 Fenton and Licht note that the effect of a rattlesnake 's rattling could be deimatic ( startle ) in inexperienced animals , whether predators or large animals that might injure the snake by stepping on it , but aposematic ( a warning signal ) in animals that are aware of the rattle 's meaning . They refer to the work of Fenton and his colleague David Bates on the responses of the big brown bat , Eptesicus fuscus , to the defensive clicks made by moths in the family Arctiidae , which includes the garden tiger moth , <unk> caja . This family includes large , furry , bitter @-@ tasting or poisonous moths . They found that while sounds can startle inexperienced bats , after a few trials the bats ignored the sounds if the prey was edible ; but the same sounds can warn experienced bats of bitter @-@ tasting prey ( an honest signal ) . 
