Opinion | Equality
The Messy “Mating Ball” of Modern Dating
Our online information space is poisoning our dating space
Garter snakes are, at a first glance, quite unimpressive. They’re non-venomous, so apart from the occasional scare when we stumble upon one unexpectedly, we don’t think about them much. With their orangish-red-yellow longitudinal stripes, they’re humble, garden-variety serpents. They’re voracious eaters, diligently keeping their habitats in check and our homes free from pests. It’s a thankless job that doesn’t exactly captivate humans.
But, when it comes to mating habits, garter snakes’ courtship habits are riveting. The way they have sex is bizarre, twisting up with one another in massive knots of squamous snakeskin. Huge numbers come together to perform this mating ritual, a ritual you may have seen before, unaware they were mating, but that’s precisely what they’re doing.
Sexual competition between snakes is extremely high. The males rush the female and mob her in large groups, swirling their smooth, scaly bodies around her. When a number of these snakes coalesce, forming a colossal bundle of snakes, it’s called a mating ball.
We should all pause and be thankful we don’t have to pile up into a big ball to make babies (unless you’re into that…
