(CNN) Have you ever heard a rattlesnake rattling up close? It turns out the venomous reptiles change the frequency of their rattle the closer humans get to them, according to a new study published Thursday in Current Biology. While visiting an animal facility, lead study author Boris Chagnaud noticed rattlesnakes changed their rattling to a higher frequency when he approached them and lowered it when he walked away. It is similar to a car backing up, said Chagnaud, a professor in the department of biology at the University of Graz in Austria. The "acoustical signals warning you how close an object is behind you" beeps faster the closer you are to an object, Chagnaud noted.

Source: CNN August 19, 2021 15:00 UTC