HERP NEWS 202/2009

NATIONAL POST (Toronto, Ontario) 21 July 09 Ontario's levels of snake anti-venom 'critically low' (Tom Blackwell)

An unusually large number of rattlesnake bites early in the season has made Ontario's shortage of rattler anti-venom more dire than ever, says the cottage-country hospital that serves Canada's rattlesnake heartland.

Another hospital, in Windsor, even had to obtain anti-venom from a zoo in the United States to treat a bite victim last week. Health officials are now struggling to find new supplies before the onset of mating season, when most encounters with the Eastern Massasauga - Ontario's only poisonous snake - typically occur.

The West Parry Sound Health Centre is down to 18 vials, enough to treat the equivalent of 1½ moderate "envenomations," said Donald Sanderson, the hospital's CEO.

"Our inventory has reached a critically low level," he said. "Before we were planning for the worst and hoping for the best. Now the worst seems to have arrived."

The province has already recorded at least six "wet" bites - during which the snake injects venom - that required treatment with the pricey drug CroFab, said Loraine Vankoughnet, head of infection control at West Parry Sound. On average, Ontario sees only about five all year.

Most bites traditionally occur during mating season at the end of July and early August, when female rattlers bask in the sun and males come looking for them, she said.

Ms. Vankoughnet's hospital treated three cases - involving men aged 19 and 36 and a nine-year-old girl - between July 2 and last Sunday, she said. Hospitals in Owen Sound, Midlan and Windsor have also had bite cases.

The Parry Sound hospital managed to secure 60 vials of anti-venom to meet its needs but, with stocks dwindling, had to turn down a request for some of the drug from the Windsor Regional Hospital last week.

In Windsor, the hospital's pharmacy director, Christine Donaldson, then dispatched a colleague across the border to the Detroit Zoo, to borrow from its stocks of CroFab.

Ms. Vankoughnet says Parry Sound has more anti-venom on order but may not receive it until mid-August. Meanwhile, she is talking to facilities in Western Canada and Arizona about procuring emergency supplies. "I certainly feel this is a crisis," she said.

Rattlesnake bites are rarely fatal but, untreated, can cause severe pain, swelling that has led to amputations and impaired blood clotting.

Other Ontario health facilities tend to look to the Parry Sound hospital because, until about a year ago, it had operated a provincial anti-venom depot, meting out CroFab to hospitals that needed it and dispensing expert advice to treating physicians. By pooling the anti-venom among several institutions, the depot system avoided wastage of the expensive medication, which lasts only three years, experts say.

But the provincial funding that had kept the depot running for about five years ran out and the Liberal government has yet to extend it.

A spokeswoman for the Health Ministry said on Tuesday that it is up to the North East Local Health Integration Network that manages health care in the Parry Sound area to request funding, but it has yet to do so. A representative for the network, part of a new regionalized health system in Ontario, could not be reached for comment.

Tom Martin, a Toronto businessman whose family has had a cottage on a Georgian Bay island for generations and is seeing more rattlesnakes than ever, said he cannot fathom why the province would not step in to fund the depot again. "It's a funny way to run a province when you have tough laws to protect the snakes but you don't want to spend the money to protect the people," he said.

Different sub-species of rattlesnakes are also found in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1813932

INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) 21 July 09 On the slimy trail of hellbenders (Ad Crable)

Pity the poor eastern hellbender. Cool name, bad rap.

This secretive, long-living salamander that can grow to more than to 2 feet long and reach 4-5 pounds, is one of the least-known creatures of its size in Pennsylvania.

And horribly misunderstood.

Heck, even look at its name. No one seems to know its origin anymore, but some say it's because the slimy, mud-colored amphibian is so ugly it's surely bent for hell.

Then there was the widespread persecution. It was believed — inaccurately — that hellbenders lived on small gamefish and trout eggs and would slime fishing lines, rendering them ineffective.

It was thought they were ferocious and their bite poisonous.

For the record, they eat mostly crayfish with a few minnows sprinkled here and there, are amazingly docile and shy and even if one bit you, you wouldn't get sick.

Strictly nocturnal, you most likely will never see one, though they do occasionally get hooked by anglers that use worms or other live bait.

Known variously as water dogs, mud devils and Allegheny alligators, hellbenders were hunted down and reviled, even by the forerunner of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission that now is required to protect them.

Especially in the 1930s, they were chased with gig poles and caught with 100-hook trotlines.

Hellbenders were once common in Lancaster County and other tributaries of the Susquehanna River, as well as the river itself. There may still be some here, but no one knows for sure and few care enough to find out.

Fortunately, Dr. Peter Petokas, a biology professor at Lycoming College, and some of his students feel differently.

On a breezy morning last week, the 6-foot-4 Petokas and student interns Gwen Forestal, Max Olsen and Tracy Curtis slide into wet suits and snorkel gear and wade into a gravel and boulder stream about 15 miles north of Williamsport, Lycoming County.

For six years, Petokas has been searching for hellbenders in the major tributaries that feed the West Branch of the Susquehanna River to assess the salamanders' population, health and habits.

Of the 21 streams Petokas has checked, he's found hellbenders in six. Many others are polluted from acid mine drainage.

This pocket of stream is in one of the six, and hellbenders have been found in such numbers that it's probably one of the most productive hellbender locations in the United States.

Hellbenders need fairly deep, moving and relatively good-quality rivers and streams. But even more crucial are large, flat boulders that they hide and nest under.

Petokas and Olsen approach a large slab. They each insert a lumberjack's peavey, the utensil used to turn over felled trees.

The two women, circling the rock, dunk their masked heads underwater, ready to spot any flushed hellbender.

They have an underwater flashlight and a block of wood to wedge under rocks in case the peaveys lose their grip. That's happened twice, pinning arms, but no one has been hurt.

With a grunt, the men pry up the rock. "Ummph! Uumph," Forestal grunts from underwater.

"Hellbender! Hellbender! Get a bag!" Petokas translates.

For a moment, the sophomore biology major's feet are thrust into the air as she spurts for the bottom. Then she is topside with gloved hands triumphantly clutching a hellbender.

Without the rubber gloves, it would be impossible to hold the slimy salamander. The slime is the amphibian's main defense and tastes obnoxious to would-be predators.

The creature was slipped into a bright yellow mesh diver's bag and sunk to the bottom with a lead weight and bright fishing bobber. The hellbender will be retrieved later and the exact location of the capture will be recorded on a GPS unit.

For now, though, the four hellbender hunters bounce from promising rock to promising rock like an aquatic game of pinball.

If Petokas wasn't doing this work, there's a good chance no one would be checking into the location and status of these prehistoric creatures.

He became fascinated with hellbenders as a graduate student at Binghampton University in New York state. He was enthralled at this unlikely salamander that lives entirely underwater and has a lifespan of 30 years or more. They breathe not by lungs but by absorbing air through the skin.

Eastern hellbenders live only in North America and are not related to any of the other 21 species of salamander in Pennsylvania. Rather, they are cousins to the giant salamanders of China and Japan that grow to 5 feet and weight up to 100 pounds.

Historically, they were found up and down the Appalachians, from southern New York to Mississippi and west to Missouri, in streams at elevations less than 2,500 feet. The Ozark hellbender lives only in parts of Missouri and Arkansas.

In Pennsylvania, they lived in the Susquehanna, Ohio and Allegheny river drainages.

It's true they are not pretty. They kind of look like eels with toes — five pink ones on the back feet and four on the front. They have beady little eyes and a paddle tail. They don't swim but walk on the bottom.

When Petokas came to Lycoming University six years ago, he was invited by a colleague to a scuba-diving class. Petokas politely declined.

"But you'll see hellbenders."

"Sign me up."

Indeed, Petokas and his assistants dive for hellbenders in deeper streams.

"I like working with an animal that's understudied and extremely secretive and somewhat elusive," Petokas says of his pursuit of hellbenders.

Not on this day, however. Despite the cold water, the team snags 18 adult hellbenders in two hours. During the six-day survey of 600 feet of the stream, they catch 89 adults and three juveniles. The largest is 21½ inches long.

Of the 89, 25 had been captured before. The researchers know this because most adults are tagged with a tiny glass-encased radio-transmitter tags, similar to ID tags commonly used on dogs and cats, that is inserted under the skin.

"These animals are kind of like family to us. I don't even like tagging them," Petokas admits.

When a scanning wand is passed over a tagged hellbender, it sends an identification number to the device.

After lunch, the interns haul the captured hellbenders in buckets from the stream to a makeshift outdoors lab. Petokas and the interns measure and weigh each untagged individual and note any deformities.

Before they are released back at the exact rocks of their capture, a swab of their slime is taken with a Q-Tip. A lab will check the DNA for presence of a deadly fungus that has been killing amphibians since the late 1990s.

It was first found in hellbender populations in Missouri in 2006. The next year, Petokas confirmed reports that the flesh-eating fungus was in hellbenders in Loyalsock Creek. He's found dozens of dead hellbenders there, presumably killed by the fungus.

So far, the fungus has not been found in the other five streams he's found with hellbenders.

But, along with acid mine drainage pollution and illegal catching of hellbenders by collectors, the chytrid fungus is one more bullet to dodge for a creature we know precious little about.

There's been talk of putting hellbenders on an endangered list. But there's still more documentation to do before that would happen.

Hellbenders are protected in Pennsylvania and may not be killed or removed from the wild.

