HERP NEWS 009/2010
BEDFORDSHIRE NEWS (Bedford, UK) 09 January
10 Man
smashed up house after being told to remove snake
A tenant
caused thousands of pounds worth of damage after being told he couldn’t keep
his ‘dangerous’ snake and spiders in the property.
Daniel
Thompson-Sullivan, 31, was sent to prison for a total of 40 weeks at Cambridge
Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to racially aggravated criminal
damage.
In May 2009,
he wrecked the house near Ampthill Road, Bedford, which he had been renting
from Gold Crown Property Services based in Ford End Road, Bedford along with
his cousin.
Eric Masih,
who runs the company which rents and sells properties, went along to the house
after Thompson-Sullivan contacted him regarding problems with the boiler.
While he was there
Mr Masih saw a bag which was moving and Thompson-Sullivan said it was a
dangerous snake and proceeded to show him scorpions and spiders he had in tanks
in his bedroom.
Mr Masih said:
“I was very shocked and then suddenly he told me to get out of the room because
the snake had escaped. I ran out and locked myself in my car because I am
scared of snakes.”
Mr Masih told
Thompson-Sullivan that he shouldn’t have the animals there as it was not in the
contract and they may be dangerous. He told him to remove them. Days later Mr
Masih said he received a message from the tenant saying he had moved out so he
went round to inspect the property and discovered the damage.
He said: “I
couldn’t believe it. The radiators had been smashed along with the washing
machine, dishwasher, tiles, and there were racial messages on the walls saying
‘Paki’. I contacted the police straight away.”
Mr
Thompson-Sullivan changed his plea after it was originally listed for a trial
in Cambridge Crown Court.
He was given
39 weeks for the criminal damage and then an extra week for failing to attend
court on a previous occasion.
Mr Masih said
he wanted people to realise that they cannot get away with this sort of thing.
He said: “It
shows that tenants are punished if they do this.
“It’s not acceptable
and I think the whole thing has used so much of the taxpayers money for one
stupid man.”
http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-news/displayarticle.asp?id=475643
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION 09
January 10 Freshwater crocs muscled out by salties
Freshwater
crocodiles are being driven out of parts of the Northern Territory by their
larger, more aggressive saltwater cousins.
A proposed new
crocodile management plan has found that numbers of freshwater crocs have
fallen in some Top End rivers since the late 1990s.
Territory
Government scientist Robyn Delaney says increasing numbers of large salties
have moved into the Daly River, pushing out their smaller counterparts.
"Freshies
used to be found well downstream of the main crossing to Wadeye but now it's
only in those few kilometres around the crossing where we find freshwater
crocodiles in any big numbers," Dr Delaney said.
"This is
the way nature is: something new comes in - whether it be cane toads or an
increase in saltwater crocodiles - and nature just kind of shifts and adapts in
one way, shape or form.
"So we've
still got very healthy populations of freshwater crocodiles and perhaps it's
even getting back to pre-hunting times. We don't know."
Territory
crocodile expert Graeme Webb says he is worried about the future of freshwater
crocs.
"There's
only three to four weeks left in the year when they can nest so they're
probably a species that's on the way out," he said.
"There's
issues like climate change maybe with freshies that have an effect.
"Like if
the wet season starts two weeks earlier and the cold period extends two weeks -
well it's see you later freshies."
Mr Webb says
more research is needed into the impact of saltwater crocodiles and cane toads
on freshwater crocs.
"Freshwater
crocodiles were incredibly well-studied up here in the late 70s and early
80s," he said.
"Some of
that work has continued but there doesn't seem to be the interest in it; it
doesn't seem to be a priority for anybody.
"So I
don't think we're really going to get these answers about what's happening with
freshwater crocodiles."
Under the
proposed new management plan, the number of freshwater crocodiles that can be
taken from the wild has been slashed.
Territory
crocodile farmers will only be allowed to take 300 freshwater crocodile eggs
instead of 4,000 and 1,000 hatchlings instead of 6,000.
Dr Delaney
says the quota has been reduced because only a small part of the crocodile
industry is interested in freshwater crocs for their skins.
"From
about the last 10 years, there's been a total of probably about 50 animals or
eggs taken per year, which is very, very small," she said.
"The
freshwater crocodile skins really don't make good handbags and the reason
behind that, and the reason why saltwater crocodiles are chosen, is that in the
belly scales of freshwater crocodiles there's a small amount of bone."
Mr Webb says
the higher quotas should stay because business opportunities may develop in the
future.
"Quotas
are supposed to be a biologically significant figure so I don't think it's
necessary," he said.
"Maybe
some groups of landowners will be encouraged to look at ways to use this
species for economic development in remote areas. If you close something down
it's hard to get it open again."
The Government
has released the draft plan for public comment until February 12.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/09/2788726.htm?section=australia
LA PRESSE (Montréal, Québec) 09 January 10
Les animaux victimes du froid en
Floride
Miami (AFP): La vague de froid
qui s'est abattue cette semaine sur les États-Unis frappe durement certaines
espèces de la faune de Floride, habituées à des hivers plus cléments, et de
nombreux animaux en sont morts.
Les espèces les plus touchées sont les éléphants de mer, les tortues de
mer et les iguanes, a expliqué à l'AFP une porte-parole de la Commission de
conservation des animaux de Floride, Gabriella Ferraro.
Le froid, venu tout droit du Grand Nord canadien, "affecte
énormément les iguanes et beaucoup en meurent", a souligné Mme Ferraro,
remarquant toutefois que cela permettait de réguler le nombre d'iguanes vivant
dans cet État, qui n'est pas l'habitat naturel de ces animaux exotiques.
La chaîne américaine CNN a montré des images d'iguanes tombant
des arbres comme des fruits mûrs.
L'iguane est un reptile à sang froid qui a besoin d'une température
tiède. En dessous de 15o C, il a des problèmes pour bouger ses membres et
devient paralysé sous 5o.
Les températures basses font également sortir les pythons, a ajouté Mme
Ferraro à propos de ces serpents dont il faut également réguler la population.
"Ils sortent pour chercher les rayons du soleil alors il devient plus
facile de les chasser".
Parmi les espèces vivant traditionnellement en Floride, les éléphants de
mer et les tortues de mer sont "les plus vulnérables au froid",
a-t-elle indiqué, faisant état de plusieurs morts parmi ces animaux.
TIMES OF INDIA (New Delhi) 08 January 10 Villagers
of Chambal turn python-friendly (Faiz Rahman Siddiqui)
Kanpur: After rescuing ghariyals, Gangetic dolphins,
hyena and cheetal, locals of Chambal in Etawah are again proving their mettle
in rescuing pythons that have started
entering residential areas. They are being helped in their mission by the
forest department officials and wildlife experts.
It is all due
to the python's religious importance among rural folks who consider the
nocturnal creature as the `Vasuki'- rope that was used to churn the ocean
through the 'Mainak' mountain by the gods and the demons by mutual agreement
for producing `Amrit'. `Mainak' mountain was used as the churning rod and
`Vasuki' — a python — as the churning rope.
The forest
department and wildlife experts of the region have appreciated the villagers'
effort to conserve the species.
The region has
witnessed more than 30 incidents of pythons moving out of the jungles and
creeping into the residential areas of Etawah, including Bhadawari Farm,
Kuanra, Lakhna, Chipaity, Bakewar, District Jail premises, Naurangabad,
Pakkabagh, Forest Rest House, Sahson, Bithauli, Sarangpura and Sut Mill.
"It is a
very positive move and will be effective in conservation of pythons in the
region," said Dr Rajiv Chauhan, secretary, Society for Conservation of
Nature. "The nocturnal creatures, which we have rescued, are known as Python Morulus. It will further help in
the conservation of such species when we visit these villages (where these
pythons have been found roaming) and narrate its scientific importance to
people," said another wildlife expert while talking to TOI.
"Since
time immemorial, these snakes have been worshipped. As far as python is
concerned, it had played a major role in churning `Amrit' from the ocean
according to mythology," said Anup Bajpayi, a local of Sashon village.
According to
district forest officer Sudarshan Singh, most of these pythons have been
rescued from Fisher Forest Range and Chambal Bird Sanctuary of the district and
the rescue operation is still on.
While 30 of
them have been retrieved so far and sent to their natural habitat, longest
among them has been a 14-ft reptile that had been rescued from the Sahson
village of Etawah. Villagers had informed the forest department about the
snake's entry to their village. They later captured the snake and handed it
over to the forest department officials of Chambal forest division. The python
weighed more than 20 kg.
