The "Mostly Harmless" Common Garter Snake and Their Odd Mating Strategy

Better Than Human

Like in the Hitchhikers Guild to the Galaxy, Garter Snakes are what one would call “Mostly Harmless”. Do they have venom? Sometimes. Will it hurt you? Probably not. Compared to how humans treat this planet, Garter Snakes are most definitely harmless. Also, host Jennifer thinks they are very cute. The common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) is a group of snakes, which are indigenous to North America and found throughout the continent. On average, they grow a little less than 2 feet long (44cm) and can have patterns of different color stripes.

First in The Good and The Bad News , Jennifer talks about the first US Capitol rioter conviction, which is both good and bad news. Then Amber talks democratic socialism which 100% of republicans do not understand and/or are rich assholes who do not want to be taxed more.

This week Amber picked the topic, because, you know, cute snake videos, but Jennifer picked the species, because, you know, random weird behaviors. What weird behavior you ask? Well, when mating, populations have way more males than females, (we don’t know why), so during mating season, they form "mating balls”. (Yep, a giant snake orgy). And that is not the weirdest thing they do while mating, just read the Nature, 1985, article titled "Female Mimicry in Garter Snakes"…. If you can.

Listen now to learn about the Common Garter Snake, the animal Jennifer almost did her theses on.
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