Orgy
April 18, 2017, 9:53 pm
It’s the orgy to end all orgies. Narcisse, Manitoba, an hour north of Winnipeg, is the scene of the party. That’s 800 miles north of our house, and some year around late April or May I want to take a drive up there.
The Narcisse Snake Dens are home to the world’s largest congregation of snakes. The snakes are all red-sided garter snakes and are entirely harmless. For eight months, 50,000 of them hibernate in their underground limestone crannies. When spring finally arrives in that northern realm, the males all slither out with one thought on their minds…sex. Males vastly outnumber females; the ratio can be 10,000 to 1. The ground is a “writhing carpet of snakes”.
Next, the girls, who are considerably longer and wider than the guys, slowly glide out. The females secrete pheromones and are swarmed by dozens or even hundreds of eager suitors who rub their chins along the ladies’ backs while flicking their tongues. Once the females pick a male and mate, they go off alone and give birth in late summer. Red-sided garter snakes are ovoviviparous meaning the eggs hatch inside the female’s body and the snakes are born live. Mom, however, does not hang around and care for her kids.
The Narcisse Wildlife Management Area has a sensational web site at naturenorth.com.
Check out their snake videos and don’t be squeamish. These snakes rock……and roll in mating balls!
Narcisse Snake Den Steve on Flicker
3 Comments for this entry
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Greetings and welcome...
The Suitcase Lady Blog is now in its thirteenth year. I am obviously a believer in these words from E. B. White. "We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry." Thank you for reading the writing that I delight in doing.
Posts
April 18th, 2017 on 9:57 PM
OMG OMG OMG
April 19th, 2017 on 8:56 PM
What happens to the other 9,999?
April 20th, 2017 on 2:21 PM
ditto