Photo: A rainbow boa constrictor.
And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark — thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
— Book of Genesis, Chapter Six
As far as we can tell, two of every kind of animal did indeed come to Noah, and climbed aboard the ark, to ride out the flood. Birds, cattle, and every creeping thing.
Male and female.
God was going to give the world another shot, starting with a clean slate.
Presumably, two of those creeping things were rainbow boa constrictors. Presumably, male and female.
But it turns out that presumptions can be misleading.
Back in June 2024, a gorgeous and rare 12-year-old rainbow boa constrictor named ‘Ronaldo’ gave birth to 14 baby snakes. Ronaldo’s caretakers at the City of Portsmouth College in southern England were understandably shocked, because Ronaldo was a male snake. Or at least, he had given every indication of being male.
To make the event more shocking — if that’s even possible — Ronaldo had been living alone in his college-sponsored enclosure, without access to a loving partner, for three years.
After getting over the shock of suddenly having 14 more mouths to feed, the college caretakers realized that Ronaldo had undergone a process called “parthenogenesis” which is a rare but natural form of asexual reproduction — more common in snakes than in most species.
From Wikipedia:
Parthenogenesis occurs naturally in some invertebrate animal species (including water fleas, scorpions, aphids, some mites, bees, parasitic wasps); a few vertebrates such as some fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds; and some plants. It has been induced artificially in several animal species that naturally reproduce through sex, including fish, amphibians, and mice…
Following the birth of the baby snakes, Pete Quinlan, City of Portsmouth College’s reptile specialist, was quoted in a press release:
“Ronaldo had been looking slightly fatter than usual, like he’d eaten a big meal, but we never thought for a moment that he — or should we say ‘she’ — was pregnant.”
Then, a few weeks ago, Ronaldo’s caretakers noticed signs of a possible second pregnancy. Nesting behavior, lack of appetite, excess shedding, and of course, a fat belly — or whatever passes for a belly in a boa constrictor.
Lo and behold, last weekend, Ronaldo once again gave birth — this time to 12 baby snakes.
Once again, without the benefit of a partner.
I mean, really… who needs a man around? A clever gal can handle this stuff on her own.
Ronaldo’s caretakers were not quite as shocked the second time around, although no one has ever heard of a snake, in captivity, giving birth twice through parthenogenesis. (Probably happens all the time out in the real world. So little we know about the real world.)
I presume God knew about parthenogenesis when He was talking things over with Noah, and maybe He even explained the process to Noah and that little detail got left out of the story. Maybe there was only a single rainbow boa constrictor on the ark. I mean, it’s possible.
But the question that’s been bugging me, since hearing about Ronaldo’s unique accomplishment, has nothing to do with snakes. I keep thinking about the struggles going on, lately, among modern humans.
Females don’t seem to need us men like they used to. They’re reluctant to marry us, and even more hesitant to have children with us.
If you can believe government data, it looks like about 40% of U.S. children are now born to unmarried mothers. That’s a big difference from the 1960s, when it was closer to 9%.
I worry that it’s a small step between not wanting the man around when you’re giving birth… and not needing a man to be involved at all.
Think of all the lawns that are not going to get mowed.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.