The snake
found here, commonly known as Pythons Morulus, a family of non-venomous snakes,
are also found in Africa, Asia and Australia, besides in various parts of
India. Few of its members are considered one of the largest snakes of the
world, informed a wildlife expert.
Sources in the
forest department, however, said pythons (a nocturnal creature) drape around
tree branches, camouflaged by their skin, waiting to ambush their next meal.
Said another
wildlife expert: "Snakes have, to an extent, terrified most of us and as a
result get killed instantly due to fear. But, locals of the district have
started acting more humanly towards these reptiles, courtesy its mythological
significance."
"Initially, people — mostly
youngsters — tried to kill python but after they were informed by their elders
about its religious significance, they not only came forward to save them but
also played prompt role in informing us and the forest department officials
besides the police," said Dr Rajiv Chauhan, secretary, Society for
Conservation of Nature working in the region. "And, villagers have now
become more aware of the natural balance after they were imparted knowledge
about its scientific importance," he adds.
Almost all the
30 pythons that were captured safely were set free in the Reserve Forest areas
designated by the forest and wildlife departments. "Locals have now become
more aware of pythons. They are hesitant to kill them and call us to trap them
and further assist us in releasing them in jungle," informed a forest
department official. "There was a common myth about the python that the
snake stores venom. But, when we apprised farmers of its usefulness in controlling
the rodent population and thereby saving a good amount of harvest, they are no
longer violent towards it," added Chauhan.
As per
wildlife experts pythons are solitary creatures, but males and females seek
each other out to mate. The female coils about her eggs to incubate them. Young
pythons have many natural enemies like eagles, crocodiles, large cats such as
leopards, tigers and hyenas.
WAUNETA BREEZE (Nebraska) 08 January 10 Cold-hearted
when it comes to snakes (Dave Vrbas)
I adore
nature.
But only when
it stays outside and the heck away from me.
Finding
delight in almost every little creature made by God’s hands, I still have to
side with my good buddy Aaron Wade at the Hemingford Ledger regarding his
personal struggles with odidiophobia, which were detailed in his personal
column last week.
Yes, my friend
Aaron and I are deathly afraid of caterpillars and the spine-chillingly
horrifying butterflies they become after their larval stages.
Okay, that was
just a blatant lie, of which I should be very ashamed. (Here’s a surprise
though: I’m not.)
No really,
along with the many other commonalities we share, Aaron and I are both
mortified of snakes. Their beady little eyes and forked tongues that whip in
and out from between their ruthless fangs, the slithery way they slime about
all over the place, and the manner in which a particular member of their
species conned Eve into snarfing down that apple from the naughty tree — all
those traits are enough to convince us that they are THE worst critters on the
planet.
Aaron, who
tends to be a little more laid back than I could ever hope to be on any given
day, actually gets a little more wigged out when he spots a slitherer. Exact
words from his column: “In one instance I looked down to find a beheaded garter
snake resting at my feet, which caused me to scream obscenities like a
potty-mouthed little girl. When I came to my senses I found my neighbor on the
other side of the fence watching the whole scene.”
The
reactionary phase is the one moment, however, in which Aaron and I differ in
dealing with our phobia. While I would pay good money to capture his reaction —
either as a mental picture or on camera for future YouTube-ing — I believe my
own reaction is quite different.
As soon as I
see a ground glider, I become so incensed with a
oh-no-I-know-you-di’int-just-choose-to-cross-my-hallowed-path-today rage that
it borders on psychopathic.
Allow me to
explain exactly why.
At our home in
Grand Island, we had a mafia family of garter snakes that made unwelcome
appearances at least once a week.
I was
convinced for quite a while that they resided in the creepy-crawly crawl space
under Casa De Vrbi — so convinced of that fact, actually, that despite
desperately needing to scooch under there to insulate, I just couldn’t bring
myself to find out what would happen if I combined a crippling claustrophobia
with a rage-inducing odidiophobia.
The thought of
becoming trapped in a cramped 3-foot area with garter snakes crawling on me
still makes me short of breath (and somewhat angry) thinking about it today.
A typical
snake sighting in GI would happen while I was working in the yard — but not
always, as you’ll soon read. When I spotted one of those slimy lowlifes, I
would take off on a dead sprint chasing after it with the lawnmower due to its
convenient cleanup. The only time I ever regretted using a yard implement to
end a snake’s life was the tiller incident. And that was just an unbelievably
horrific, ugly mess.
Moving on...
(shudders)
All this back
story is actually leading up to a snake story so creep-tastic it still causes
me to wake in the night with cold sweats. (Okay, who am I kidding? I wake up
every night from sweats regardless. And that’s just due to me being nothing
more than a sweaty beast of a guy.)
Anyhootie, on
to this terrifying story. Shortly after my son was born, he was having a tummy
issue that caused his first-time parents to contact the doctor after hours. The
doc and my wife sent me off to the pharmacy for a bottle of Maalox. I trekked
out across town and returned with Cherry Maalox since it was all they had left
on the shelves. Here’s a quick screenplay of how the situation unfolded when I
got home:
ME: (walking
in the door with the bag, acknowledging that I need to quickly explain my
purchase) “All they had left was Cherry Maalox, but I asked the pharmacist and
she said it wouldn’t make a difference.”
MY WIFE:
(turning and looking toward me) “OH MY GOD!”
ME: “Honey,
she said it was fine. It’s not a big deal, in fact she said Jack might like the
taste better. And it was all they had. Sorry.”
MY WIFE: (now
as white as a sheet, but trying not to wake the baby now asleep in her arms)
“DAVE. TURN. AROUND.”
As I pulled a
graceful 180 in my size 10 flip flops, my eyes caught sight of a baby garter
snake perched atop our front door jamb. Inside our house. Mere feet from my
wife and newborn child. I have no idea how it arrived at that particular spot,
nor do I even want to know how long the little Varmint From the Bowels of Hell
had been hanging out there.
Swiftly
seizing the broom from the kitchen, I took a violent swing at the snake,
knocking it to the floor. As it looked up at me, stunned and disappointed by my
(over)reaction to its presence, I swept it angrily out the door and down the
front stoop. Chasing after it as it took off on a winding, spiny sprint across
the front lawn, I was in a homicidal rage so deep I didn’t notice the folks
strolling by on the sidewalk.
I was so
furious that screaming the worst brand of curse words after a snake and
attempting to pound it to death with a broom in front of innocent bystanders
didn’t seem at all over-the-top. Sadly, the snake was so tiny, it probably
wasn’t visible to those pedestrians, who were very likely fumbling for their
mace.
So, now that I
really think about it, I suppose Aaron, with his fear, and I, with my fury,
really don’t differ much in our reactions.
They’re both
totally acceptable.
And probably
worth videotaping.
COFF'S COAST ADVOCATE (Australia)
08 January 10 Beware - snake and spider season (Craig Mctear)
As you make
the most of the long, hot summer on the Coffs Coast in the lead-up to Australia
Day, be aware of some other Aussies who also come out to play.
January is the
prime time for snake and spider bites, according to the Department of Health.
Last year
between January and November a total of 8577 snake and spider bites were
treated at emergency departments statewide.
Clinical
toxicologist at Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, Dr Geoff Isbister, says many
snake bites can be avoided by wearing appropriate shoes and long pants when
walking in the bush.
He has also
urged families to learn how to respond to snake and spider bites quickly and
properly and to seek medical attention.
“Swift
administration of first-aid is crucial and can help save the life of someone
who has been bitten by a snake or spider,” Dr Isbister said.
The bites from
snakes and funnel-web spiders require the same first aid because of the way the
poison spreads through the body.
http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/story/2010/01/08/going-bush-could-end-up-with-a-bite/
ASIA ONE (Singapore) 08 January 10 The
venom doctor
A long, snaky
corridor leads you to Prof Manjunatha Kini's lab at the National University of
Singapore.
In one corner,
almost buried in books, sits the diminutive professor. Elsewhere, researchers
are busy going about their work well past the evening hour.
They are all
students of Prof Kini, who is a world-renowned expert in the field of snake
toxins. It is a field he has been working in since he started his PhD work at the
University of Mysore in 1979. Growing up in Shimoga, in the heavily forested
region of Karnataka, he had heard of numerous instances of snake bites. Many
victims died but some who managed to get treated by folk medicine in time were
cured.
Could plant extracts
neutralise snake toxin or was it just chance that saved these people?