Though research funds are drying up, Petokas is determined to keep studying hellbenders and would like to expand his search to other parts of the state.

In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if they are living in the Susquehanna itself in free-flowing areas of boulders and bedrock. But searching the vast river would be next to impossible, so he'd concentrate on tribs.

As far as immediate conservation for hellbenders in Pennsylvania, Petokas would like to see stream restoration projects in areas where hellbenders are present to maximize habitat. He'd like to see the state develop a conservation plan.

Hellbenders could be raised from eggs in labs and released in suitable streams in hopes of starting new colonies.

If you come across a hellbender or think you know a stream where they live, contact Petokas by e-mail at petokas@lycoming.edu. Or go to his hellbender research Web site at http://srv2.lycoming.edu/~petokas.

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/240079

FLORIDA TIMES UNION (Jacksonville, Florida) 21 July 09 In Florida, it's snakes and more snakes - There has been plenty of talk about them lately, but experts say don't panic. (Deirdre Conner)

A pygmy rattler bites a man in a Wal-Mart garden center. A pet python kills a girl sleeping in her own home, while hundreds more flourish in The Everglades, threatening the ecosystem and wildlife. Government officials plan to hunt the invasive species down, and potentially ban them.

But it's important to temper the snake pandemonium with a little bit of logic, say local herpetologists. Man vs. snake run-ins are fairly rare. There's a big difference between the run-ins with native species, such as pygmy rattlesnakes, than issues of exotic problem pets, such as pythons.

Snakes are too often demonized, when proper education is really needed, said Maynard Cox, a Clay County expert in snakes and snake bites.

Pygmy rattlers are one of the most common venomous snakes in Northeast Florida. Yet you're more likely to get struck by lightning, especially in Florida, than killed by a snake bite, Cox said. According to "The Florida Handbook," published by the Florida Department of State, roughly 300 venomous snakebites occur annually in Florida. Fatalities are rare. According to the University of Florida Extension, there are about 7,000 to 8,000 venomous snake bites every year in the United States, of which five to six are fatal. There are no deaths from a pygmy rattlesnake bite on record.

Cox spends as much time dealing with exotic pets on the loose, constrictors such as boas or pythons. Native species are necessary to keep the rodent population down. Exotics are another animal altogether.

After an albino Burmese python slipped out and strangled a toddler on July 1 in Oxford, in west-central Florida, legislators such as U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., have called for a ban on importing the snakes, which are also wreaking havoc on native species in the Everglades.

Local snake-keepers say the Oxford death was a tragedy waiting to happen.

The snake was "anorexic," said Stephen Brezil, who owns Blazin' Reptiles, an exotic pet shop in Jacksonville. At just under 9 feet, it should have weighed 50 to 60 pounds, but news reports said it weighed just 15 to 20 pounds.

Brezil said starving snakes will sniff out anything warm blooded at that point, although the snake never could have physically eaten the girl. The snake was in a terrarium topped with a quilt, where by law it was supposed to have been kept under lock in a secure cage.

He held out two Burmese pythons, one a year old and under his care, another, 3 years old, that had been turned over to him by an owner. They were the same size.

Rules for keeping "reptiles of concern" changed in January, requiring certain reptiles to have a special permit that requires them to be microchipped and inspected by the state. That has cut down on the trade, Brezil said.

Only a handful of people in Northeast Florida have the permits, said Bob Shumaker, president of the Jacksonville Herpetological Society.

In Northeast Florida, exotic snakes such as the Burmese python typically cannot survive the winter. But that doesn't keep pythons and other invasive snakes from causing big problems when they are dumped or get loose.

Plenty of those unwanted pets become Cox's problem.

Especially in the summer, he gets dozens of calls a week to deal with unwanted snakes. Many are pets that have become too large and unmanageable. Some are simply released into parking lots or wooded lots.

It falls to Old Man Cox, as he calls himself, to catch and then euthanize them. Almost no one can take the large animals such as the 17-foot snake he wrested out from under a car in Clay County a few months ago.

"Pythons shouldn't be pets," said Cox, who is the owner of a pet king snake. "I don't think anyone should have them."

If the unwanted snakes are lucky, they end up at the Westside home of the Shumakers. There, Shumaker and his wife, Liz, and their son, James Sapp, run a reptile rescue. They get calls almost daily.

Their home, licensed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, is filled with the reptiles other people couldn't keep or didn't want: Snakes that got too big or got out, abused iguanas, improperly fed turtles.

To pay the bills - keeping reptiles can be costly - they take the animals they don't adopt out on educational shows at schools, churches and birthday parties, trying to educate parents and kids about proper reptile keeping. One day, they hope, so many people won't buy inappropriate starter pets such as green iguanas or Burmese pythons.

They don't favor a total ban on keeping pythons, but they do believe in the new, tighter regulations on owners of the most dangerous kinds. Then, perhaps, reptile keepers wouldn't get such a bad reputation. And neither would the reptiles.

"There's a lot of people in Florida that have reptiles," said Liz Shumaker. "But the only ones you hear about are doing things wrong."

http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-07-21/story/in_florida_its_snakes_and_more_snakes

NEW INDIAN EXPRESS (Chennai, India) 21 July 09 Smugglers now after venomous snakes (Ajay Kanth)

Kochi: After ivory, ganja and sandalwood, the smugglers are now madly after King Cobra and other venomous snakes in the forests as 10 ml venom of a King Cobra would fetch crores of rupees in the international black market.

The smuggling of snake venom had come to light after the recent seizure of 200 ml of King Cobra venom at Kanjikode, near Palakkad.

“Though the police had earlier information on operation of such rackets, the seizure of 200 ml of King Cobra venom was the first of its kind in the state.

A case has been registered against two persons and a lab analysis report has confirmed it as King Cobra venom,” said Crime Branch SP P Vijayan.

He said as per preliminary reports, the venom would be first smuggled to northern parts of the state from where it would be shipped to South-East Asian nations.

“The enzyme in the venom is processed and converted into a drug which will offer an extra kick when taken along with hashish or brown sugar,” Vijayan said and added that the smuggling of venom had increased in the recent times as a lot of big buyers had come forward to offer huge money for it.

“Compared to other contrabands, the venom is easy to smuggle as majority of enforcement agencies cannot easily identify it unless and until a lab analysis is done,” said a senior police official. Chief Wildlife Warden K A Ouseph said there had been a lot of reports on venom smuggling and the Forest Department had already conducted several raids at various places.

“We do not think that the smugglers extract venom after catching snakes in the forest.

Reports have pointed out that the smugglers rear snakes at their homes and at several clandestine places to extract venom from them,” the official said and added that they would further intensify their operation to track those persons who were violating the provisions in the Wildlife Act.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Smugglers+now+after+venomous+snakes&artid=U8i05ZxlAv8=

DAILY ECHO (Bournemouth, UK) 21 July 09 Turtle-y dummy-struck - shellshock over Dorset creature's child-like antics (Jane Reader)

When a toddler’s dummy was accidentally dropped into the water at Bournemouth’s Oceanarium, staff leapt into action to ensure the safety of two rare green sea turtles.

But before they could remove the alien object from the display, one of the turtles, Friday, had picked it up and was merrily sucking on it like a baby.

These fascinating pictures were taken by visitors to the attraction on Saturday.

Wanda Beard, 15, Jessica Culley, 14, and 51-year-old John Barwick could barely believe their eyes when one of the turtles, named Friday, used the dummy just as a child would.

The oceanarium’s group curator Oliver Buttling said the actions show the intelligence of the turtle but has warned other people not to allow items to fall into the displays.

“Both Friday and Crusoe, our rare green sea turtles, are extremely inquisitive creatures and it was no surprise that a dummy appearing in their display attracted their attention,” he said.

“We would have expected the turtles to try and interact with the unfamiliar object, but for Friday to use the dummy as any child would was surprising and shows his underlying intelligence.”

Mr Buttling said the dummy was removed as soon as possible to ensure the welfare of the turtles and said visitors are advised against leaning over displays or putting their hands into the water.

“This was presumably an accidental, unfortunate incident, which has provided some amusing photographs, but if the turtle had swallowed the dummy this could have been a different story.

“We ask everyone who comes to see our creatures to show care and not throw anything into the displays.”

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/4502948.Turtle_y_dummy_struck___shellshock_over_Dorset_creature_s_child_like_antics/

MILTON KEYNES CITIZEN (UK) 20 July 09 Rare turtles hatch out at aquarium

Staff at a Birmingham aquarium are celebrating the arrival of a dozen rare turtles whose global numbers are said to be critically low.

The Indian spotted turtles - the first of their species to be born in the UK - emerged from their eggs within hours of each at Birmingham's National Sea Life Centre.

Keepers say all the reptiles appear to be in perfect health and will soon be weaned on a diet of small crustaceans and bloodworm.

The turtles are the offspring of one of only four breeding pairs of adult Indian spotted turtles in Europe, which came to the Sea Life Centre from Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands.

Originally taken from the wild, they are believed to about 45 years old.

Sea Life Centre curator Graham Burrows said: "This is a real coup for our new turtle-breeding facility.

