'Oodles and oodles of noodles': Thousands of garter snakes writhe out of a winter den in the world's largest snake gathering

If you have ophidiophobia, this is not the article for you.

A Reddit post showed thousands of red-sided garter snakes spilling out of a den and tangling into a single, writhing mass.

For anyone who loves wildlife spectacles and can tolerate snakes, the footage offers a jaw-dropping look at one of nature's wildest seasonal rituals.

What happened?

The Redditor's thread on the r/herpetology subreddit included a gallery and video from the Narcisse Snake Dens, a site often described as "the largest gathering of snakes in the world."

In the YouTube video posted by Timmy in Canada (@timmyincanada), the snakes cover the ground in thick, shifting layers as they emerge from a shared underground winter shelter.

However alarming it may look at first, the scene is a standard spring occurrence. With winter over, the snakes come out, cluster together to scope each other out, mate, and then spread across the surrounding landscape for the summer.

Manitoba's government noted that the "spectacular ritual" lasts 1-3 weeks in late April or early May, and that the males come out first. Once they emerge, they wait for the females to come out to join them in a "mating ball" with each female attracting dozens of suitors.

Why does it matter?

These snakes rely on underground dens to survive the harsh prairie winter, and if those sites are damaged, disturbed, or cut off, entire seasonal cycles can be thrown off.

The garter snakes pose no danger to human spectators, but the government advises viewers to observe them from adjacent platforms across the four active dens. They all link to each other on a nearly two-mile self-guided trail.

The government said visitors can also see them in the fall as they return to their dens and stay active before the weather turns colder and wetter, sending them back underground.

What are people saying?

The comments ranged from delight and confusion to appreciation.

One person summed up the mood perfectly: "Oodles and oodles of noodles!! So neat!!"

Another commenter asked the obvious question: "Is this a sex thing?" 

"Yes, yes it is 99% of the time if a bunch of animals of the same species are in a pile it is a sex thing," someone quickly replied. "Nature is beautiful and full of orgies."

A third person offered a helpful explanation: "They've emerged from a communal wintering chamber called a hibernaculum... warm up in piles like this, mate, and then disperse."

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