How does a male snake find a mate?

Researchers have found that the stimulant of snakes mating and reproducing is the estrogen hormone released by snakes.

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This study was carried out by scientists at Oregon State University, supported by the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Research shows that, every spring, tens of thousands of striped snakes emerge from limestone caves Manitoba, Canada, to mate. The competition to find a partner took place very hard in male snakes, so much so that they twisted into a female snake like a ball, called "mating balls" by scientists .

Estrogen hormones secreted by snakes stimulate male mating

Males tend to choose larger females because they reproduce many, while younger ones are not the preferred sex partners.

So how do the males find their favorite partners and distinguish between females and males during such 'chaotic' mating season?

According to new research, male snakes will use their tongues to sense hormones in other snakes to detect the sex and age of their partners.

To test this, the scientists tried to give males a taste of the same chemical that females emit as estrogen. Immediately the male was " misunderstood" by other males and surrounded. Obviously, estrogen causes males to produce "female" hormones .

When researchers put male snake estrogens into the snake, the snakes returned to their normal behavior. Thus, in practice, males completely depend on reproductive hormones of female snakes.