“I thought, ‘what joker put tomatoes in here for the snake’,” Morton said.
It wasn’t tomatoes, though; as Morton examined the round, soft, egg-like structures, he realized they were freshly laid membranes from the female snake.
“She had acted normal other than not eating for several weeks,” Morton said. “So it definitely took me by surprise.”
Morton reported his find to one of the naturalists at the center, who verified what it was. The snake did the same thing last summer, giving birth to two now healthy year-old watersnakes. Naturalist Jordi Brostoski found the membranes last summer, when it first happened.
“At first I thought the snake had regurgitated something until I looked at it closer,” Brostoski said. “That’s when I realized what had happened and then the hatchling snakes surprised me by slithering under the bedding in the cage.”
According to Jeff Briggler, MDC herpetologist, although it’s not heard of often, virgin births can be common in some species, through a process called parthenogenesis.
Parthenogenesis is a type of asexual reproduction in which offspring develops from unfertilized eggs. It occurs in many insect orders, most commonly with bees, wasps and stick insects and is also found in some species of fish, amphibians, birds and reptiles, but not in mammals.
“There are many types of parthenogenesis in which I will not go into great detail,” Briggler said. “In layman’s terms, parthenogenesis is a mode of asexual reproduction in which the offspring (babies) are produced by females without genetic contribution of a male.”
Briggler said parthenogenesis seems to occur in both captive and wild situations and it doesn’t seem to impact the health of the female snake. Additionally, this species of snake has not been documented as participants in parthenogenesis.
“For many years, it was believed that such birth in captivity was due to sperm storage,” Briggler explained. “However, genetics is proving a different story.”
This snake has been a resident at the nature center for nearly eight years, which is likely too long of a time for this to be a result of sperm storage.
Briggler said parthenogenesis is a common occurrence in many lizard species. Published accounts of this form of reproduction in snakes have included the Brahminy bind snake, Timber rattlesnake, Copperheads, Cottonmouths, Burmese python, Rainbow boa, Common boa, Green anaconda, several gartersnake species, Aruba island rattlesnake and Afarura filesnake. As more genetic work is conducted, Briggler believes it may turn out that parthenogenesis is more widespread than scientists have thought in the past.
One interesting result of the process is that in the majority of the species that participate in parthenogenesis, the offspring produced are all male, Briggler said.
“There is always a high proportion of infertile eggs due to chromosome combination, but a few can be successful and hatch if the mother has a dissimilar sex chromosome (ZW) compared to the male with copies of the ZZ chromosome,” he said.
In this case, the female ZW chromosome will produce egg cell with ZZ and WW via meiosis. The ZZ combination can form a male embryo cell that can begin to divide and produce a snake. The WW chromosome is not viable.
The Yellow-bellied watersnake’s offspring didn’t survive this year, possibly due to the combination of chromosomes. However, last year’s two young ones are thriving and serving as educational reptiles for the Cape Nature Center.
The Cape Nature Center is located inside Cape Girardeau's North County Park, just east of Interstate 55 (Exit 99) and Kingshighway (State Highway 61). More information about the center can be found at mdc.mo.gov/CapeNatureCenter.
Photo by Candice Davis.
It’s Monday! Monday’s are most people’s least favorite day of the week, so what better way to spend it than to have it off of work!
Today we celebrate Labor Day. We add an extra day to our weekend to celebrate the labor movement, which gave to us better working conditions and fair treatment from our employers and the government. Labor Day is also associated by some as the end of summer, before the school year starts.
CELEBRATE
Labor Day is often spent as a vacation weekend by many families. Most campgrounds on this weekend are packed full. As you celebrate this day, consider and appreciate your hard work and how it has added to the well-being and prosperity of our country and use #NationalLaborDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
Labor Day was celebrated for the first time in New York City in 1882.
It was originally celebrated on September 5th, but was moved to the first Monday in September in 1884. Labor Day started out as a state holiday, getting voted in by individual states, but gained popularity and was voted a national holiday by the U.S. Congress in 1894.
What are you doing to celebrate National Labor Day? Post your photos and #NationalLaborDay!
Possible Phone Scam Occurring in Missouri
Press release from SEMO Electric Coop on the recent phone scams occurring in Missouri - At SEMO Electric Cooperative, it is our goal to keep the personal and financial information of our members secure. That is why we are warning our members that scammers could be posing as SEMO Electric in an attempt to obtain information that would compromise their financial security.
SEMO Electric Cooperative has received reports from other Co-ops around the state, informing us that scammers are calling member’s homes and businesses demanding payment for what they say is a past due bill and if it isn’t paid the electric will be shut off.
SEMO Electric employees will never ask for your full Social Security number over the phone and if payments are late, SEMO Electric may contact members with an automated phone call to inform members of a late payment, not to ask for payment.
If you feel you are being scammed, write down the number the call came from or any information about the call and contact SEMO Electric Cooperative. Never risk sharing your information. Do not give the person any personal or financial information.
Captain Ridens said, “Over the entire holiday weekend, troopers will be targeting all traffic violations and will be especially vigilant regarding excessive speed, careless and imprudent driving, and aggressive driving violations. Troopers will also be available to help motorists in need of assistance.”
Approximately 63 percent of Missouri fatal crash victims who are required to be restrained are NOT at the time of the traffic crash. The Patrol urges motorists to protect themselves and their passengers by making sure everyone in the vehicle is properly restrained in a seat belt or child restraint. Join us in supporting the Drive To Zero Highway Deaths. Watercraft operators should ensure that everyone in the vessel is wearing an approved life jacket. Click It 4 Life And Wear It!!
"It's a fun weekend that people look forward to each year," says Traffic Engineer Craig Compas, "but we want people to remember that there's more traffic and more congestion along Route 61 this weekend than any other and drivers need to keep that in mind."
MoDOT will do its part to bring the safety message to the forefront. Message boards will be in place along the route to alert drivers of the unusual traffic patterns and promote safe driving.
"We really want drivers to be alert-to be aware of their surroundings, to be aware of sudden stops and to look for pedestrian traffic," Compas says. "It's a big event locally, and we want everyone to enjoy themselves and be as safe as possible."
All the fun begins Thursday, September 3rd morning through Saturday.
For more information, contact Compas at (573) 472-5310 or call MoDOT's Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-888-ASK-MODOT (1-888-275-6636).