This was
something that fascinated him. So as soon as he finished his MSc in
biochemistry as a top-ranked student, he enrolled for a PhD programme to find
the truth behind folk medicine.
It was a field
that no researcher in his university had embarked upon. The professor he worked
under had until then been doing research on silkworms (Mysore is known for its
silk saris).
That did not
deter the young Kini who went on to isolate compounds in the plant extracts and
found that that they do neutralise snake toxins. He also learnt that snake
toxins are similar to human proteins. Then his interest shifted. If snake
toxins are similar to human protein, why is our protein useful to the human
body while the snake protein is toxic?
There were
others working in this field elsewhere in the world too when Prof Kini set out
on his quest. He wanted to make a mark for himself in this area.
"Some of
the snake venom protein stops blood from clotting. My aim was to identify this
segment in the snake venom protein and develop a drug that can stop unwanted
clots. I could then save a lot more lives than are lost due to snake bites.
Snake bites are not a small number but heart attacks and strokes kill millions
of people every year," says the professor.
Being the best
and first in what he does is something that drives him and keeps his interest
in his work alive. As a university student, he was not only a topper in his
studies but also the university's top sprinter and a member of the kho-kho
team. Kho-kho is a sport popular in some parts of India and is played by teams
of 12 players who try to avoid being touched by members of the opposing team.
His journey to
unravel the mysteries of snake toxin took him to Japan as a post-doctoral
fellow in Fukuoka's Kyushu University. He had spurned an offer from the
prestigious Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore to do his doctoral as well
as post-doctoral research because there was no one doing work on snake toxins there.
After working at the National Institute of Immunology in Delhi for a short
while, he took up research in Japan because he felt that the country was strong
in protein chemistry research.
However, he
had to win a battle with the Japanese language before he could feel at home in
his new surroundings. Initially, he told himself that he would not bother to
learn Japanese because he could manage with a bit of English in the lab. The
problem arose once he stepped out. Explaining to counter staff at restaurants
what he wanted became a big hassle every time he dined out. But the man who
could handle deadly toxins was not going to be defeated by the challenge posed
by the Japanese language. He set out on his own to master it and claims he
achieved success in a few months' time.
"I used
to listen to the spoken word and found that the word order and syntax were
similar to my mother tongue - Kannada. Eight months after I landed in Japan,
there was a competition for foreigners in spoken Japanese and I was given a special
prize. The first prize winner was a Chinese lady who had been a Japanese
teacher in China for 12 years!"
To help
foreign students immerse themselves in local culture and practices, the
university used to arrange short home stays. There were also youth societies of
which he was a member. It was during one such interaction that he met the woman
who became his wife.
In 1986, Prof
Kini left Japan to continue his post-doctoral studies at the Medical College of
Virginia in the US and in the following months, returned to marry his Japanese
heart-throb Nobue with the wedding being held in India.
"In
Japan, I published three papers. I learnt protein sequencing, used a lot of
theoretical methods and did a bit of work on blood clotting. Before I finished,
I had offers from the University of Southern California and from the Medical
College of Virginia. I chose Virginia, where I learnt lots of new things,"
says Prof Kini, 53.
He and his
wife moved to Singapore in 1994 and moved through the ranks to become a full
professor in NUS. Prof Kini also holds an affiliate professorship in the
department of biochemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University.
The couple,
who have no children, consider Singapore to be a safe city. When it comes to
food, they enjoy both Japanese and Indian cuisine and Mrs Kini has even learnt
to make rasam and sambar. The two have made several friends during their stay
here and some of them used to join the professor in a game of volleyball until
recently. Being in Singapore means the professor is also closer to India and he
is able to visit his mother often.
Prof Kini has
been averaging about one patent a year after joining the NUS. He has 28 patents
to his credit - all in protein chemistry. His motto is "toxins to
therapeutics", which led him to launch a company called ProTherapeutics to
work on drugs from his research. But due to the recent economic crisis, the
company stopped work and plans for its revival have been put on ice.
Despite the
long hours in the lab, Prof Kini manages to keep himself fit by playing tennis
on Sundays and, on some days, taking the snaky route back home on foot - a
sure-fire way to rid his body of unwanted toxins.
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20100108-190541.html
WINDSOR STAR (Ontario) 07 January 10
Snake in path of parkway
(Chris Vander Doelen)
A very shy
little snake known as the Butler's garter has the potential to hold up
construction of the multibillion-dollar Windsor-Essex Parkway to the new
Detroit River bridge.
Most amateur
herpetologists couldn't tell a Butlers' garter from an eastern garter snake to
win a bet. The Butler's version has a much smaller head than its more common
cousin, and it thrashes like a crazy thing when frightened by humans.
But the only
surefire way to identify a Butler's is to pick one up (yikes!) and count the
rows of scales between the yellow stripes on its sides.
The stripe
should overlap the second and fourth rows up from the belly scales. Google it,
if you really want to know.
It turns out
there is colony of Butler's garters in the scrubby bush on the southwest corner
of Huron Church Road and the E.C. Row Expressway. It's the last group of any
size in Ontario because its habitat has mostly disappeared, and the Huron Line
bush is home to 80 per cent of the Butler's in the region.
Just like in
the movies, the bush is slated for obliteration next year when it will be paved
over as part of a $2-billion highway to carry international truck traffic to a
new bridge.
Thousands of
badly needed construction jobs associated with the enormous project could be
delayed unless an agreement to protect the snake and several wildflowers also
unique to the region can be reached.
I don't think
a delay is likely -- at least not for long. But some kind of deal to protect
the so-called endangered species is going to have to be struck or the jobs
could end up in legal limbo.
Talks are now
underway between Ontario's Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Natural
Resources and the City of Windsor.
A week before
Christmas, David Estrin, Windsor's Toronto-based environmental lawyer, filed a
19-page critique of the way the province has gone about issuing permits for the
parkway.
In a nutshell,
Estrin (on behalf of city residents) contends that the MNR "lacks the
jurisdiction" to issue permits for the parkway to MTO. Them's fightin'
words in the legal world.
Estrin also
claims the MNR and the MTO have broken their own rules on protecting
"species at risk."
They're
ignoring the threat the parkway poses to the Butler's garter, the eastern fox
snake and several wildflowers and trees scarce in Ontario.
Also said to
be "at risk" from the roadway are the Willowleaf Aster -- a delicate,
two-foot-tall purple flower seen in fallow fields and roadside ditches
throughout Essex County -- the dense blazing star, the colicroot, the Kentucky
coffee tree and several other plants.
You have to
look askance at claims such species are threatened, endangered or at risk when
they are abundant all over the Eastern Seaboard, as the Blazing Star is, or all
over the U.S., as the Colicroot is.
The Butler's
is rarer than the plants, but still found in a half dozen states.
As common as
dirt elsewhere, these species just aren't plentiful in Ontario. Neither are
penguins. Can a species truly be "endangered" when millions of
individuals thrive elsewhere?
But that
doesn't matter in the legal world, and Windsor's legal threat could hold
serious consequences for the province.
You can
probably guess Windsor's proposed solution to protecting the wildlife:
GreenLink, Mayor Eddie Francis' favourite hobby horse of the last five years.
Francis has not given up on turning the parkway's 1.8 kilometres of covered
road into 3.6 kilometres of underground highway. It would only cost a few
hundred million more, right?
Estrin says
GreenLink "strikes the appropriate balance between protecting the species
at risk, and the significant social and economic benefits to Windsor and
Ontario that will result from building this required highway
infrastructure."
On Wednesday,
I asked Francis what all that means. "We're working with the province to
try to rectify the issues," was his boilerplate response. That means he's
talking to ministers behind closed doors, trying to craft a deal.
Putting more
of the roadway underground would provide more habitat for the survival of the
threatened species, Estrin contends.
The irony is,
the dispute over threatened species could have been avoided if portions of the
parkway had been tunnelled under the Ojibway grasslands preserve, as consultant
Sam Schwartz once suggested. But environmentalists fought that solution -- as
they fought putting the parkway on the E.C. Row's right-of-way. Too late for
those saner options now.
http://www.windsorstar.com/opinion/Snake+path+parkway/2414165/story.html
CAIRNS POST (Australia) 07 January 10 Job to
pamper baby crocodiles (Nick Dalton)
WANTED:
Someone to pamper 17,000 growing feisty crocodiles.
Primary
requisite: Must be terrified of the reptiles.
That is what
Cairns Crocodile Farm wants from its newest staff member.
