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The theory is possible, in that individuals prone to rattle when approached make their whereabouts known, whereas those that don't remain undiscovered, and if being discovered results in a high rate of lethality.  I could see this being a rational conclusion if we are talking about snakes being found and killed by humans, however pigs have a great sense of smell and will be tipped off to the presence of a snake from the unique odor the snake emits rather than discovering the potential meal from the snakes' auditory warning. I've been studying venomous snakes for nearly 20 years and have not seen a hereditary change in behavior that would validate the claim.  The majority of rattlesnakes I handle do not rattle unless I pick them up and secure their head by hand.  They have individual temperments; some rattle fiercely before I've spotted them and others remain calm even when being picked up, and that's across the board among all rattlesnake species I've encountered.  I wouldn't say that one species is meaner than the next.

I've also been studying feral pigs for about 12 years and when I began to hear this theory being passed around I tried to find evidence supporting it by searching out rattlesnakes within areas I knew were highly populated by feral hogs. I did not find a correlation between areas with an abundance of feral hogs and rattlesnakes that were less liberal with their warnings, however it was true that the number of rattlesnakes within those areas was much smaller than what I would expect to find in similar habit elsewhere around the region with little to no feral hogs.  I don't rely on hearing a rattle to locate snakes and my methods of finding them are the same no matter where I'm searching, so I would not extend the theory to my ability to locate rattlesnakes either.

Feral hogs do prey on snakes, but one of the rattlesnakes' most prolific enemies is the roadrunner. Roadrunners are remarkable at subduing young rattlesnakes, and they don't use their ears to locate them.

Quoted:
The theory is possible, in that individuals prone to rattle when approached make their whereabouts known, whereas those that don't remain undiscovered, and if being discovered results in a high rate of lethality.  I could see this being a rational conclusion if we are talking about snakes being found and killed by humans, however pigs have a great sense of smell and will be tipped off to the presence of a snake from the unique odor the snake emits rather than discovering the potential meal from the snakes' auditory warning. I've been studying venomous snakes for nearly 20 years and have not seen a hereditary change in behavior that would validate the claim.  The majority of rattlesnakes I handle do not rattle unless I pick them up and secure their head by hand.  They have individual temperments; some rattle fiercely before I've spotted them and others remain calm even when being picked up, and that's across the board among all rattlesnake species I've encountered.  I wouldn't say that one species is meaner than the next.

I've also been studying feral pigs for about 12 years and when I began to hear this theory being passed around I tried to find evidence supporting it by searching out rattlesnakes within areas I knew were highly populated by feral hogs. I did not find a correlation between areas with an abundance of feral hogs and rattlesnakes that were less liberal with their warnings, however it was true that the number of rattlesnakes within those areas was much smaller than what I would expect to find in similar habit elsewhere around the region with little to no feral hogs.  I don't rely on hearing a rattle to locate snakes and my methods of finding them are the same no matter where I'm searching, so I would not extend the theory to my ability to locate rattlesnakes either.

Feral hogs do prey on snakes, but one of the rattlesnakes' most prolific enemies is the roadrunner. Roadrunners are remarkable at subduing young rattlesnakes, and they don't use their ears to locate them.

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Here in OR there are a metric fuckton of rattlesnakes on a stretch of river I normally fly fish. I have been fishing this stretch for over 20 years now and over the years the snakes have definitely rattled less and less. Surprised the hell out of me when I first moved here since I came from SoCal and you can usually hear those fuckers from a mile away. The Oregon snakes are to the point now where even if you're fucking with them they either won't rattle of if they do it is incredibly anemic and you probably wouldn't hear it if you didn't see them. This was not the case 20 years ago but there were definitely some that were less prone to rattling.  I've had a theory for a number of years that the ones that rattle generally get killed and the quieter ones live to see another day and I really do think there's something to it. There could definitely be another reason but that one seems fairly plausible.

Quoted:
The theory is possible, in that individuals prone to rattle when approached make their whereabouts known, whereas those that don't remain undiscovered, and if being discovered results in a high rate of lethality.  I could see this being a rational conclusion if we are talking about snakes being found and killed by humans, however pigs have a great sense of smell and will be tipped off to the presence of a snake from the unique odor the snake emits rather than discovering the potential meal from the snakes' auditory warning. I've been studying venomous snakes for nearly 20 years and have not seen a hereditary change in behavior that would validate the claim.  The majority of rattlesnakes I handle do not rattle unless I pick them up and secure their head by hand.  They have individual temperments; some rattle fiercely before I've spotted them and others remain calm even when being picked up, and that's across the board among all rattlesnake species I've encountered.  I wouldn't say that one species is meaner than the next.

I've also been studying feral pigs for about 12 years and when I began to hear this theory being passed around I tried to find evidence supporting it by searching out rattlesnakes within areas I knew were highly populated by feral hogs. I did not find a correlation between areas with an abundance of feral hogs and rattlesnakes that were less liberal with their warnings, however it was true that the number of rattlesnakes within those areas was much smaller than what I would expect to find in similar habit elsewhere around the region with little to no feral hogs.  I don't rely on hearing a rattle to locate snakes and my methods of finding them are the same no matter where I'm searching, so I would not extend the theory to my ability to locate rattlesnakes either.

Feral hogs do prey on snakes, but one of the rattlesnakes' most prolific enemies is the roadrunner. Roadrunners are remarkable at subduing young rattlesnakes, and they don't use their ears to locate them.

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Visited NC over the summer and saw one in the road.  Pulled over to check it out because i have never seen one in the wild.  Poked with stick and couldnt get it to rattle.  Decided to stop messing with it because if i got bit and died, medicfrost would be posting the news story on here.  Yankee dies poking rattlesnake, darwin wins again.