Snakes!

[SilvaMo0n]

How do snakes have sex?

 

[Willamena]

"Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?"

Perhaps snakes multiply so that we might have fun with ladders.

 

[linwood]

The same way most land based macro-organisms have sex.

The interesting part is that the male snake has not one but TWO penises.

 

[SilvaMo0n]

...the male snake has not one but TWO penises...

Lol, threesome.

 

[painted wolf]

Not only is the snakes hemipenis twinned, but it is also forked and barbed.
Despite having two they only use one hemipenis at a time to reproduce.

wa:do

 

[Katzpur]

How do you guys know this stuff?

 

[painted wolf]

Biologists get to learn all kinds of weird things....
Ask me about sea cucumbers some time. :jiggy:

wa:do

 

[linwood]

How do you guys know this stuff?

I owned a couple of exotic snakes before I got wise so I studied them a bit.
Painted Wolf just knows almost everything about biological organisms.


I also have many large black racers living in and around my neighborhood.

I went to my truck one morning to go to work and ended up being a half hour late waiting for the two racers mating under my truck to finish.

They refused to be interrupted for anything.

 

[Katzpur]

I owned a couple of exotic snakes before I got wise so I studied them a bit.
Painted Wolf just knows almost everything about biological organisms.

Well, I've got to say I learned something new tonight. But what's the point of two penises?

 

[linwood]

Well, I've got to say I learned something new tonight. But what's the point of two penises?

Could be a screw up of evolution or it could be a blessing of evolution.

The snakes penises(weird plural) are barbed as PW said so I would venture a guess that it is quite easy to injure one once inserted into a female who may not particularly enjoy a barbed penis inside her.

I`ve heard a vet speak of two snakes he had to surgically separate when one of the penises got lodged in the female.

I didn`t ask for clarification but I assumed "surgically separate" meant cutting off a penis.

Just speculation.

 

[linwood]

Just found this at New Scientist.

Male lizards and snakes have to make a choice when they mate: which penis should they use? They have two. One is connected to their right testis, and one to their left. Now two biologists from the US have found that some lizards alternate their penises as each is depleted of sperm. In this way, they maximise their chance of fertilising a female.

Richard Torkaz and Joseph Slowinski of Miami University studied the lizard Anolis carolinensis. They found that the penis a lizard used depended on which they used last time they mated, and how long ago they last used it

Science: Why two penises are so much better than one - 24 November 1990 - New Scientist

 

[Katzpur]

I guess maybe God just liked male snakes more than He liked male humans.

 

[painted wolf]

The barbs are there to prevent the happy couple from being separated to early. Since snakes don't have any hands and a lot of them are very social during mating time, this becomes a distinct worry for male snakes.

Snakes tend to form what are called "mating balls" where a large number of male snakes cluster around a single female and wrestle with each other and her for the chance to be a dad.
(at least in temperate areas where snakes gather en mass to hibernate)
So the male that get's the girl needs a way to make sure he doesn't simply get pushed out of the way by all the other guys.

here is a pretty cool account of a mating ball and some of the research being done to understand snake behavior. : The mating game, snake style: for just a few weeks each year, thousands of snakes slither in search of mates - red-sided garter snakes; the Narcisse Wildlife Management Area near Winnipeg, Manitoba - Brief Article | Animals | Find Articles at BNET

wa:do

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Snakes tend to form what are called "mating balls" where a large number of male snakes cluster around a single female and wrestle with each other and her for the chance to be a dad.

Yeah, down here in the Gulf States we talk about the dangers of Moccasin Balls in the swamp and the tourists look at us really funny. It's fun teasing tourists. But Moccasin Balls are a hazard anyone who spends time in the swamp knows about. Some crazy Cajuns actually catch them, sticking their hand into a mass of snakes and then putting them in a canvas bag. Then they sell them to snake farms who harvest the venom.

 

[painted wolf]

It's probably the safest time to handle them... they are so juiced up to mate and snake social rules are pretty strict about not using venom with your peers that it makes sense that they wouldn't be as prone to strike.

In fact snake social structure and the reluctance to use venom against other snakes may explain why the 'snake handling churches' get by. From all the footage I've seen, they tend to keep all their snakes crowded into a single box. It may act to pacify them, but that is just a guess.

Still, not the sort of thing I'm ever likely to try. :areyoucra

wa:do

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

It's probably the safest time to handle them... they are so juiced up to mate and snake social rules are pretty strict about not using venom with your peers that it makes sense that they wouldn't be as prone to strike.

Yeah, the Cajuns who do it say they don't get bit by the Balls but like you said, I'm still not going to try it. Moccasins are the meanest snake I've ever seen. They drop into boats and I've even seen them swim up and strike the side of a boat just because it was in their water. I understand Cobras are supossed to be just as mean but I haven't met one of them. Moccasins are bad enough but at least they are normally only around the water.

 

[linwood]

Moccasins are the meanest snake I've ever seen. They drop into boats and I've even seen them swim up and strike the side of a boat just because it was in their water.

I`ve seen them follow canoes down a creek to bite them.

They`re nasty little buggers.

 

[painted wolf]

Most of their aggression is bluff and bluster. Defensive Behavior of Cottonmouths toward Humans

wa:do

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Most of their aggression is bluff and bluster. Defensive Behavior of Cottonmouths toward Humans

wa:do

With respect, I disagree. Sure, the aggression is probably exaggerated but it is still there, I know what I've seen with my own eyes. Maybe it's just the difference in how they act as opposed to other poisonous snakes that we notice. Copperheads will generally avoid a human, preferring to escape rather than attack. Moccasins attack when in their territory. I have seen them attempt escape when caught outside their normal territory, like in a flood or having been captured. But when boating in their swamp, they bite first and ask questions later.

 

[painted wolf]

Perhaps... I find most animals reputations are a bit exaggerated. Not intentionally, but humans have a way of reading into animal behavior.
Their aggressive displays are certainly more distinctive than most snakes encountered. This along with curiosity (as a pit viper it is attracted by heat) may account for it's reputation.

The non-venomous close look alike watersnakes of the genus Nerodia are said to be far more aggressive in behavior. Likely trying to bluff being venomous. Many species mimic of the cottonmouth.

But I have no personal experience with them myself.

wa:do