The Gordonvale
operation is advertising for a husbandry team member to help look after 17,000
juvenile crocodiles.
"Spend
most of your day in the field, in and out of crocodile pens," the recent
advertisement in The Weekend Post read.
Other work includes
maintaining a clean environment for the reptiles, preparing and giving them
their food, cleaning up after them and "stock handling".
Farm director
Keith Cook said there had been more than 60 applicants for the job.
He said he
wanted someone who would "pamper" the crocodiles through their
growing stage to about 3.5 years when they would then be harvested for their
skins and meat.
"I need
an entry level person to clean them, feed them, warm them, cool them, release
them and harvest them," Mr Cook said.
"More
importantly they have to be scared (of crocodiles). You can’t teach them that,
you have to be frightened and to learn to overcome the fear," he said.
Mr Cook said
managing crocodiles was a skilful business and he was prepared to train and
invest money in the right person. "It’s physically demanding and there is
a lot of potential for the long term," he said.
"They
have to be someone who is able to read the livestock and saltwater crocodiles
are difficult to read.
"In the
long term they will learn the mind of a crocodile and can tell when they are
unhappy and predict what they are going to do next."
Mr Cook said
there would be opportunities to work at the company’s other farms in Darwin and
Pormpuraaw.
http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/01/07/86645_local-news.html
THE MERCURY (Durban, S Africa) 07 January 10 SPCA
slams use of dead dog as croc bait (Jauhara Khan)
Animal rights
authorities have called the use of a dead dog to catch a crocodile indecent.
Canoeists
training for the Dusi Canoe Marathon came across the circular mesh trap with
the dead dog inside it on the Umgeni River in Durban on Tuesday night. The
animal had been "strung up by its feet".
The trap was
set earlier this week by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife officials near Connaught Bridge
to catch the elusive two-metre croc.
Ezemvelo
spokesman Jeff Gaisford said crocodile expert Mark Robertson had found the
dog's body on the roadside.
"(It) had
been hit by a car and the front portion was badly crushed. It was basically
just the hindquarters that were left. We would never use a live dog or kill a
dog for bait."
It was
"an old piece of knowledge" that dog meat was the best croc bait.
Durban SPCA
spokesman Dougie du Plessis said: "It's fine to use the dead dog as bait
if it does not belong to anyone, but surely there should be some procedure
involved?
"It could
have been someone's pet; they would have to check and not just assume it's a
stray."
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20100107042828213C489902
CHICAGO TRIBUNE (Illinois) 07 January 10 Snakes
moved to old septic tank (Tim Kane)
Sandie Cosner
never minded sharing her house near Lindenhurst with the 200 snakes in the
basement.
So it was
something of a roommate reunion Wednesday when she came by to watch as some of
those western fox snakes were moved to a new winter home in an old septic tank
buried near Fourth Lake.
Last fall,
when the reptiles made their annual return to the home along Grand Avenue only
to find it had been demolished, Cosner was also among a dozen volunteers who
helped corral them for the move. The snakes were stored in a terrarium for
several weeks as their body temperatures were slowly lowered so they wouldn't
die from the shock of hibernation.
Fox snakes
hibernate in places like abandoned groundhog holes or rotting tree roots, said
Michael Corn, retired College of Lake County biology dean.
"If their
temperature dips below freezing, it is likely they will die. You have to make
sure that where they spend the winter is in the ground, below the frost
line," Corn said as one of the snakes -- passive and cold to the touch --
coiled around his arm.
On Wednesday,
clutching a pillowcase that held the squirming ball of snakes, Lake County
Forest Preserve District wildlife biologist Gary Glowacki descended on a ladder
into the subterranean vault, called a "hibernaculum," and placed the
snakes on specially made plywood shelves. Forest preserve officials are keeping
the location secret so the snakes won't be bothered. The reptiles have,
however, been fitted with tiny electronic tracking devices to monitor their
movements.
"They're
not on the list of endangered species yet," Corn said, "but you don't
find very many anymore."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-talk-snakesjan07,0,3100873.story
STAMFORD ADVOCATE (Connecticut) 07 January
10 Snake
seized in Norwalk eviction case
Norwalk: A state marshal proceeding with an eviction
at 6 North Taylor Ave. Tuesday discovered a medium-sized Boa Python in the
residence, police said.
After
responding following the 10:30 a.m. call, police found the 3-foot long snake in
a 100-gallon fish tank, Sgt. Lisa Cotto said.
Police called
Eric Davis, of Norwalk, who does reptile adoptions when people have trouble
finding a home for their exotic pets they can no longer take care of.
Davis said he
picked up the snake and will release it to the owners if it can be properly
cared for.
CALGARY HERALD (Alberta) 06 January 10
Setting baby turtles free on a
Baja beach; Guests learn nature's laws apply to even the most adorable
creatures (Sarah Treleaven)
One evening in
September, close to sunset on a silky sand beach in Mexico, about 30 resort
guests stood around in bare feet, some holding glasses of chilled white wine.
As the sky warmed to peachy pink tones darted by deep purple clouds, we waited
patiently to make a small contribution to the natural world from which we so
liberally take.
Who knew
liberating baby turtles would be so romantic?
Every year,
Olive Ridley sea turtles -- also known as Golfina turtles -- lay hundreds of
eggs in nests on the beach in front of Marquis Los Cabos, an oceanfront resort
on the tip of the Baja California peninsula, where the Sea of Cortez meets the
Pacific Ocean. The resort is state-certified as a sea turtle watch and rescue
site, and the eggs are protected from the time they're laid until they hatch in
late September through mid-October. The gestation period is about 45 days, and
just before they're due, Marquis employees take them inside to protect them
from predators.
Eighty-day-old
turtles arrived on the beach in a blue cooler. The release area was cordoned
off with caution tape, one side exposed to the rough waves. The golf-ball-size
turtles were already behind their biological schedule, and appeared motivated
to answer the call of the sea. They flapped their limbs in anticipation.
After some
initial reluctance and light squealing (from children and adults alike), we
picked up each of the turtles by the sides of their shells, carried them to the
sand, gently deposited them on the ground and pointed them toward the ocean.
Most of the turtles started scrambling forward, but a few lagged behind. The
resort's turtle wranglers picked up the less ambitious hatchlings and -- using
a classic motivation technique -- tickled their bellies until they, too, were
raring to go.
Watching them
struggle into the sea, being knocked back time and again by the waves that
crashed on the beach, I wondered why we couldn't just do the turtles a favour
by wading out several metres to dump the contents of the cooler into the sea.
Or toss each of the turtles, born swimmers, into the water? "Oh, no,"
said Ella Messerli, general manager of Marquis. "They have to make their
own way into the ocean. If they aren't strong enough, that's nature's
way."
It can be hard
to accept some of nature's tougher laws apply to adorable things. We stood
guard on the beach as birds circled overhead, making sure every baby turtle made
it safely into the ocean. A middle-aged conventioneer standing next to me
couldn't resist saying, "You know, only one of 1,000 actually make it to
adulthood."
Despite that
bleak prognosis, brides marrying at Marquis have recently taken to turtle liberation
as part of their ceremony, a local take on the tradition of releasing white
doves. Guests follow suit, each gingerly holding a squirming reptile, wishing
the bride and groom luck as they set the turtle down on the sand.
The metaphor
of setting something free to rush to its probable death might not hit the spot
for a betrothal, but it's still a charming accent to a beachside ceremony.
Later that
evening, while sitting around the rooftop pool and staring at the ocean, I
could still feel a phantom turtle squirming in my fingers. Another 110 turtles
were due to hatch the following evening, and 600 the following weekend. I was
well aware the odds were against them. But, mercifully, there was no turtle
soup on the hotel's dinner menu, which gave me more cause for optimism.
Sarah
Treleaven Was A Guest Of Marquis Los Cabos
http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/travel/story.html?id=46f35b98-ef64-483d-b982-a4e1e2284e6d
DAILY EXPRESS (London, UK) 05 January
10 Cruelty
Of Tortoise Smugglers
A couple who
smuggled live tortoises into Britain – one with its head and leg holes taped up
– have been banned from keeping reptiles for 10 years.
Michael Gates,
a reptile collector from south London, and his partner, Carol Wormley, kept
seven endangered Hermann tortoises in their Greek hotel room before packing
them in their luggage, Harlow magistrates were told.
Gates and
Wormley, both 42, of Walthamstow, pleaded guilty to 15 charges between them.
