I would assume by implication that in the test described the full weight of the shoe was never really on the snake. What I'm saying is that actually stepping on a snake will cause pain & likely a reflexive strike in self-defense, whereas a partial "whoops!" without full pressure was dismissed by the snakes tested. And bear in mind that even a dead (recently killed) rattlesnake can bite reflexively- people have gotten bitten while trying to collect road-kill.
Obviously, rattling would be counter-productive if they rattled at prey before striking, so clearly it's used for self-defense- trying to avoid wasting venom (which is their only weapon & means of getting food). I think many people misunderstand rattlesnakes that are rattling as being "angry" (& those scales that shade their eyes give them a "scowl" which doesn't help any), but snakes don't see things the way people do.
Rattling just means the snake feels threatened. It means "back off please!" That's why we have to watch out for them too- they don't always have a chance to react when caught off guard.
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