SF Examiner on the Narcisse Snake Dens
News | April 21, 2009

The Narcisse Snake Dens of Manitoba get some attention from San Francisco, of all places — the San Francisco Examiner has a two-part feature this week on a visit to the dens, which presumably occurred before this year’s season: part one, part two. Bob Ecker’s tale does contain a couple of biological boners, though. Garter snakes have two hemipenes not in case one of them breaks off, but because they evolved that way; all snakes and lizards are like that. And the musky odour emitted by snakes is not because they’re aroused; it’s a defence mechanism. Let’s just say that I’ve been around a lot of aroused garter snakes. And pheromones aren’t something you can smell. Even so, interesting to see this story.

Note: Online news sources frequently remove old stories, and links to stories sometimes expire after a short period of time. If the link to the news story in this entry no longer works, there’s nothing I can do about it.