They were ordered to do 150 and 80 hours unpaid work respectively. Chairman of
the bench Malcolm Bell said their cruelty “beggars belief”.
The couple
went to Corfu in July and packed the animals in socks and linen bags for the
hour-long coach journey and three-hour flight. Police were waiting for the pair
at Stansted airport. All the tortoises survived.
Jeremy
Sirrell, defending, said Gates saw boys kicking some tortoises and rescued
them. The others he bought from a woman in a restaurant. He said Wormley taped
up the holes of the largest tortoise so it would not injure itself.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/149718/Cruelty-of-tortoise-smugglers
SUN SENTINEL (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) 04 January
10 Extended
cold could kill invasive iguanas (Linda Trischitta)
With this
week's evening temperatures falling toward the upper 30s, strange fruit may
drop from South Florida trees: non-native, invading iguanas that many residents
consider more pest than pet.
"It's a
big deal for me," Jessica Morgan, a Margate homeowner, said as she watched
a yard-long, bright orange male iguana roam near her butterfly habitat. The
reptile has a slightly smaller green girlfriend.
"They
climb up on the bank and will poop on my dock," she said. "Fingers
crossed that this cold snap will kill them. I don't have the heart to beat one
to death. I hope the weather does it for me."
Iguanas become
immobilized when the temperature drops into the 40s, as it did Sunday night,
said Tiffany Snow, nuisance-wildlife biologist for the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission. While they usually revive when the
temperature rises, they could die if it remains below 40 degrees for three days
or so, she said.
It is legal to
kill iguanas, but it must be done humanely. Among the options is decapitation.
Some local animal control authorities will accept live iguanas that have been
trapped, Snow said.
"If
somebody is looking to trap them, I guess right now would be a good time
because they're not moving," she said.
Snow said the
largest number of nuisance calls seem to come from Boca Raton.
In early 2007,
Boca Raton's City Council found it would cost millions of dollars to rid the
city of iguanas and sought trappers to catch the lizards in a humane way. Just
two companies came forward. To save costs and still aid residents, the city put
extensive information about getting rid of iguanas on its website.
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
commissioners approved $5,000 in October 2008 for a trapper to eradicate the
foliage eaters there.
"That
worked out real well, but new ones came back," said Commissioner Birute Ann
Clottey. "One homeowner had 28 iguanas taken from her yard."
Clottey said
it will be nice if the cold weather saves the town some money.
"A lot of
my neighbors will be happy," Clottey said.
NEWS JOURNAL
(Wilmington, Delaware) 02 January 10 Owning
exotic pets gets pricier in Delaware - Snakes, other out-of-the-ordinary
critters will require permit fees (J.L. Miller)
Dover: Life for Delawareans who own exotic animals
is about to get a bit more complicated and a lot more regulated.
State
Agriculture Department officials, who have been working on a set of
comprehensive regulations governing exotic animals for more than a year, say
the new rules will be better for the animals and for the public.
But for people
like Terry Rogers, a Millsboro-area resident who rescues snakes whose owners no
longer want them, the new rules mean more paperwork and an added expense he can
ill afford.
Rogers
currently has 18 snakes -- each of which will require a $25 permit that must be
renewed every three years. Every new snake he acquires will require another
permit and another $25.
"I don't
mind buying a permit every three years if it was a single permit to cover all
my reptiles. I can't afford a permit for each one," said Rogers, who is
disabled and lives on a fixed income.
Rogers and
others also say the new regulations may force some people to give up their
exotic pets -- and that many will disobey the rules and get their pets on the
Internet or the black market.
"There's
going to be a lot more people trying to get rid of their snakes. There's one on
[craigslist.com] already. [The owner] is trying to get rid of it," Rogers
said.
The new rules,
which were published Thursday in the state's register of regulations and take
effect 10 days later, cover a wide range of wild animals -- practically
everything from aardvarks to zebras. Any wild mammal, hybrid of a wild mammal
and any reptile not native to Delaware is defined as exotic.
Venomous
snakes, which already are illegal to possess, will continue to be outlawed. So
will Gila monsters and beaded lizards -- both of which have poisonous bites --
as will Komodo dragons, ferocious lizards that can grow to 10 feet in length, weigh
300 pounds and sometimes eat humans.
Other lizards
are permitted, but controlled. For instance, Nile monitors and other monitor
lizards can be owned with a permit, but the new regulations prohibit permit
holders from breeding them.
Nile monitors,
which can grow to 5 feet in length and have sharp claws for tearing at their
prey, are generally considered a poor choice for a pet. But on Jan. 16, 2002,
New Castle County police found 42-year-old Ron Huff dead inside his Newark
apartment with several of the Nile monitor lizards he collected on top of his
body, which had been partially consumed.
The new rules
also cover any exotic herbivore that weighs more than 30 pounds, although State
Veterinarian Heather L. Hirst said domesticated exotics such as llamas and
alpacas are considered livestock and will not be affected.
Some exotic
mammals commonly kept as pets are exempt from the new rules, including
chinchillas, gerbils, guinea pigs and hamsters. Reptiles that are exempt
include bearded dragons, chameleons and iguanas.
Although most
snakes are covered by the regulations, some are singled out for special
treatment.
People will be
able to get permits for so-called "giant" snakes -- anacondas,
pythons and boa constrictors whose average adult body length is longer than 5
feet -- but only those with zoo permits will be allowed to breed them.
However, Hirst
said, the breeding restriction will not affect ball pythons, a popular pet that
can grow to about 6 feet.
"We did
not want to exclude people from breeding ball pythons, because it is our belief
that they are good pets and do not generally threaten animals or humans,"
Hirst said in a written response to a list of questions from The News
Journal.
The
regulations were crafted after a series of public hearings and rewrites that
generated considerable comment -- and criticism -- in the exotic-pets
community.
Chris Kiker,
who owned the now-shuttered East Coast Exotics in Rehoboth Beach, testified at
a hearing in February that the selective breeding of snakes for color patterns
"is a major, major thing" among hobbyists.
"If you
stop the breeding, then you open up the doors for the need to acquire animals
that are wild-caught, and basically you are taking a step backwards," he
said, according to a transcript of the hearing.
In an
interview this week, Kiker, who has since left the business, said it is
"definitely more preferable to regulate than to ban, which is slowly the
direction they want to take."
Snake rescuer
Rogers said there's not much to be gained by regulating responsible owners:
It's the irresponsible ones who buy snakes and then turn them loose when the
reptiles grow too large or too expensive to keep.
Rogers owns a
corn snake, a black rat snake, 14 ball pythons, a Kenyan sand boa and a
Colombian red tail boa that he says is sweet-tempered despite its impressive
length. (Rogers says the snake has never held still long enough for him to
measure it.)
"She's as
docile as you can be unless you're a rat or a rabbit, and then you're
dinner," said Rogers, who rescued the boa from beneath a porch at Mariners
Cove near Millsboro.
Just because
the state will grant a permit for a snake or other exotic animal doesn't mean
it's OK to get one. Counties and municipalities can have their own ordinances
regarding pets, and they can be stricter than the state regulations.
In New Castle
County, for instance, it's illegal to own an exotic animal on any parcel of
land that's less than one acre and is in a residential district. That includes
llamas, which the state doesn't consider exotic.
In Kent
County, it's illegal for most individuals to possess what is termed a
"dangerous animal." According to the county code, dangerous animals
"are incapable of adapting to human companionship and their possession by
individuals as pets has proven to be a menace to emergency personnel, including
firemen, police officers and utility workers, as well as the general
public."
The Sussex
County code contains no references to exotic animals.
The new state
regulations spell out in detail the kind of enclosures needed for exotics, as
well as how they must be transported.
In addition,
the regulations will require vendors to ensure that purchasers have a license
before they sell an exotic animal, and all sellers of reptiles must advise
buyers in writing that most reptiles carry salmonella bacteria.
The new
regulations are designed to protect the public, Hirst, the state veterinarian,
said, and to augment a state law that has proved vague and difficult to
enforce.
But Rogers,
Kiker and others question just how effective the new rules will be.
Former store
owner Kiker said he has no sympathy for the black-market trade -- but that it
is likely to continue.
"They're
either going to do it legally or illegally," he said.
Key Points Of
The New Regulations
A permit is
required to own most wild mammals, hybrids of wild mammals and live reptiles
not native to Delaware.
About the
permits
Prospective
owners of regulated exotic pets must first get a $25 permit from the state
Agriculture Department and provide proof that the animal will be properly
housed.
