The Case of the Poisoned Hunters

Garter Snakes the Case of the Poisoned Hunters

Some mysterious deaths in the wilderness led to an unusual scientific discovery. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

McGlothlin: Back in the sixties, a group of hunters in Oregon were found dead at their campsite, and the only clue to what had killed them was – there was a newt that was boiled in their coffee pot.

We’ll never know just how that newt ended up in the coffee pot, but Joel McGlothlin, an assistant professor of biology at Virginia Tech, explains what happened as a result of this grizzly event.

McGlothlin: It turns out that the newt is extremely toxic. Most animals that you feed it to or inject secretions from the newt into, will either become immobilized or will die. There are very few animals that can handle it. The only one that we’ve been able to discover that can eat a lot of the toxin is a garter snake.
Garter snakes have an amazing ability to withstand toxins produced by amphibians. Garter snakes eat one of the most toxic animals in the world, known as the rough-skinned newt. They can withstand enough toxin to kill several adult humans.

Apparently some garter snakes are more resistant to the newt toxin than others, and the amount of toxin they can handle is related to how toxic the newts are that they feed upon.

McGlothlin: This suggests that the garter snakes and the newts are in a co-evolutionary war. That is, as the newts become more toxic to overcome the defenses of the snake, the snakes are selected to become more resistant to the toxin. This creates a feedback loop that can get out of control, leading to extremely toxic newts in some places, and extremely resistant snakes that are able to match them.

We’ll hear more about poison newts and garter snakes in future programs. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

The Case of the Poisoned Hunters

Some mysterious deaths in the wilderness led to an unusual scientific discovery.
Air Date:05/01/2017
Scientist:
Transcript:

Garter Snakes the Case of the Poisoned Hunters

Some mysterious deaths in the wilderness led to an unusual scientific discovery. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

McGlothlin: Back in the sixties, a group of hunters in Oregon were found dead at their campsite, and the only clue to what had killed them was - there was a newt that was boiled in their coffee pot.

We'll never know just how that newt ended up in the coffee pot, but Joel McGlothlin, an assistant professor of biology at Virginia Tech, explains what happened as a result of this grizzly event.

McGlothlin: It turns out that the newt is extremely toxic. Most animals that you feed it to or inject secretions from the newt into, will either become immobilized or will die. There are very few animals that can handle it. The only one that we've been able to discover that can eat a lot of the toxin is a garter snake.
Garter snakes have an amazing ability to withstand toxins produced by amphibians. Garter snakes eat one of the most toxic animals in the world, known as the rough-skinned newt. They can withstand enough toxin to kill several adult humans.

Apparently some garter snakes are more resistant to the newt toxin than others, and the amount of toxin they can handle is related to how toxic the newts are that they feed upon.

McGlothlin: This suggests that the garter snakes and the newts are in a co-evolutionary war. That is, as the newts become more toxic to overcome the defenses of the snake, the snakes are selected to become more resistant to the toxin. This creates a feedback loop that can get out of control, leading to extremely toxic newts in some places, and extremely resistant snakes that are able to match them.

We'll hear more about poison newts and garter snakes in future programs. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.