Great post Frank,

We (myself included) often forget that the labels we give to describe these states of being (brumation, estivation, etc.) are only for our use and understanding. The snakes don't know them or use them. We should understand that our application of them should only be used to loosely describe a state or condition. In short, just because we say it's so, doesn't make it so.

I was surprised to hear some of the responses to that post. Some were very rigid and defensive of that condition we call brumation. I was equally surprised that the situation was explained away with the notion that it occurred because of a male's presence or the scent of a male. Females don't spontaneously ovulate because of a male in their vicinity. If that were the case, my girls would popping ovulations all year long too, as most are kept in pairs/groups all year. They ovulate once the follicles reach a state of maturity which will support fertilization and shelling. Many females ovulate without ever being with/near a male, producing infertile eggs.

To be continued....

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