newscubic
If you see a snake anywhere, you will run away from there without taking a second look. But imagine what will you do if you see thousands of snakes at one place? Surely you will try to run away from there too. But you are wrong here. Actually, there is a place in the world where thousands of people go to see the mating of snakes. This place remains very interesting especially for scientists.
We are talking about Narcisse located in Manitoba, Canada, where every year more than 75,000 eastern garter snakes reach during the spring season and look for a partner for themselves. Therefore, this place is also famous as the honeymoon destination of snakes. Every year in this city, pairs of snakes are seen wrapped around each other.
View of the mating ball
The migration of snakes begins after the winter ends in Canada. During winter, snakes live in limestone caves (sinkholes). With the arrival of spring, male snakes are the first to come out of this cave and look for a partner. During this time, many male snakes try to woo a female by wrapping themselves around her. This is the reason why scientists named this place ‘mating ball’. Along with thousands of tourists, a large number of scientists also come to see this sight.
Manitoba unique environment
According to a study published in November 2023 in Behavioral Ecology, some snakes do not mix very differently from other social animals around us. For example, Butler’s garter snakes show a complex social structure based on age and sex. According to Forbes, these caves provide favorable conditions for red-edged garter snakes. A subspecies of the common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis Red-edged garter snakes are found in North America. However, the unique environment of Manitoba’s Interlake region provides conditions not found anywhere else.
450 million year old sinkhole
Temperatures here commonly drop below 30 degrees Celsius in winter and the ground is covered in ice for about half the year. About 450 million years ago this land was the bottom of a tropical ocean teeming with marine life. Over the ages, water dissolved calcium carbonate, creating deep cracks and caves in the rock. These underground sinkholes and cracks extend several metres below the surface, so deep that they are below the snow line.