"The new babies will eventually be registered with an international studbook programme to be paired up with others at similar facilities around the world."

http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/latest-west-midlands-news/Rare-turtles-hatch-out-at.5474899.jp

ST PETERSBURG TIMES (Florida) 20 July 09 Tougher state, federal rules would help stop the spread of pythons

By midday Friday, hunters sanctioned by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had captured at least one of the estimated 150,000 Burmese pythons in the Everglades. And U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar assured more will die by agreeing to similar eradication efforts in the Big Cypress National Preserve. The effort is the latest aimed at preventing the environmentally devastating species from spreading to the rest of the southern United States.

But the hunts will do nothing for the other threat posed by the dangerous predator. They won't prevent another tragedy like the death of Shaiunna Hare, a 2-year-old Sumter County girl killed by a pet python earlier this month while she lay in her bed. Only greater state and federal regulation of the animals — from banning their import and interstate sale to potentially outlawing pythons as pets — will address the threats the Burmese python poses to Florida's environment and people.

Congress needs to embrace a bill offered by two Florida Democrats, Sen. Bill Nelson (S 373) and Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami (HR 2811), to restrict the import and interstate sale of the South Asian species. Nelson has pushed the measure for years, noting there are no natural predators to the pythons in Florida. The proposal finally won more attention after Shaiunna's death.

Nelson's office has said the plan "turns off the faucet" that imported 99,000 pythons to the United States between 1996 and 2006. It won't be that simple, of course. Pythons live for decades and there is already a huge population here — much of it breeding in the wild. But the Nelson-Meek plan will stem some of the growth.

It's also time for the state to reconsider whether constrictors like the python should belong in the category of Class 1 animals — dangerous exotic species — that can't be kept as pets. Florida law now requires owners of pythons, deemed a "reptile of concern," to register the animals with the state. But the law is rarely enforced. The snake that killed Shaiunna was not registered and experts have suggested the 8-foot snake, inadequately contained in a terrarium, was underfed. Supporters of the python pet trade say the owner, not the animal, is at fault. But the python isn't just another domesticated pet like a cat or dog.

Owners who enthusiastically buy a 20-inch hatchling have an 8-foot predator in their midst within a year. Scientists believe the responsibility has so overwhelmed some owners that they released their pets into the wild, threatening Florida's environment.

The irony is that the World Conservation Union has registered the Burmese python as a "near threatened" species in its native range of Southeast Asia due to exportation and hunting for skins. That's where the snake belongs — not in Florida homes or the Everglades.

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article1019507.ece

MIAMI HERALD (Florida) 20 July 09 Tougher measure on turtle harvest takes effect

Tallahassee, Fla.(AP): An historic ban on commercial harvesting and sale of Florida's freshwater turtles has begun.

It also prohibits the collection of turtle eggs. However, individuals will be permitted to take one turtle a day from the wild for most species.

The measure is considered the toughest rule on harvesting freshwater turtles in the nation and is a misdemeanor with fines ranging between $250 for a first violation up to $750. Critics say the ban goes too far and gives turtles too much protection.

State spokeswoman Pat Behnke disagrees.

"We have some of the most precious and unique and abundant species in Florida, and anytime you're taking measures to conserve them, you're not going too far," Behnke said Monday.

Florida scientists were concerned the continued harvest of turtles at such a heavy rate would threaten their survival.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved the restrictions to protect more than two dozen species. Worldwide demand for turtles has grown so much, a lot of hunters turned to Florida to get their supply.

Turtle meat is considered a delicacy in Asian markets and the shell is used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Behnke said Florida's farms will be allowed to collect turtles for breeding for at least two years to give them the ability to develop their own stock and become self-sufficient.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1149784.html

NEWS HERALD (Panama City, Florida) 20 July 09 Biologists run tests to protect turtles (Jon Miltimore)

Panama City Beach: A summer day turned into an educational experience for Bay area children Tuesday.

Beneath a hot July sun, about a dozen kids watched curiously as supersized loggerheads in green Bay waters bobbed dumbly, fighting with speedy pinfish for bits of chopped squid being tossed to them. The pinfish appeared to be winning.

The tour was courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, which recently brought 200 turtles in for testing at its Panama City Beach lab, located at 3500 Delwood Beach Road.

NOAA biologists said the turtles are local eggs that are grown in Galveston, TX, where the hatchlings are well fed and raised in warmer temperatures, allowing them to grow faster and larger than wild loggerheads. After two or three years, the turtles are returned and used to test turtle excluder devices (TEDs), tools used to limit sea turtle bycatch in shrimp nets, NOAA biological technician Carrie Fioramonti said.

Each turtle, while being observed by divers, is used a single time to study how effectively the creatures are able to utilize TEDs to free themselves when scooped up by the bottom-dragging shrimp nets.

“If they struggle at all, they (the divers) will go in and get them,” said Fioramonti, who has been with NOAA about four years.

NOAA biological technician Mauricio Rodriguez said turtles are reptiles, not amphibians, and cannot survive long underwater if caught in a net. Mature loggerheads, those 30 centimeters or more in length, can stay underwater for a couple hours at a time, but because they dive so deeply they often become incidental victims of shrimp nets, which physically drag ocean bottoms for catch, Rodriguez said.

“It is well known sea turtles will encounter shrimp nets and get caught in them,” said Rodriquez, who has been with NOAA about nine years. “(TEDs) are simply a piece of equipment found in shrimp nets that allows sea turtles to escape. In the field we need to test that gear.”

Sea turtles, a threatened species protected by federal law, have sparked contentious debate in recent years, despite relatively low Beach numbers. A handful of sea turtles have laid an average of 21 turtle nests per year on local beaches in recent years, according to biologists, compared to thousands of nests laid in Central and South Florida beaches.

Some local politicians, fisherman and proprietors have argued the creatures are overprotected, and have resisted federal pressure to restrict long-line fishing and adopt dimmer, turtle-friendly lights (sea turtles are adversely affected by man-made lights) that critics say are too expensive and could be a safety hazard for humans.

Proposals to have the sea turtles relocated have been met with resistance.

http://www.newsherald.com/news/run-75920-beach-tests.html

ECONOMIC TIMES (New Delhi, India) 20 July 09 Goa's forest department rescues 1693 reptiles

Panaji: With the increase in encroachment on jungles, Goa's forest minister on Monday said that his department was rescuing four reptiles everyday from residential areas.

In a written reply tabled in State Assembly's monsoon session began this morning, Filipe Neri Rodrigues said the forest department rescued 1693 reptiles, including pythons, during current financial year and released into wild.

"Nearly 4,000 snakes have been released into their natural habitat over the last three years by the rescue squads located at four places throughout Goa," Rodrigues said.

The reply by the minister says the number of pythons and other reptiles rescued from residential areas is on rise annually with current financial year recording 1693 rescues.

Around 1241 and 1146 reptiles were rescued during the financial year 2007-08 and 2006-07 respectively, it said.

The state has its large area under forest cover, with six wildlife sanctuaries and a national park.

The forest department has set up a rescue squad at Campal, Mollem, Bondla and Cotigao to deal with incidents of monkey menace and other rescue activities.

"The menace causing animals are trapped and rehabilitated in suitable areas in the natural habitat," he said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Flora-Fauna/Goas-forest-department-rescues-1693-reptiles/articleshow/4798734.cms

WDBO (Orlando, Florida) 20 July 09 Counties call for action against dangerous animals

In the wake of a toddler's strangulation by a pet python, the Florida Association of Counties is urging state wildlife leaders to allow counties more say in the regulation and control of dangerous non-native species in Florida.

Association president Rodney Long sent a letter to the chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"It is our desire to work together to make positive strides toward state and local cooperation on captive wildlife issues," Long wrote to Rodney Barreto.

However, he said that there's been too much dialogue and not enough action.

He complained that FWC "legal staff have interpreted Florida's Constitution and Statutes to preempt counties from having any role in captive wildlife."

Long pointed out that FWC is not a planning agency and that that expertise lies in the counties, who handle zoning and land use.

With the counties involved, he argues that animals can be limited to "appropriate neighborhoods."

That way, neighbors and even emergency responders will know where pythons and other dangerous exotic animals are kept.

"Burmese pythons are just one of many dangerous animals that have become too easy to purchase without a permit," he added.

FAC has received no response yet from state wildlife officials.

http://wdbo.com/localnews/2009/07/counties-call-for-action-again.html

TIMBERJAY (Ely, Minnesota) 20 July 09 Time for an "Adopt-a Turtle Crossing" program (Marshall Helmberger)

For anyone who hates to see the wanton and unnecessary slaughter of native wildlife on our highways, the month of June is particularly dispiriting. As we noted in the paper last week, it’s that time of year when female turtles are leaving the safety of the water and heading onto land to lay eggs. They’re particularly fond of gravel banks, which unfortunately makes roadsides inviting.

It’s often the kiss of death, and this year has been the worst ever near our house west of Tower. At least five large snapping turtles have been killed in the past week on the newly-replaced Hwy. 1 bridge over the Pike River flowage.

Seeing all the corpses is one thing. But usually when you see them, they’re still alive, writhing and staggering in circles, trying to find their way back to the water. Big turtles invariably take a long time to die and it’s awful to witness.

Of course, we tend to witness a lot of it this time of year, and we shouldn’t have to.

There’s no use blaming drivers here. Sure, there are some who think it’s fun to blast turtles on the highway, but for most people, it’s simply an accident. No sensible person would try to hit a 30-pound snapping turtle anyway, unless they want to throw out their car’s alignment, or end up in the ditch. Snappers lay their eggs in the evening and often aren’t back in the water before dark, which means they can be awfully hard to see until it’s too late.