Existing
permits will become void 60 days after the new regulations take effect.
No permits
required:
Mammals:
chinchillas, degus, ferrets, gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters, hedgehogs, mice, Norway
rats, possums, rabbits and sugar gliders.
Reptiles:
anoles, agamas, Asian water dragons, basilisks, bearded dragons, chameleons,
geckos, iguanas, skinks (except the five-lined skink), swift lizards and tegus.
The full
regulations can be found by searching the
http://regulations.delaware.gov/services/register.shtml state register of
regulations Web site.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100102/NEWS02/1020341/Owning-exotic-pets-gets-pricey
GYMPIE TIMES
(Australia) 02 January 10 And fangs
for the memories, snakes (Jannette Parke)
They’ve been
coming out of the woodwork all year.
Not just the
woodwork either. They’ve been slithering out of sheds, campervans and mulch
piles.
Even a
Landcruiser parked too long at the Muster site ended up festooned with a
souvenir from a curious snake, who left its skin behind for Gympie’s Zoe Doyle
to enjoy.
And with the
rain and humid weather about, snakes are making their presence felt in the
Gympie region and even stopping traffic. One motorist reported a large python
taking its time to cross a country road on Christmas Eve, its body length
taking up the full width of the tarmac, with a bit of snake left over.
But some of
them aren’t as benign as the placid pythons.
In April last
year, 12-year-old Jaiden Walker was bitten on the ankle by the world’s second
deadliest snake at Tin Can Bay. She’d returned home from the local shop with an
ice-cream and a tale about standing on a snake.
Little bite
marks were discovered on Jaiden’s ankle and she was rushed by ambulance to
Gympie Hospital where a test confirmed she had been bitten by a taipan.
Gympie’s
snakes got moving early in the season too, with veteran snake catcher John
Keady kept busy relocating unwanted visitors during an unusually mild August.
He reminded
gardeners to be wary around mulch because the timid red-bellied black snakes
liked to hide under it to keep warm.
John urged
people to never attempt to catch, corner or kill a snake, as this is when 90
per cent of bites are inflicted.
Gympie region
snake catchers: John Keady – mobile 04040 76711 or (07) 5485 1353.
Natalie
Costello – mobile 04482 08293 or (07) 5484 1290.
http://www.gympietimes.com.au/story/2010/01/02/and-fangs-for-the-memories-snakes/
DAILY MERCURY
(Mackay, Australia) 02 January 10 Naming
frog's main course (Clare Chapman)
The curious
meal a frog ate for dinner on Sunday night caused a stir among wildlife
enthusiasts.
Australian
Wildlife Rescue Service volunteer Fay Paterson said she was amazed by the
photos published in the Thursday, December 31, edition of the Daily Mercury
that showed a frog in the process of consuming a whole snake.
Veterinarians,
who thought the unlucky snake was a small brown snake, were perplexed by the
occurrence but said although almost unheard of, there was nothing that would
stand in the way of it happening.
Ms Paterson
said she thought the unlucky snake was a common keelback snake, a non-venomous
species that was renowned for its ability to successfully prey on cane toads.
“I’ve never
seen a snake being eaten by a frog.
“I’ve never
ever seen that.
“I didn’t
think it was possible to be honest but a photo doesn’t lie,” she said.
Ian Hamilton
stumbled upon the unusual incident on Sunday night near his North Mackay
property.
He said he was
so bemused by the incident he stayed and watched the frog devour the whole
snake in about 15 minutes.
“We have seen
snakes eating frogs here but not the other way around.
“Don’t ask me
how on earth that frog swallowed that snake,” Mr Hamilton said.
http://www.dailymercury.com.au/story/2010/01/02/naming-frogs-main-course/
LAKE-COUNTY
NEWS-SUN (Waukegan, Illinois) 01 January 10 County confirms frog-related salmonella -
Gurnee boy among 83 infected nationally (Jim Newton)
Lake County
health officials are warning residents, especially parents of younger children,
to take precautions around pet amphibians and reptiles due to a nationwide
outbreak of salmonella involving the creatures.
A 6-year-old
Gurnee boy contracted salmonella linked to the outbreak, according to Lake
County Health Department officials, but the boy's family has not been helpful
in discussing the source in that case.
"It's
genetically linked to a cluster of cases of salmonella from water frogs. It's
like a fingerprint," said Dr. Victor Plotkin, an epidemiologist with the
Health Department. "Unfortunately, numerous attempts to collect
information on the case were unsuccessful because we received no cooperation
from family members."
The department
was alerted to the case in mid-November. Since then, it notified that the case
is connected to the nationwide outbreak.
According to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 83 people in 31 states infected
with the outbreak strain of salmonella typhimurium were reported as of Dec. 21.
Five cases were in Illinois.
Officials
believe the outbreak began in April.
The CDC is
working with public health officials in several states to investigate the
outbreak. The salmonella infections were the result of contact with water frogs
including African dwarf frogs. Water frogs commonly live in aquariums or fish
tanks.
Amphibians
such as frogs and reptiles such as turtles are recognized sources of human
salmonella infections.
Plotkin said
the outbreak "emphasizes what is well known," that kids who have or
play with amphibians should be aware of an increased risk of salmonella and
should not kiss the animals, "as much as they may be cute and nice."
Children
should also wash well after handling the pets and should not be responsible for
cleaning their cages.
Shawn Cesario,
another epidemiologist with the Health Department, said people should be aware
that reptiles and amphibians can have five or six different strains of the
infection in their cages and not get sick from it, so owners will not see
obvious signs of the danger.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1968469,5_1_WA01_SALMONELLA_S1-100101.article
THIS IS LOCAL
LONDON (UK) 01 January 10 Unwanted
pythons and spiders handed in at animal rescue centre
Animals bought
by school children for their friends form the bulk of unwanted pets handed into
an animal rescue centre this Christmas.
The Retreat in
Crockenhill has reported a large number of hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils and
rabbits being handed in as well as exotic animals.
Founder of the
Daltons Road centre Billy Thompson said: “It’s mainly small animals bought by
school kids for their friends without parental consent.
“Obviously you
can buy them very cheaply.”
Mr Thompson
says although the centre has taken in seven dogs since Christmas Day, unwanted
dogs and cats bought as presents are not usually handed in until Easter, when
they are “out of the cute stage”.
This month the
centre, which has around 1,000 animals, has received 30 reptiles, including
terrapins, geckos and four pythons.
And on one day
60 spiders were handed in, thought to be from a collector trying to market them
as Christmas presents.
Mr Thompson
said: “People looking for animals should always go to rescue centres as they’re
not for commercial gain.
“They always
see things from the animal’s point of view.
“If you’re
thinking of getting an animal then you should take it very seriously.”
TIMES-CALL
(Longmont, Colorado) 01 January 10 Turtles
Thriving at Shelter (Rachel Carter)
Longmont: Of the 50 tiny Asian soft-shell turtles that
arrived last spring at the Colorado Reptile Humane Society, the shelter still
has 42 of them.
Six are with
foster families. One was adopted. And one died.
Despite the
fact that the turtles were far too young to be imported to the United States,
they have thrived at the Colorado Reptile Humane Society.
“We’ve been
stunned by how well they’ve done here,” executive director A.E. Nash said in
the living room of her north Longmont home, a home that doubles as a shelter
for about 180 animals including snakes, iguanas, turtles and lizards.
“With juvenile
animals, you just never know; we’re thrilled that we didn’t lose more.”
U.S. Fish and
Wildlife inspectors seized the 50 turtles at Denver International Airport in
March and turned them over to the Colorado Reptile Humane Society.
A Denver-area
aquarium shop and pet store illegally imported the turtles from Thailand. The
species — Pelodiscus sinensis — is legal in the United States, but these
turtles were too young to import.
In fact,
nearly a year later, the turtles still would not meet federal importation
standards.
When the
turtles were seized, their shells were about an inch long and each one weighed
only a few grams.
Now, each
turtle’s shell is about 21/2 inches long, but federal regulations ban importing
turtles with shells that are less than 4 inches long.
When they are
fully grown, the females’ shells likely will be about a foot long and the males
will be smaller at about 6 to 8 inches, Nash said.
Nash said it
is frustrating that breeders mass-produce turtles with little or no
understanding of the species in the wild — let alone in captivity.
“Someone will
grab a whole bunch of animals like these in the wild, get them breeding and
sell them into the U.S. pet trade without any knowledge of the species or
veterinary care,” she said.
