area. Such procedure might also enhance the effectiveness of the product on substrates that are coarse-grained or uneven. Considering all of the data, the fundamental conclusions regarding efficacy remain the same. Snake-A-Way should significantly decrease snake occurrences. UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA SUMMARY Test Animal: Snakes (various species) Source: Various (private collections; wild-caught specimens from Alachua County, Florida; research breeding programs). Date Animals Received: Various, June 1 through August
24. Responses to Snake-A-Way, a putative snake repellent, were examined in 160 snakes representing 15 species and four families. Behavioral tests involved: (1) a two-way choice situation within a Y-shaped enclosure (Y tests), and (2) the use of space within a circular enclosure in which one quarter of the area was bounded by a strip of repellent (circle test). Snake-A-Way is shown to repel snakes with efficacy that varies from 100% to 17% in the different taxa. The nine venomous species tested (particularly rattlesnakes) exhibited consistently high avoidance of the repellent, with the exception of cottonmouths. The other snakes showed high avoidance of repellent, except for rat snakes. Some individuals of all species demonstrated overt avoidance of repellent. Collectively, 83% of all snakes tested avoided the strips of repellent used in the Y tests. Data for three species of snakes subjected to circle tests corroborate the findings from the Y tests. Thus, Snake-A-Way appears to be a potent repellent, however, snakes of all species may cross the repellent in unusual circumstances. These circumstances are probably rare in nature, however, and use of Snake-A-Way can be expected to reduce the occurrence of snakes in "protected" areas. Excerpts from The University of Florida (EPA TESTING & PROTOCOL)
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