The solution is to keep turtles off the road in the first place. Fortunately, that’s a lot easier than you might think. In other parts of the country, highway departments, citizens groups, and the National Park Service work together to set up barriers to prevent turtles from crossing busy highways. Studies have shown that these barriers, which are usually nothing more elaborate than a silt fence, drastically reduce turtle mortality on the highways.

In other words, this is a problem with a pretty easy solution. The question is how to get it done.

We all know that MnDOT is already struggling with limited resources. Adding turtle protection to the to-do list may not be practical. But the agency has found great success in the Adopt-a-Highway program, which first started as a pilot project in northeastern Minnesota before going statewide. The program helps keep our highways clean at much-reduced cost through the use of local volunteers.

So how about an Adopt-a-Turtle Crossing program? There are plenty of residents around the state who would be more than happy to volunteer in such an effort. All they’d need is a little training, which could be provided online, some silt fencing or other temporary barricade material, and a couple friends. MnDOT wouldn’t have to identify the sites, either. Let local residents, who know best where the problem areas are located, contact MnDOT or the DNR, to get involved in protecting their own local turtle crossing.

Costs to the state would be minimal, and could well be covered by any of several dedicated environmental funds.

To me, it seems a pretty easy decision. Sit back, do nothing, and continue to slaughter turtles needlessly each June. Or let those folks who want to do their part to solve this problem step up to the plate.

http://www.timberjay.com/current.php?article=5435

RAPID CITY JOURNAL (S Dakota) 20 July 09 No snakes in the Hills? That's a myth - Elevation isn't key to avoiding rattlers, snake expert says (Kevin Woster)

There's no such thing as too high for rattlesnakes, at least not in South Dakota.

The idea that rattlesnakes won't go above a certain elevation in the Black Hills is a myth, Reptile Gardens curator Terry Phillips said.

"They could be all the way up to the top of Harney Peak," he said. "The Prairie rattlesnake has been found at elevations up to 11,000 feet."

So people in the Hills should be careful about where they sit, reach or step, just as they should take care down on the plains, Phillips said. That's especially true around rocky or wooded areas that provide cover and shade, particularly on hot, sunny days, he said.

"A lot of it's just common sense. We learn at an early age to look both ways when we cross the street and not talk to strangers," Phillips said. "In western South Dakota, look before you sit, look where you step, watch where you put your hands and when nature calls, watch where you do your business."

A snake bite last month in Custer State Park was unusual, as are most snake bites, Phillips said. Rattlesnakes are all around us but are usually able to avoid human contact. Jake Niedringhaus, a 13-year-old Sioux Falls boy, appears to have been a "legitimate" snake bite, by Phillips' standards.

The "legitimate" bites are those that happen by accident, as in Niedringhaus's case. He was on a family hike and accidentally stepped on a rattler. More often, snake-bite victims -- who are most often young men -- are teasing rattlers or trying to handle them when they are bitten, Phillips said.

"A legitimate bite is when you didn't know the snake was there and got bit," he said. "If you know the snake is there and get bit, it's always your fault."

Jake Niedringhaus is the first snake-bite victim that 30-year park employee Craig Pugsley can recall in the 71,000-acre park. Rattlesnakes that turn up in public use areas in the park, such as the Center Lake Campground, are relocated to more isolated park land, Pugsley said.

And parks visitors are always advised, personally and in park materials, to remember that there are venomous snakes in the park.

"In any outdoor activity, use caution and be aware of your surroundings," he said.

Tom Farrell, a spokesman for Wind Cave National Park, said the park has a rattlesnake-relocation policy similar to the one in Custer State Park.

"They are relocated to the nearest prairie dog town," he said.

Last year, park employee Ankur Desai was bitten by a rattlesnake while working in one of the remote parts of the park, Farrell said.

"Due to the remote location in the park where he was bitten, and the symptoms he was presenting to EMS personnel on the scene, he was LifeFlighted to Rapid City Regional Hospital," Farrell said. "He was released from the hospital two days later."

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2009/07/20/news/local/doc4a63b00bf0d5a377946205.txt

HARTS AND ESSEX OBSERVER (Hertford, UK) 20 July 09 Tortoise smugglers snared at Stansted (James Burton)

An East London couple were arrested at Stansted Airport after they were caught trying to smuggle endangered tortoises into the UK.

The Walthamstow pair, a 41-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman, were detained on Friday afternoon (July 17) shortly after touching down from Corfu at 1.25pm.

Officers from Essex Police and the Met, working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, found four tortoises in a suitcase and three in a hand luggage bag.

The two were arrested on suspicion of trade offences under the Control of Trade in Endangered Species regulations and causing the creatures unnecessary suffering.

An investigation was launched when the RSPCA referred a tip-off about tortoise smuggling to the Met. A search of a Walthamstow house turned up two rare pancake tortoises, an Asian pit viper and several other non-endangered animals.

After questioning the couple at Stansted Airport police station, officers bailed them pending further enquiry until August 18.

http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/hertsandessexobserver%2Dnews/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=434605

COURIER-POST (Hannibal, Missouri) 20 July 09 Missing snake found in Quincy

Quincy, IL: A large snake that got loose near 24th and Payson in Quincy was found Sunday just a couple of house away.

The eight-foot-long boa constrictor had been missing for more than two weeks.

It was located in the 700 block of South 24th Street.

The owner, 54-year-old Dan T. McLaughlin of 620 S. 24th has been cited for possession of a restricted animal without a permit and failure to report the escape of a restricted animal.

The city requires the owner of any constrictor snake at least six-feet long to receive a permit. A separate section requires the owner of a restricted animal to report escapes.

http://www.hannibal.net/news_local/x135760963/Missing-snake-found-in-Quincy

NEWS-PRESS (Fort Myers, Florida) 20 July 09 County governments want part of Florida's python purge (Dara Kam, Palm Beach Post)

Tallahassee: The python roundup ordered by Gov. Charlie Crist last week doesn't go far enough to protect neighborhoods from the scary serpents, Florida counties assert.

The counties want to be able to identify households that have restricted creatures, such as the pet Burmese python that strangled a 2-year-old girl in Central Florida earlier this month.

That could mean something similar to the sex-offender registry on the Internet where neighbors can see where perpetrators live.

It's the latest twist in the tale of the python-induced paranoia that's wound up with bounty hunters seeking the critters throughout state-managed sections of the Everglades and hunting areas in western Palm Beach County.

Gov. Charlie Crist ordered the bounty hunt for the pests last week. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, has had the Burmese python infestation in his sights for some time, and last week asked the U.S. Interior Department to order a similar python posse in Everglades National Park, which is off-limits to hunting.

Scientists have bemoaned the python pandemic for years, blaming it largely on owners who release the snakes when they tire of caring for them.

Some elected officials, including former Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty, began calling for bans more than three years ago. McCarty, now serving time in federal prison for corruption charges, urged the county years ago to prohibit sales of pythons and iguanas.

The Florida Association of Counties sent a letter to the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last week, asking the agencies to let counties notify neighbors where the perilous pythons and other restricted creatures reside.

State wildlife officials recently began notifying counties regarding sites where certain restricted animals are allowed.

"However, neighbor notification must also be implemented for public safety reasons," wrote Alachua County Commissioner Rodney Long, president of the state association of counties. "Citizens should know where dangerous animals are located in their neighborhood, and they should have a chance to comment on new proposed permits."

http://www.news-press.com/article/20090720/GREEN/90720071/1075

TUSCALOOSA NEWS (Alabama) 19 July 09 Turtle nesting season is upon us in America

How do turtles reproduce? Most U.S. turtles lay their eggs from late spring to midsummer, and many people have observed nesting turtles during the past few weeks. These outdoor encounters have led to this and many other questions about turtle reproduction.

Reproduction methods among turtles follow the basic format of most other vertebrates. The mating season for most temperate zone species begins in late winter or early spring as temperatures begin to rise. During this time, males begin seeking females and engaging in courtship activities. Turtle biologists assume that all species have a ritualized courtship process that leads to the mating event itself, but courting behavior in the wild has been observed in very few turtles.

Male-male combat occurs most commonly in animal species in which males get larger than females, which includes white-tailed deer, wild turkeys and humans. The same appears to be true for all species of turtles in which males are larger, but evidence is anecdotal and fighting is not well documented. In snapping turtles as well as some species of tortoises, adult males will engage in physical combat with other males. The purpose of such behavior in turtles as well as other animal species is for a male to become dominant by driving other males away from its territory, therefore preventing them from an opportunity to mate with local females. Male tortoises of some species will charge one another head-on and butt their shells together. The loser is the one that eventually retreats or, in rare instances, is turned over on its back. Snapping turtle males have been reported to fight in the water, creating turmoil on the surface of a lake or pond as they claw and bite each other. Observers of snapping turtle combat differ in their interpretations of the details of the process, but in larger bodies of water the loser usually retreats to another area and may even migrate to another lake or stream. In turtle species in which the males are smaller than the females, aggressive male-to-male behavior does not commonly occur.