For example,
the species’ lifespan is anyone’s best guess. The rule of thumb for most
reptiles is about 15 years, but many turtle species live much longer: In an
aquarium next to the Asian soft-shelled turtles, a Reeve’s mud turtle named
Swimmer, well, swam around. He’s about 33 years old, Nash said.
Pet owners
need to understand the investment of time and money to make informed
commitments to the animals, she said.
A Boulder
family adopted one of the turtles, Nash said. The man had owned turtles and had
a good understanding of the care they require.
“He was
thrilled to death to get a soft-shelled one,” Nash said.
Colorado
Reptile Humane Society plans to do a “full-court press” on adoptions this
month, including the Asian turtles, she said.
Her home has
only so much capacity and it has almost reached it, Nash said.
The shelter
will offer specials on adoption fees and will continue to sell inexpensive used
equipment for the animals’ habitats, she said.
Habitats for
some animals — such as anoles, or lizards — are included in the adoption fee,
Nash said. The shelter also plans to make more animals available for foster
care later this month.
http://www.timescall.com/news_story.asp?ID=20049
SANTA BARBARA
INDEPENDENT (California) 01 January 10 Amphibians Threatened with Extinction - A
Fungus May Be to Blame (Teisha Rowland)
Global
amphibian populations have been drastically declining for the past several
decades. While different causes have been suspected for causing these declines,
and often extinctions, of whole species, one of the greatest causes is a
fungus, specifically belonging to the chytrid group of fungi.
The amphibians
include a wide variety of animals living on every continent except for
Antarctica. There are three large amphibian groups: nearly 6,000 species of
frogs and toads, several hundred species of salamanders, and around 200 of the
lesser known caecilians (limbless, worm-like amphibians that live only in
tropical regions, in the water or underground). Amphibians lay their eggs in
water, where water-breathing juveniles develop and become air-breathing adults.
Amphibians
have been around for a long time: 350 million years. While many have become
extinct over this time, the large number of species living today clearly
indicates that they’ve been very successful at surviving and thriving in
changing circumstances. However, they are now declining more than ever before.
In 2004, the
Global Amphibian Assessment reported that 1,856 amphibian species, nearly one
third of all amphibians, were globally threatened with extinction.
Additionally, based on the amazingly high, and historically unprecedented, rate
at which amphibian species are becoming threatened and extinct, there may be
even more catastrophic losses in this group of animals in the decades to come.
Global
amphibian declines first significantly caught researchers’ attention in 1989,
at the First World Congress of Herpetology (the study of amphibians and
reptiles). Scientists from across the world gathered and soon found they had
all been experiencing similar problems; the local amphibian populations they
had been studying were disappearing. The alarmed researchers discussed possible
culprits. Still under much debate to this day, there are several hypotheses for
the global decline in amphibian populations: introduced species, human
over-exploitation and modification of habitat areas, environmental
contaminants, global warming, and infectious diseases. While it is quite likely
that several of these factors play a role in each amphibian species decline, a
highly infectious chytrid fungus is playing a larger role than any other
suspects.
The Chytridiomycota,
or chytrids, are the most primitive type of fungi and usually consume and
degrade organic matter (matter that came from a living plant or animal). Their
reproductive cells, or gametes, are mobile. Much like human sperm, they move
around in liquid using a flagella (a long, thin, whip-like structure that acts
like a propeller). They easily disseminate throughout water. These fungi are
rather hardy; some chytrids have a life stage that is resistant to stressful
environments and may possibly allow them to survive outside of a host for a
long time.
The chytrid
fungus species Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (“Bd” for short)
was found in 1998 to be responsible for parasitizing and killing its amphibian
hosts (the often-fatal resultant disease is called chytridiomycosis).
Although chytrids have been known to parasitize plants, algae, other fungi,
single-celled organisms, and invertebrates, Bd is the first chytrid
found to parasitize vertebrates. Bd is only known to use amphibians as
hosts, but some hypothesize it may be able to parasitize other animals too. Bd
can grow within the epidermis of the amphibian, causing the skin to thicken.
While the exact process that causes death is not understood, it may be due to
interfering with the amphibian’s ability to maintain a normal salt balance
through its skin.
Bd
has many traits contributing to its “success,” including hardiness, easy
transmission between hosts, and high mortality rates of infected animals. In
water with only basic, microscope organic matter to eat, Bd can live up
to two months. Consequently, an infected animal can be long-dead and still
infect other animals that later arrive in the area.
Additionally,
several amphibian species are resistant to Bd infection, but can carry Bd
and transmit the fungus to other amphibians through the water, through
amphibian-to-amphibian contact, and possibly in other ways. Such Bd-resistant
carriers include American bullfrogs (Rana catesbiana) and the African
clawed frog (Xenopus laevis). Known aggregation of different amphibian
species along with carrier species can increase the spread of Bd within
an area.
In controlled
laboratory studies Bd has shown extremely high mortality rates; it can
rapidly kill up to 100 percent of the test amphibians.
For a long
time, the origins of Bd remained a mystery, but researchers mapping Bd
occurrences through time and space found an early case of Bd in a museum
specimen from 1938. This animal was an African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis)
in South Africa. After further research, Bd was found to have
originated, most likely, as a widespread pathogen in the African clawed frogs,
but was probably only localized, or endemic, to their populations in South
Africa. While some researchers thought Bd may have been present but
dormant throughout the world, the high genetic similarity between strains
across the world suggests a single origin, in South Africa, with Xenopus.
So how did Bd
leave South Africa and spread across the globe? As mentioned, Xenopus is
resistant to Bd, but can serve as a carrier. For many decades, Xenopus
were commercially transported across the world for pets and medical research.
In fact, until the 1960s these frogs were globally used as human pregnancy
tests (by injecting a pregnant woman’s urine into the lymph sac of the frog).
They were, and are to this day, also widely used in basic research
laboratories. Based on museum specimens, Bd is thought to have spread to
other continents mostly in the 1960s and 1970s, arriving in areas right before
local amphibian declines were noted.
In 2007, Bd
caused the decline or extinction of up to around 200 frog species. To this day,
Bd has been associated with amphibian declines on every continent where
they exist, thriving most in central and South America and northern Australia,
specifically in streams of the moist neotropical and tropical forests.
The biggest
question now is how to prevent the spread of Bd and how to treat
amphibians already infected. It appears nearly impossible to stop its spread in
the wild, and even captive specimens are not safe; there have been Bd
cases even in zoos. In any infected area, half of the amphibian species are
expected to die within one year. The surest way to prevent spread is to not
allow any outside amphibians into an area, but this may not be possible in many
cases. The second best approach is to quarantine new animals for months; while
amphibians show infection in 18-48 days, symptoms can take even longer than
this to show.
However, there
is some hope; at least one species has been coming back from near-extinction
and others are recovering from less-close encounters. One somewhat successful
method of treating infected amphibians is by controlling the temperature. Bd
grows ideally between 63°F and 77°F, but cannot grow at 82°F and dies at 99°F.
Consequently, some amphibians, such as red-eyed treefrogs (Litoria chloris),
have been cured of Bd infections by enduring these high temperatures in
laboratory settings. However, many amphibians cannot withstand such high
temperatures. Often a treatment combining anti-fungal drugs (such as
itraconazole) with heat is used on infected animals. It is suspected that some Bd-resistant
frogs may secrete anti-fungal proteins on their skin, protecting them from Bd
infection; much could be learned from these frogs to aid their susceptible
cousins.
For more on
the current extinction of amphibians by the chytrid Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis, see Lee Francis Skerratt et al.’s “Spread of
Chytridiomycosis Has Caused the Rapid Global Decline and Extinction of Frogs,”
James P. Collins and Martha L. Crump’s Extinction in Our Times: Global
Amphibian Decline, Amphibian Ark’s Web-site page “Chytrid Fungus,”
Wikipedia’s “Chytridiomycota,” and Wikipedia’s “Batrachochytrium
dendrobatidis.”
http://www.independent.com/news/2010/jan/01/amphibians-threatened-extinctions/
HERALD-MAIL
(Hagerstown, Maryland) 01 January 10 Keedysville
native to catch alligators as part of research study (Bridget DiCosmo)
Keedysville: For most people, visiting an alligator farm
and learning to suBdue the toothy reptiles by sitting astride them and
holding their jaws shut would be a daunting but memorable experience.
Keedysville
native Brittany Burtner considered it just a practice run.