Turtle biologists have observed complex and intriguing courtship rituals in some species of turtles. Adult male painted turtles, slider turtles (which include the common red-eared sliders that are kept as pets) and some map turtles have elongated foreclaws that are used in an elaborate courtship behavior called “titillation.” During this fascinating ritual, the male turtle extends his front feet and turns them so that the backs are touching. Then he vibrates his long claws in the water in front of the female. A female interested in mating will follow the male, who slowly swims backward. Other courtship rituals undoubtedly occur in various species of aquatic turtles, but the chances are slim that someone will observe a short-term event that occurs underwater for (at most) a few days once a year. One of the best opportunities to see the titillation behavior is at a public aquarium in which freshwater turtles can be observed through glass in natural underwater settings.

Actual mating by most or all turtles occurs by the male climbing on the back of the female and curling his tail under hers. Male turtles of most species have noticeably longer tails than females. A general rule is that the male of turtles that mate on land has an indented area on the lower shell so that he is not balancing precariously on her domed upper shell. Such indentations are evident in many male tortoises and box turtles. Most aquatic turtles that mate in the water, including sea turtles, have mostly flat lower shells, as the buoyancy provided by the water allows the male to maintain his position during mating. The actual mating process may last for several hours in some terrestrial box turtles and tortoises.

Each year during turtle nesting season I receive dozens of questions about the reproduction process for turtles. This year was no exception. I have been asked numerous questions during the past few weeks. I will answer some of them, such as whether all turtles lay eggs, in next week’s column.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20090719/NEWS/907189985/1005?Title=ECOVIEWS-Turtle-nesting-season-is-upon-us-in-America

BUFFALO NEWS (New York) 19 July 09 Buffalo State takes a slow but intense look at turtles (Gerry Rising)

You cannot help but like turtles. My own affection and appreciation for them grew out of an early experience. My older brother caught two painted turtles in a swamp near our home and placed them in a cement-sided window box in our yard. Remarkably, one of them climbed the vertical side of that box and escaped. It must have found the minute cracks in that cement with its sharp toenails.

From that experience I could easily appreciate Aesop’s story of the tortoise and the hare. The turtle is the perfect living metaphor for stay-the-course.

Thus I was delighted to visit Ed Standora’s lab at Buffalo State College to learn about the work he and his graduate students Jacquie Walters and Andy Harrison are doing with spotted turtles here and diamondback terrapins in Barnegat Bay, N. J.

For 40 years Standora has been using biotelemetry to study animal activities, working with sharks and alligators as well as turtles.

The local project Walters finished (with Eric Duma) studied rare spotted turtles in Erie and Niagara Counties for the Department of Environmental Conservation. For that study Walters did the Geographic Information System (GIS) work.

Her turtles indeed moved slowly: from 4 to 36 feet per day. In fact, she found that the entire annual home range of an individual turtle varies from about a half acre to just over 3ø acres.

Walters’ more recent project used biotelemetry to determine home ranges and movement patterns of diamondback terrapins in Barnegat Bay using different GIS modeling techniques. Diamondback terrapins are handsome freshwater turtles that were driven to near extinction as a former food source. Their status remains “of special concern” in a number of states. They are perhaps best known as the “Terps” for University of Maryland teams.

Surprisingly, Walters found that many male terrapins spent time on land. The female terrapins were the real water travelers, sometimes swimming over four miles in a single afternoon. I doubt that Aesop’s rabbit could swim that fast.

Harrison’s project (with Lori Lester of Drexel University) is to determine the impact of boat traffic on the diamondback terrapins in the same Barnegat Bay area. Each terrapin is outfitted with expensive instrumentation that records swimming depths, acceleration, diving angles and temperature. He has applied mathematical formulas to turtle movement data, treating them as if they were airplanes flying through the water and measuring their pitch (tipping forward and back) and yaw (tipping side to side). He compares their behavior in the presence and absence of boats by recapturing them and downloading the data from the recording devices, which are much like the black boxes in aircraft.

Little was known about how these turtles interacted with motorboats although many captured individuals showed signs of boat propeller injuries. Harrison’s preliminary results indicate that the turtles seek by a variety of means to avoid the boats. They swim away from them or dive to the bottom of the estuaries and dig into the substrate.

Such activity increases metabolic costs by both interrupting feeding and demanding extra effort. To respond to this, turtles have to increase food consumption at other times in order to maintain normal growth rate.

The implications for wildlife managers, if Harrison’s research this summer supports his early predictions, are evident. It may be necessary to identify and establish areas in which boat traffic is restricted and to enforce reduced speed limits in open areas in order to reduce the severity of collisions. Harrison and Standora already have suggested that special boating restrictions should be enforced near nesting beaches during June and July.

The research lab in New Jersey is situated on 200 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to Barnegat Bay. This estuarine paradise and associated fauna are located less than an hour’s drive from the casinos of Atlantic City. Much of the work of Standora and his students is supported by volunteers who learn about their projects on the web. Readers can participate in this or other research projects around the world by contacting www.Earthwatch.org . Wende Mix, a professor in the Geography and Planning Department, has been instrumental in the spatial analysis of this team’s movement data. The Earthwatch project director, Hal Avery, a professor at Drexel University, is a Buffalo State graduate.

http://www.buffalonews.com/lifearts/lifestylenews/story/738073.html

FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER (N Carolina) 19 July 09 Secure your snakes (Tim White)

Sorry, but you're going to have to lock up your Gaboon viper and your puff adder. The anaconda's going to have to get off the couch, at least when you've got company. And the crocodile pond in the backyard? That's going to need some extra fencing.

It's the law. Or at least it will be, on Dec. 1, thanks to a bill the General Assembly passed last week.

What's amazing to me is that, until now, it was perfectly OK to have poisonous or constricting snakes and various crocodilians hanging around your house, with no legally defined safeguards. One more bit of proof that when it comes to laws about animals, North Carolina is just now boldly striding into the 20th century. Or maybe the 19th.

Most of you know about my affection for animals, wild and domestic. It's that shared passion that got me the best introduction I've ever had - to my wife. Rachel is a veterinarian, and when I met her, she was running a wildlife rehab center on Cape Cod, mending wings and beaks, patching turtle shells, raising orphaned foxes and coyotes. I spent many a happy day at that center, talking my way into handling big red-tailed hawks and playing with fox kits. I even helped keep a 25-pound snapping turtle under anesthesia while Rachel did surgery on him.

But turtles are about as far down the cold-blooded critter scale as I can go with any comfort. Snakes don't work for me, although I confess growing affection for the big skink who hangs out on my woodpile, except when the dogs try to terrorize him. I've gotten him to sit still long enough to get some great portrait photos (bird and wildlife photography is my favorite form of therapy - almost as good as a super-dry martini).

Lord knows, Rachel's tried. She's introduced me to all kinds of snakes, almost all of them harmless (she says). But I just can't feel the love, unless I'm looking at some exotic species or another through inch-thick plate glass.

That's the feeling the General Assembly seems to have in mind. The new law "regulating the use of certain reptiles" says you can't have a poisonous or constricting snake without an enclosure that renders them harmless to visitors. "Escape-proof" and "operable lock" are two attributes required. And if you're keeping gators in the back yard, that enclosure has to be similarly resistant to jailbreaks.

The law has teeth, although they don't qualify as fangs. A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor, which means conviction could bring up to four months in jail.

If someone negligently lets a cobra loose in the house and the snake kills someone, I'd like to argue for more than a few months in jail. But maybe that can come later. This is a good step out of the Middle Ages.

The law does allow for some exceptions, one of them being veterinarians. But I think I'm safe anyway. So far, the only python Rachel's brought home was on a DVD named Monty.

http://www.fayobserver.com/Articles/2009/07/19/917706

THE TIMES (London, UK) 19 July 09 Farmers dig deep to save toads

Environmental experts say the 'Toad in the Hole' scheme to protect rare Natterjack Toads by digging ponds has increased numbersJohn Mooney

A scheme that pays Kerry farmers €500 a year to dig ponds for rare natterjack toads is being hailed as a success by environmental experts.

Up to 78 breeding ponds have been constructed on the Dingle peninsula, as part of the Toad in the Hole project launched last year by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). The plan, which involves farmers agreeing to supply and maintain two ponds per hectare of their land for five-year periods, is designed to boost toad numbers around Castlemaine Harbour and the coastal strip west of Castlegregory where Ireland’s largest population of the endangered species lives.

It has been deemed a success following encouraging signs of new breeding activity and inter-breeding between groups of toads who can now move from one pond to another more easily. The NPWS recently found thousands of tadpoles and toadlets in 11 of the 78 newly dug ponds this season. The discovery has pleased conservationists as the toads found in Ireland are considered to be different from others in Europe.

“We didn’t expect the adult toads to start using the new ponds this year but they did,” said Paschal Dower, a conservation ranger with the NPWS. “They spawned in some of the ponds and these are now teaming with tadpoles and toadlets.”

Farmers carry out a range of works in return for the payments. “They manage the ponds in an environmentally sensitive way. They remove pond weed by hand and keep the grass around them short by allowing livestock to graze,” said Dower. “The farmers also care for nearby drystone walls where natterjacks sleep and hibernate.”

Natterjack toads are restricted to 12 sites in Kerry. A tiny population exists in Wexford where a few were released by the NPWS. There are about 8,000 natterjacks in Ireland. Between 1800 and 1970 numbers in the country halved. The Castlemaine Harbour area is the last stronghold for the species, also known as bufo calamita, or the running toad, and conservationists are anxious that it continues to provide a suitable environment for the species.

Michael Foley, a landowner from Rossbeigh, constructed two toad ponds on his land and both are now teeming with natterjack tadpoles and toadlets. “I got involved purely to conserve the species. The people of Kerry are very proud of the toads. They are part of the county’s culture,” he said.

“I used to watch them when I was a child. We would see them running about at night, but then they started to vanish, which is why I got involved in the project. The toads spawned in the ponds last spring but it takes a lot of work and effort to maintain the habitat around the ponds. The grass has to be kept at a certain height.”

Aurelie Aubry, a French scientist who has studied the nocturnal amphibians on the Dingle peninsula, believes the success of the Toad in the Hole project will stabilise the numbers. “The most important aspect of this project is the creation of new ponds which have reconnected existing populations of toads that had been cut off from each other for years,” she said. “The new ponds are also allowing existing populations of toads to expand, which is very important for their long-term survival.”

She said natterjack toads were quick to spread from existing colonies if given the chance and right environmental conditions. “A female toad will lay 3,000 eggs but 95% of these do not survive into adulthood. Environmental factors sometimes make the mortality rates even higher, which is why this project is so important,” she said.

Irish natterjacks are related to a population found on the northwest coast of England, according to Trevor Beebee, a professor at Sussex University who is a toad expert. “Irish natterjacks are unique which is why the effort to protect them is important,” he said. “During the latter part of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, a population of natterjack toads survived, probably somewhere on the Irish coast, and that population gave rise to the one found in the northwest of England. They are distinct from any other population in Europe.”

Vincent Potter, a spokesman for the Department of the Environment, which is financing the effort, said €34,500 had been spent to date: “The rate of payments are being viewed favourably by the local community and it is hoped that there will be considerable take-up of the scheme.”

Half of Europe’s amphibian species could be wiped out in the next 40 years because of climate change.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article6719236.ece

SAN GABRIEL VALLEY TRIBUNE (California) 19 July 09 Leatherbacks feast off the coast (Lily Dayton)

Many people don't realize that the Central Coast is one of the destinations for the seasonal migration of the Pacific leatherback turtle.

This species travels 7,000 miles from nesting beaches in Indonesia to feast on jelly fish that populate the West Coast in the summer and fall. It takes the mariners a year to journey one-third of the way around the world before arriving at nutrient-rich waters in Monterey Bay. This is the longest migration documented for any in-water vertebrate.

"Leatherbacks are replete with superlatives," said Scott Benson, marine ecologist for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center. "These are huge turtles, almost 6 feet in length. The largest individual we've captured weighed 607 kilograms 1,330 pounds. They are the largest reptile and the only reptile to exist in cold water. They have an ancient lineage; the leatherback has been on the planet in its present form for 70 million years."

They are also critically endangered. The species has experienced severe population declines in the past 25 years.

The leatherback's long-distance voyage is something researchers only discovered within the past decade. "When I started getting involved in 2001, we didn't even know where they came from," said Benson. "We thought they came from Mexico."

DNA analysis of turtles caught as by-catch in U.S. fisheries showed that local leatherbacks were part of the same genetic stock as those nesting at beaches in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. This led Benson to the surprising conclusion that these western Pacific turtles must be traveling the distance to forage in local productive waters.

Benson and his team began capturing leatherbacks in Monterey Bay and on west Pacific nesting beaches and releasing them with transmitters that send a signal to satellites. Using this telemetry data, scientists can track leatherbacks from nesting beaches in Papua, Indonesia, to foraging areas on the California coast and vice versa.

"They start arriving in June," said Benson. "The animals are moving up the coast now to our area. They will be here until mid- to late-October when they begin to move away from the coast as the water gets colder and the jellyfish density decreases. They move into the subtropical waters off Hawaii, then return to California the next season for another feast. They may do this two or three times before they bulk up enough to make the voyage back to nesting beaches."

In the eyes of a leatherback, not all jellyfish are created equal.

The objects of their feast in Monterey Bay are brown sea nettles.

This became apparent to researchers when they captured leatherbacks again and again with sea nettles streaming from the sides of their mouths. Although they aren't the most abundant jellyfish in the bay, it seemed that leatherbacks preferred them over other species.

To delve deeper into the foraging ecology of leatherbacks, Benson enlisted the help of Jim Harvey, advisor for the Vertebrate Ecology Lab at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. Harvey developed a time-depth video recorder that could be suction-cupped to a turtle's shell. With the extended lens positioned close to the head, researchers could view the prey field as if from the eyes of the turtle.

"The time-depth recorder changed our energetic model for these turtles," said Harvey. They previously knew that leatherbacks foraged by diving down 15-20 meters and then rising in the water column as they fed. "We assumed they ate the whole jellyfish. We thought they were rising in the water column like this because the jellyfish silhouette against the sky and would thus be easier to see."

"But we found that as they come up, they use their heads to shove tentacles and arms out of the way to get underneath the bell to the gonads and stomachs -- that's what they're eating."

With the help of a graduate student at MLML, Harvey further investigated the nutritional components of sea nettles -- and, in particular, the body parts beneath the bell.

"Moon Jellies are the most common jellyfish in Monterey Bay," said Harvey. "But we rarely see turtles eating these. We found that sea nettles have two to three times the caloric content of moon jellies.

"In the bell there is a lot of water. And the arms, tentacles, gonads and stomachs are one-and-a-half to two times calorically more rich than the bell."

So does this high-energy feast provide enough nutritional payback to make the 7,000-mile migration worth it? The bottom line is that the energetic expense must have some kind of evolutionary payoff. During the hundreds of thousands of years of natural selection that have occurred, these animals have found a predictable source of prey here that must reward them with higher reproductive success in the end.

Otherwise, they wouldn't make the journey.

"They get very round and large after feeding here," said Benson.

"They actually wobble on the deck of the boat. The animals in Papua, Indonesia, are quite skinny. You can see that the migration has had an impact, plus egg-laying is very expensive."

To make the story more complicated, not all of them do make the journey. In fact, only 40 percent to 50 percent of the population on nesting beaches in Papua use California or Oregon foraging grounds. The rest use beaches off South China.

This begs the question: If sea nettles are indeed nutritionally superior to food sources in the Western Pacific, why don't they all migrate?

One theory is that the use of multiple foraging sites protects this species from detrimental environmental changes. A change in one location most likely will not affect all foraging grounds equally.

This would ensure that in the face of extreme environmental change, a proportion of the population will survive.

Since only the really large turtles make the trans-Pacific migration, another explanation could be that younger, smaller turtles utilize foraging grounds closer to breeding sites. Perhaps individuals are evolutionarily programmed to make the journey only when they have attained a body mass that increases their survival rate during the trans-Pacific migration.

As they continue to unravel the mystery of why leatherbacks cross the ocean, Benson and Harvey are contributing information about this species that can be used to help with its preservation.

"If we want to have leatherbacks in our bay, we have to think of an ecosystem that goes beyond the California coast," said Benson. This includes nesting beaches in Indonesia as well as the ocean they travel through during their migration.

To help with conservation efforts, Benson said that people can be careful about their seafood choices and how they dispose of trash.

"Leatherbacks are interacting with fisheries, particularly swordfish fisheries," said Benson. "Long-lining and drift gill netting both have negative impacts on turtles. There is a timed area closure for swordfish off our coast from Aug. 15 to Oct. 15. But we still keep importing fish from other places where there is likely interaction.

"Also, leatherbacks will eat plastic bags because they look like jellyfish. We've found lots of plastic debris in the gastro-intestinal tracts of turtles. We pick up lots of floating balloons during our fall sampling -- it would be nice if people could keep balloons away from the ocean."

http://www.sgvtribune.com/california/ci_12869985

ASSAM TRIBUNE (Guwahati, India) 19 July 09 Pictorial guide on amphibians, reptiles of NE released

Guwahati: Amphibians and Reptiles of Northeast India – A Photographic Guide, the first-ever pictorial field guide to the herpetofauna of the North-East, was formally released at a function at the Assam State Zoo on Saturday.

Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain formally released the book which deals with 101 species with over 250 colour photographs. Herpetofauna, which include snakes, lizards, turtles and amphibians, are an indispensable component of rich and healthy ecosystems. The guide illustrates 101 species of herpetofauna that include 29 species of amphibians, 21 species of lizards, 29 species of snakes, 21 species (all known to occur in NE India) of freshwater turtles and tortoises and the single crocodile species — gharial with one or more colour photographs.

A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of the North-east, and additional 90 species of amphibians and reptiles is presented with colour photographs in the ‘photo gallery’ section of the guide.

“There have not been extensive studies on the region’s herpetofauna, leading to low level of information and awareness. As a result, the fascination of the common people is often titled towards major animals such as tiger, rhino and elephant. Though a realisation is slowly gaining ground about the significance of herpetofauna but it may be too late for some of the species to recover from the onslaught of habitat destruction and poaching,” Mohammad Firoz Ahmed, one of the three authors along with Abhijit Das and Dr Sushil Kumar Dutta, said.

This guide also deals with the amphibians and reptiles found in the region giving a general idea about them and clarifying a number of facts and fallacies.

The North-east is part of a globally important eco-region which is also called the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot. More than 274 species of herpetofauna live in this region. However, a bulk of this diversity is hardly known and natural history information about many species is still lacking. A significant part of reptilian and amphibian diversity of this region remains to be studied properly. Lack of knowledge always puts up hurdles in efforts for conservation of the herpetofauna in this region.