Burtner, 25, a
graduate student at the University of Florida, will be leaving Gainesville,
Fla., this month for sunny south Florida, where she will study alligators in
the Everglades for her thesis.
Burtner’s
research project involves testing the theory that certain types of birds in the
Everglades known to nest near alligator dwellings do so because the large
reptiles eat animals such as raccoons and snakes that prey on the birds.
That test
could require Burtner to catch wild alligators so she and her research team can
pump their stomachs to examine their last meals, she said.
“I think it
would be so cool. I think it wouldn’t be smart to say I’m not nervous, but not
so nervous that I won’t do it,” Burtner said.
Her theory is
one based on research and observations supported by experts on both reptiles
and water birds, Burtner said, but no one has ever tried to prove the
connection between alligator “holes,” or small ponds created when the creatures
disturb the soil and vegetation, and the nesting habits of the birds.
“Nobody’s
really tested it before,” Burtner said.
Part of the
test includes observing the way in which birds behave when they see an
alligator in the water.
That’s where
the 250 homemade gator decoys made of waterproof, polyurethane insulation like
the kind used in homes come in, Burtner said.
Building the
phony reptiles was a project in itself, she said.
Burtner had
hoped to be able to purchase the decoys, but it would have cost too much money,
so she had to find a way to make them herself.
“This has been
a crazy thing,” she said.
The 250
alligator decoys will accompany Burtner and her team into the Everglades, where
they will be traveling through the water on airboats.
“Alligators in
their environment are curious, but they aren’t going to attack you,” Burtner
said.
When Burtner’s
mother, Donna Ford, learned of her daughter’s project, she had two questions,
Burtner said.
The first
question was whether there are hurricanes in that part of Florida, and the
second was if she would have to get in the water with alligators, Burtner said.
The answer to
both was yes.
“Now, she’s
asking if she can come volunteer,” Burtner said.
Ford said she
was nervous for her daughter’s safety before she learned more about the
project, but now she’s mostly excited that Burtner will have the experience.
“She’s pretty
smart, pretty savvy, and she has a lot of common sense. I think she was born
with it,” Ford said.
Burtner, who
graduated from Boonsboro High School and from the University of Maryland with a
degree in biology, is enrolled in the University of Florida’s interdisciplinary
ecology program.
She described
the program as interlacing science with sociological studies.
“The idea is
that people are everywhere, and most environmental problems are fundamentally
human problems, and we should try to understand them that way,” Burtner said.
Once she has
her master’s degree, she’d like to earn her Ph.D. and teach at a research
university, she said.
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=237086&format=html
ST.
GEORGE DAILY SPECTRUM (Utah) 01 January 10 Firefighters wrangle snakes at blaze
(Kevin Jenkins)
St.
George: St. George firefighters and an
animal control officer carried one python after another out of a trailer on
Middleton Drive after the home caught fire Thursday morning. The snakes ranged
in length from about 4 feet to 18 feet long.
"Most
of them were pretty big," St. George Animal Control Officer Kristeen
Checketts said.
Smoke
and flames were coming from the front of the trailer when firefighters arrived
following the 911 call at 10:53 a.m., Deputy Chief Kevin Taylor said.
"We
just knocked the fire down and then ventilated it and removed the animals as
quickly as we found them," Taylor said.
Rescue
personnel spent more than an hour removing the reptiles from the approximately
20-foot-long trailer, two to three people teaming up to carry them out.
Checketts
said the home-owner reported he had 19 snakes. Eleven of the snakes survived
the fire, she said, as the homeowner, who was identified by St. George RV Park
owner Gary Henshaw as Mark Knight, worked feverishly in an apparently futile
effort to resuscitate a 12th by massaging it and blowing into its mouth through
a plastic pipe.
Knight
simultaneously spoke with an insurance company representative on his cell
phone, occasionally stopping for an outburst of emotion.
"Oh,
my baby," he said as he wept over one of the pets.
"It
looks like he's going to be displaced tonight," Taylor said after
assessing the damage to the home. "It's hard to get information out of
him. He's pretty distraught over his loss."
Fire
Chief Robert Stoker delivered a small Zions Bank bag with some basic
necessities such as a toothbrush and shaving kit, which Taylor gave to Knight.
"It
was an Eagle Scout project. Somebody made those up to give out to the
victims," Taylor said.
St.
George Fire Capt. Jason Whipple said the cause was determined to be the failure
of a heat lamp in one of the snake cages.
Henshaw
said Knight maintained a number of heat lamps in the affected corner of the
trailer.
"It
was so bright in there it was like the sun coming up," Henshaw said.
"Those snakes cannot handle cold."
Checketts
said the fire was deemed to be accidental and there was no finding of animal
cruelty.
Henshaw
said Knight is a former New York City firefighter and paramedic who moved into
the RV park about two years ago following a period living in a Bureau of Land
Management area on the Arizona Strip.
Knight
wore a jacket with the word "Phelps" in large letters across the back
and New York Firefighter patches on the sleeves as he worked to revive a
handful of the pythons.
Taylor
said he did not remember encountering a similar incident involving such a large
number of big snakes.
"Not
like this. ... We run into unusual pets from time to time," he said.
Checketts
said most of the snakes were in cages but the larger ones probably were not
because there were not enough cages to house each snake.
Henshaw
said one of the snakes escaped a couple of years ago and police responded after
a resident reported it under her trailer.
"We
had about 10 people chasing that thing around with flashlights," he said,
adding that the pythons are not generally considered dangerous and Knight
appears to know what he's doing.
"He's
licensed to give them serums, just like a doctor. They get respiratory problems
sometimes," he said.
Henshaw
said the park limits where residents can live with dogs, but otherwise there
are no restrictions on pets. Knight only had a couple of the reptiles when he
moved in, Henshaw said, but began taking in others over time.
"He's
about the nicest guy in the world. ... A few of (the neighbors) are trying to
cheer him up but it's like he's losing his family," Henshaw said.
http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20100101/NEWS01/1010318/Firefighters-wrangle-snakes-at-blaze
CAIRNS POST
(Australia) 01 January 10 Frog eats a
snake (Brad Ryan)
Green
frogs are a regular sight in Far North Queensland - but rarely making a meal of
a snake.
As these
photos taken by Ian Hamilton show, the frog is not incapable of experimenting
with new predator-prey relationships and dinnertime treats.
Mr Hamilton
said his 18-year-old grandson, Brendan Healy, spotted this frog snacking on a
brown tree snake in his grandparents’ retirement village garden in Mackay last
Sunday night.
“We took some
photos, not realising at the time just how unusual it was,” he said.
“There were
three other frogs watching as well.”
The frogs
usually dine on insects.
It's not the
first time a frog has been caught on camera with an appetite for something
surprising.
In June a
shocked resident snapped a frog devouring a whole bird.
And in
October, another frog was filmed in a territorial battle with a snake.
http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/01/01/85765_local-news.html
DAILY
TELEGRAPH (Sydney, Australia) 01 January 10 Family defend watching python eat wallaby
A family who
watched a python eat a young wallaby in their backyard says public backlash for
not helping the infant animal is "water off a duck's back".
The
Barton-Ilic family from Cairns, north Queensland, watched from outside their
home as a 4-meter (13ft) scrub python ate a young wallaby while its mum kicked
and scratched the snake in vain to save her baby, The Cairns Post
reported.
Judith
Barton-Ilic said she felt like she was watching TV’s Animal Planet with her
kids Braidyn, 13, and Tiarn, 10, when the action unfolded on Monday.
The story has
gained Australia-wide interest since being published on cairns.com.au, with
more than 140,000 views of Mrs Barton-Ilic's pictures of the attack.
The family
came under fire as online readers posted a barrage of comments, with many
attacking the family for not going to the wallaby's rescue.
"So, in
45 minutes, no supposed top of the chain animal went to the aid of the mother
wallaby. Sickening!" wrote Elizabeth of Seddon in Victoria.
But Mrs
Barton-Ilic defended the actions of her family, saying the snake had half the
wallaby in its mouth by the time they noticed the incident.
She also said
the family armed themselves with long broom handles and sticks but gave up
after realizing the wallaby was dead.
Cameron
Buswell, the regional inspector of the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Far Northern branch, said the family did the right
thing by letting nature take its course.
"If they
killed a native snake, they would get into trouble by the Environmental
Protection Agency and the RSPCA and face hefty fines," he said.
Cairns Snake
Removals owner David Walton said the python could have attacked Mrs Barton-Ilic
if she attempted to help the wallaby.