The book is meant for common people, Forest Department staff and students. It contains general introduction to reptiles and amphibians, key identification characters of each species with its distribution, natural history and conservation status along with local name of each species presented by attractive colour photographs.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jul2009/City4

USA TODAY (Arlington, Virginia) 19 July 09 States rethink turtle trapping (Judy Keen)

Sheffield, Iowa: Using a long pole with a hook on one end, Eric Eckhardt grabs a partially submerged mesh trap and hauls it out of a farm pond. Inside are a small soft-shell turtle and a 12-pound snapping turtle.

The live turtles go into tubs in the back of Eckhardt's truck. Later, after he checks other traps he set the previous evening, the turtles will be sold. He and his family eat turtle only occasionally.

Trapping is a hobby for Eckhardt, and the money he earns — 75 cents to $1.50 per turtle, depending on the type and season — helps pay for family vacations. He averages four turtles a day in the summer.

For Eckhardt, 43, who works at a storm-door company, turtle trapping is a way to spend time outdoors with his son Cooper, 10, and daughter Georgi, 14. He isn't in it for the money, he says. Turtles "are fascinating," he says. "People make fun of that, but I don't care. I like them."

If the Center for Biological Diversity, a non-profit conservation group based in Tucson, has its way, Eckhardt and others who trap wild turtles for commercial use will soon be out of business.

The Center has asked Iowa and other states to end unlimited commercial harvesting of turtles. As demand for turtle meat increases in Asia, where it is a delicacy, prices are rising in the USA, says Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate for the group. That's leading to the depletion of freshwater wild turtle populations.

"The demand for turtles in Asia is driving massive exploitation of wild turtles," says Chris Jones, a Huntsville, Texas, lawyer who works with the Center.

In Iowa, the turtle population "is not an unlimited resource, but if harvesting is done correctly, it is a sustainable resource," says Scott Gritters, a Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist.

In response to the Center for Biological Diversity's petition, the fisheries staff of the Iowa DNR reported that snapping turtles and painted turtles are "common, widespread and abundant" and recommended against a ban. The number of soft-shell turtles is declining and is "some cause for long-term concern," it said.

Individual trappers aren't necessarily making more money because of high demand, Jones says, but buyers who purchase turtles from people such as Eckhardt and from commercial turtle farms sell to exporters for up to $15 a pound.

Miller says 250,000 to 1 million turtles are exported each year and some are contaminated with mercury, pesticides and PCBs.

Lax rules for turtle harvesting

The Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental groups last year petitioned regulators in Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas to ban commercial turtle harvests. Oklahoma put a three-year moratorium in place, and Texas barred commercial harvests in public waters.

This year, the center petitioned the only states with unrestricted harvests or rules it considers too loose: Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee. This spring, South Carolina placed limits on turtle harvests.

A ban on commercial harvesting of Florida's freshwater turtles takes effect Monday. Bill Turner, a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission turtle biologist, first heard reports of large turtle harvests from Florida lakes in March 2008. Up to 150,000 soft-shell turtles were exported from the state each year for the past five years, he says. There are 25 active commercial turtle farms in the state.

Because turtles breed late in their lifespan, Turner says, the removal of so many of them "destabilizes the population."

Wisconsin reached the same conclusion in 1998, says Adam Collins of that state's Department of Natural Resources. Because of declining turtle populations, the state established a July-November turtle harvesting season and set a daily limit.

"Our standards … are designed to ensure their long-term sustainability," he says.

In Iowa, 'the market is there' for turtles

Iowa's commercial harvesters are licensed and must report monthly the number of turtles they collect. Last year, Gritters says, they reported catching about 22,000 turtles, or 230,000 pounds. In Iowa, only snappers, soft-shell and painted turtles can be caught, using traps, hooks, or hooks and line.

Recently, Gritters says, "there's been quite an influx of new trappers because the market is there." As newcomers join the hunt — 175 commercial licenses were issued this year, up from 164 last year — more regulations likely will be needed, he says.

Jake Robertson of Storm Lake, Iowa, who harvests 20,000 to 30,000 pounds of turtle a year, agrees. In the decade that he's been trapping turtles, Robertson has seen no population decline.

Unlike fish, which are stocked in many Iowa lakes and streams, turtles are self-sustaining, he says. "Turtles are probably doing better than other aquatic species out there," Robertson says.

Eckhardt, who has a dozen $50 traps, catches turtles on private property — with permission and often at the invitation of landowners who consider them a nuisance.

Talk about the shrinking turtle population worries him, he says. "We've got to find out first how many are out there," he says, "and if they do need protecting, by all means protect them."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-07-19-turtle-hunt_N.htm

NEWS-JOURNAL (Daytona Beach, Florida) 19 July 09 Snakes on the 'cane! (Mark Lane)

That the Sunshine State is home to deadly creatures of immense size that might kill or ignore us with equal indifference is central to The Great Florida Myth.

It nicely backs up the belief that here nature is bigger, more exotic and out of control than wherever it was you said you came from.

This belief beckons the tourist with the promise of adventure. And it is slyly encouraged by locals who understand that fear of the Florida outdoors keeps our natural areas less crowded and encourages visitors to keep the second part of their roundtrip tickets.

As a journalist based in The Shark Attack Capital of the World, on the eastern end of the lightning-strike belt, your correspondent enjoys talking up the dangers that lurk in every corner of his home. And how, moving east to west, one faces sharks, alligators and bears.

Now, we may add giant killer pythons to the catalog. These creatures have found a home here in numbers that are anybody's guess.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has offered the estimate of 100,000 pythons in the Everglades. A number that has become an established fact from sheer media repetition.

"Lord forbid, a visitor in the Everglades ever encounters one," Nelson warned in a letter to the Secretary of Interior, Ken Salazar. Nelson was calling on Salazar to authorize a large-scale python hunt.

"We need to get a grip on pythons invading America's Everglades," he declared.

Gov. Charlie Crist picked up the cause and ordered state snake seekers (say that fast, three times) into state lands near the Everglades.

Burmese pythons are, as their name implies, not from around here. Over the years, they've made their way into the Everglades, either by accident or being dumped there by owners.

Anyone who has read Carl Hiaasen's novel, "Stormy Weather," has a vivid image of the way in 1992 Hurricane Andrew dumped all manner of exotic animals into the welcoming swamps. This also served as kind of a metaphor for the populating of Florida.

The reptiles have already likely reached the sugarcane fields -- snakes on the 'cane!

The python hunt got under way Friday, but don't expect a handful of herpetologists in hip boots to save us from the invaders or take this out of the news.

Soon, this will be just one of those things people will ask you about when they find out you're from Florida. Like the 2000 election, sharks, poodle-eating alligators and hurricanes.

Plus, it has political traction.

"There's one way to do this: Kill the snakes," Sen. Nelson wrote the Miami Herald last week, sounding a lot like the guy in the last reels of a horror movie who at last understands the Menace We Now Face.

In a political season dominated by complex debates over macroeconomic theory, restructuring of health care and the science and economics of global warming, it's good to hear a phrase with the clarity of "kill the snakes."

Both Crist and Nelson have keenly developed ears for issues that are visceral, easy to grasp and offer opportunities for quick response. Even if the quick response is mostly symbolic. It's no surprise that they discovered the Snake Invasion Issue almost simultaneously.

This could be big. And nobody would want to be seen as soft on invading snakes when the negative political ad season begins.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Columnists/Footnote/colFOOT071909.htm

NEWS-PRESS (Fort Myers, Florida) 18 July 09 Editorial: Want to kill pythons? Call hunters

It's good to hear that the federal and state governments are finally starting to enlist the help of sport hunters in the effort to eradicate the Burmese python from South Florida.

We really need to get busy. Pythons have a well-established breeding population of thousands throughout the Everglades, and have been confirmed as close to us as 20 miles southeast of Naples.

The snakes can grow to 26 feet, and pose a threat to native wildlife, pets and conceivably even humans. They threaten to displace the alligator as the top predator in South Florida. We are not restoring the Everglades for the sake of these destructive invaders.

Hunters know the pythons' habitat, and are equipped to kill these critters aggressively.

The state and certain politicians have reaped a publicity bonanza for sending a tiny posse of 10 selected reptile experts into hundreds of thousands of acres of state wildlife management areas in South Florida for the next three months, seeking to "euthanize" Burmese pythons to learn where they are and what they eat.

The information will be used to fine-tune the long-range eradication strategy. That's OK, because this problem is not going away any time soon.

The immediate strategy can be, however, to paraphrase Admiral William Halsey's slogan in the Pacific in World War II: "Kill pythons, kill pythons, kill more pythons!"

We are trying to wipe these things out, not manage them. Agencies could be moving more aggressively, in part by educating hunters to seek and kill pythons either as part of their normal sport or as a python-specific adventure

Making this a recreational hunt on state and private lands will require legal action and public education, for the sake of both safety and effectiveness. But this needn't take years.

Both Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S. Bill Nelson have jumped on the python-eradication bandwagon, and are pushing for action.

Good. This is war, and so far we are losing badly.

http://www.news-press.com/article/20090718/OPINION/907180342/1015/opinion

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA (New Delhi) 18 July 09 Dead tiger in Sunderbans had swallowed king cobra

The 14-year-old tiger that was found dead two days ago in Sunderbans of West Bengal had swallowed two snakes, including a venomous king cobra, before it succumbed to liver infection, a senior state forest official has said.

"It was a startling revelation for us when we found the pieces of the snakes inside the tiger's stomach. One of them was a king cobra while the another was a commonly found reptile species," Atanu Kumar Raha, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) of West Bengal, told PTI.

It is probably for the first time that a tiger having consumed poisonous reptiles like cobra has come to the knowledge of wildlife officials, Raha said.

He said hostile ecological and riverine conditions make the Sunderban predators more hardy and agile when compared to their counterparts in other reserves.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/181646_Dead-tiger-in-Sunderbans-had-swallowed-king-cobra

DAWN (Karachi, Pakistan) 18 July 09 Theft of turtle meat: SWD yet to take legal action against staffers

According to sources, the SWD has yet to lodge a First Offence Report – the wildlife department’s equivalent of the First Information Report – against the suspects allegedly involved in the theft of turtle meat from its head office.

The two staffers have, however, been suspended as part of an inter-departmental action against them.

The sources said that the suspects had stolen over 120 kilos of dry meat of freshwater turtles from a 500-kg consignment that was actually caught by the customs department some time back and handed over to the SWD for the safe keeping of the case property.

They said that the two suspects were working in the city for a long time despite the fact that their place of posting was Sukkur. Besides, they also used an official vehicle, which was given to the conservator, for transporting the contraband consignment, the sources added.

The two SWD staffers were caught by Karachi Game Warden Shahabuddin Burfat and Game Inspector Naeem Khan when the former were shifting the contraband consignment from the SWD vehicle to a rickshaw. They tried to run away but the game warden and the inspector with the help of the railway police nabbed them.

A case was registered against them at the Railway police station.

The freshwater turtles are a rare and endangered species and are protected under the Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 1972. Its meat is considered to have aphrodisiac qualities owing to which it has a big market in the Far Eastern countries. One kilogram of turtle meat in the local black market costs around Rs3,000 and Rs4,000 while in the international black market it fetches approximately $1,000 a kilo.

Responding to Dawn queries, the acting Sindh wildlife conservator, Dr Fahmida Firdous, conceded that so far no legal action was taken against staffers Bashir Shaikh and Ghulam Nabi. She added that she had suspended both of them.

She said that when they came to office their statements would be recorded and an inquiry would be initiated against them to find out the truth, she added.

She said that approximately 500-kg turtle meat was kept in the office and now the remaining turtle meat would be weighed to find out whether the suspects had stolen just that much quantity or they had been stealing it in the past also.

She told Dawn that the 500-kg turtle meat was the case property and the case was pending trial before a Malir court. However, Karachi Game Warden Burfat told Dawn that he would initiate legal action against the suspects on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the railway police produced the two SWD staffers and the rickshaw driver, Imran, in a court of law on Friday and the court sent the suspects to prison until the next date of hearing.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/karachi-theft-of-turtle-meat-swd-yet-to-take-legal-action-against-staffers-879

CHONGQING MORNING NEWS (China) 18 July 09 Son cures snakebite for father on phone

Bitten by a snake, a man in Chongqing decided to make a phone call to his son instead of getting to a doctor. What's more, it turned out to be a good move.

Jiang Renhui, 61, a farmer from Tushi village, made a frantic phone call to his son, who lives 20 km away, on Monday night, saying a snake had bitten him on his foot.

"It would have taken me 30 minutes to reach my father. So I instructed him on what to do in order to stop the venom from spreading," Jiang Liwen, the son, said after saving his old man, who is now in a stable condition at a hospital.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-07/18/content_8444337.htm

TIMES OF INDIA (New Delhi) 18 July 09 Murder by snake bite: Minor suspect gets bail

Pune: The Bombay High Court has recently granted anticipatory bail to a minor in a case of conspiring the murder of Tabaji Sitaram Badhale (40). The minor and other suspects had allegedly thrown a poisonous snake on Badhale while he was sleeping on October 29, 2007.

Justice Dilip Bhosale released the minor on a bail of Rs 5,000 with one or two sureties of the same amount and directed him to report at the local crime branch of the Pune rural police whenever he was called for questioning.

The minor had moved the high court for seeking bail after the other suspects in the case were arrested. His lawyers Vaibhav Jathar and M S Gargote told the court that the age of the suspect was 17 years at the time of the incident and, therefore, he was entitled to seek bail. Jathar submitted that the police cannot interrogate him as contemplated under section 10 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. He pleaded for the bail of his client as the sessions court had granted bail to the other suspects in the case.

According to additional public prosecutor P P Shinde, the investigating officer had confirmed that the suspect was a minor at the time of the incident.

The police had arrested four people, including Badhale's wife Sandhya, Kailash Kale, Ravindra Garud and Ravindra Bhogade.

The Badhale murder angle' came to light after the four suspects were arrested in another murder case reported in 2004. Kale, one of the suspects, who was allegedly having an affair with Sandhya, confessed to murdering Badhale by throwing a snake on him.

Badhale was working at a private firm in Alandi and stayed with his wife and three children in Chakan.

According to the police, relations between the couple had deteriorated and they frequently fought with each other over trivial issues. Sandhya complained about her husband to her paramour Kailash Kale of Pimpri in Khed taluka. Kale then gave a blood money of Rs 1 lakh to Ravindra Garud and his gang to kill Badhale.

On October 29, 2007, the suspects let loose a poisonous snake on Badhale's body while he was asleep. The suspects later rushed him to a hospital, but he was proclaimed dead on arrival by the doctors.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS-City-Pune-Murder-by-snake-bite-Minor-suspect-gets-bail/articleshow/4791061.cms

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR (Boston, Massachusetts) 18 July 09 Washington joins python chase in Florida - A new federal program will allow snakes to be hunted in the Everglades and other US lands in south Florida. (Patrik Jonsson)

Atlanta: This just in from Washington: The Feds will not only join Florida's great snake hunt, but will expand it to include aerial surveillance and research into the lifestyles of feral Burmese pythons suspected to be lying low, yet waiting to strike, in Everglades National Park and other federal lands.

Earlier this week, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) convened a state-led task force of bounty hunters to chase pythons that aren't in national parks, preserves, or refuges. On Friday morning, that hunt yielded its first catch: Three bounty hunters caught a nine-foot python in Broward County.

When it comes to national parks, however, hunting is not allowed. But the newly announced federal program supersedes that rule.

An estimated 150,000 pythons are in the Everglades and elsewhere in south Florida.

"Burmese pythons are an invasive species that have no place in the Everglades and threaten its delicate ecosystem," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement Friday. "We are committed to aggressively combating this threat, including having trained and well-supervised volunteers hunt down and remove snakes."

The statement did not include a price tag for the program, and calls to the Interior Department were not returned by time of writing.

The July 1 death of a Florida toddler from the grip of an escaped pet python and last week's congressional testimony by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) have put the python problem on the national political radar.

The new federal program will include a hunt, research into ways to attract and trap the "cryptic" creatures, unmanned aerial surveillance, and thermal imaging, as well as public-education measures. "There is no one silver bullet," said Paul Souza, a field supervisor for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, in the statement announcing the program.

Snake keepers applaud the tack to actually get feet into the swamp to chase down the elusive creatures, which can grow up to 20 feet long and swallow a deer. But they also worry about political and scientific "cherry-picking" of the python issue to boost federal research grants. Such research could be used to increase regulation, they say, which could affect the ability of Americans to keep exotic animals like snakes as pets.

"All these Florida politicians want to be in the position to be called the champion of the Everglades, because there's billions of dollars of Everglades restoration money at stake here," says Andrew Wyatt, president of the US Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK). "These guys [including researchers] are seriously invested in making Burmese pythons a career for themselves."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0718/p02s01-usgn.html

NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS (Darwin, Australia) 07 July 09 Ark vets worried by more than just a frog in this throat (Rebekah Cavanagh)

Photo: Rare Case: A frog found himself at the Ark Animal Hospital yesterday after swallowing a sheet of plastic. (Katrina Woodward)

A Green tree frog bit off more than he could chew when he swallowed a large sheet of scrunched plastic cling wrap in a Territory backyard.

Vets at the Ark Animal Hospital were last night gobsmacked and waiting in anticipation to see if the hungry croaker could pass the rubbish through his system naturally.

But Dr Rebecca Burgess said that it was likely they would have to operate on the usually insect-eating amphibian.

"It's not something I've seen before," she said.

"I don't know why he would have eaten the plastic - there must have been some flies buzzing around it.

"I am hoping it will pass naturally in the next few days but if it's tangled on anything inside then we may have to do surgery.

"I would really like to avoid doing the surgery as frogs' intestines are so fragile and it would be a 50-50 survival rate."

Dr Burgess said the frog had managed to pass 25cm of the plastic but she could still feel more in his stomach.

"We have given him some pain killers and tried to lubricate his stomach with oils as much as possible to help him pass it easier," she said.

"We'll just keep monitoring him and see how he goes."

Dr Burgess said it showed how important it is for people to dispose of their rubbish appropriately.

"It's a good message - don't litter," she said.

Ark Animal Hospital practice manager Lisa Hansen thanked the good Samaritan who found the frog at their Wulagi home in Darwin's northern suburbs and dropped it off at the vet in Yarrawonga yesterday.

She said the veterinary staff were shocked when the frog first arrived.

"It is certainly a bizarre one - everyone didn't know whether to laugh or cry," she said.

"It's one of those ones that you have to see it to believe it."

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/07/07/64525_ntnews.html