HERP NEWS 225/2009

DAILY TIDINGS (Ashland, Oregon) 13 August 09 Applegate alligator killed by OSP (Jeff Duewel, Grants Pass Daily Courier)

When residents in the 6600 block of North Applegate Road decided to go swimming Saturday afternoon, they got the shock of their lives: A 3½-foot alligator was sunning itself on a log near the Applegate bridge.

Oregon State Police game enforcement officer Marty Marchand told OSP Sgt. Jeff Fitzgerald it was an alligator, but Fitzgerald thinks it might have been a crocodile or a caiman.

Fitzgerald did not have the names of the people who called authorities. Either way, the animal is now dead and in custody of the OSP. It may be turned over to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Marchand “had to shoot it,” Fitzgerald said. “You don’t want those animals in the river. It’s not like we readily have tranquilizers available. If he doesn’t take action at that time, it slides into the river and it’s gone.”

It is unknown whether the animal was a pet that escaped, or was let loose.

It is legal to have a pet gator, but not to release exotic species into the wild, Fitzgerald said. Alligators and crocs normally live in the tropics.

It isn’t the first time a large lizard has been seen running loose in Josephine County.

“About a year ago, Marty had a similar complaint on the Rogue River in the Grants Pass area, of three alligators being spotted,” Fitzgerald said. “By the time he got there, they were gone.”

Last September, a Merlin family discovered a 6-foot monitor lizard under its house. It was captured and taken to MB Reptiles on Sixth Street.

In September 2006, a 4-foot alligator was captured by county animal control after being seen running around a Cloverlawn Drive neighborhood. “Steve” the gator was taken to Fuzzy Farms Rescue in Coos Bay, the only state-approved reptile rescue facility in Oregon.

http://www.dailytidings.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090813/NEWS02/908139998

TIMES-PICAYUNE (New Orleans, Louisiana) 13 August 09 Gator draped over man's shoulders attracts cops' attention in Boutte (Matt Scallan)

Alligators are a common sight in St. Charles Parish waterways, but they rarely travel by bicycle.

So when sheriff's deputies saw Terron D. Ingram riding his bike down Goodchildren Street in Boutte with a 3-foot-long gator draped over his neck late Friday, they had a few questions.

Ingram dropped the reptile and his bike and ran off, but was apprehended a few blocks away.

"We don't know what his intentions were," said Sheriff's Office spokesman Capt. Pat Yoes. He said it wasn't clear where Ingram had captured the gator.

Ingram, 38, of 158 Boutte Estates Drive, was booked with a variety of charges, including cruelty to animals by abandonment, resisting arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was being held on $15,000 bond.

All ended well for the gator, however. Alligator Control Officer Kenny Schmill said he released it into the marsh near Bayou Gauche.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/strange_but_true_st_charles_pa.html

GAZETTE-TIMES (Corvallis, Oregon) 13 August 09 Alligator found in Applegate River

An alligator was found and later killed last Saturday on the Applegate River in southern Oregon.

Oregon State Police gave this account:

At 4 p.m. Aug. 8, OSP Senior Trooper Marty Marchand responded to a report that two small children went down to the Applegate River near Murphy southeast of Grants Pass where they saw an alligator on a log.

Marchand confirmed the report and felt the 3½-foot alligator could not be captured alive before it may have got back into the water.

There were no homes in the area from where it may have come from, and it was not known if the alligator escaped from an unknown home or was intentionally released by its owner. Oregon state law prohibits the release of non-native species into the wild.

Due to safety concerns that may arise trying to capture the alligator before it returned to the water, the trooper shot and killed it before climbing out onto the log and retrieving it.

Anyone with information regarding where the alligator may have originated from is asked to call Marchand at (541) 955-6373.

http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2009/08/13/news/community/3loc10_alligator081309.txt

CHIEFLAND CITIZEN (Florida) 13 August 09 Letter: Python program benefits more than native snakes

Editor:

As manager of Florida’s fish and wildlife resources, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is diligent in protecting native species and habitats. When an exotic species invades our natural landscape, it is our duty to do everything possible to ensure those invaders do not expand their range and harm the fragile balance of Florida’s unique and abundant wildlife.

The Burmese python threatens that balance in the Everglades. A non-venomous constrictor, it preys on native Florida species of mammals, birds and reptiles. The appetite of the Burmese python poses a serious threat to some of Florida’s already endangered species. For example, Burmese pythons have eaten Key Largo woodrats, a federally endangered species.

We must do everything possible now to stop its spread into other areas. To that end, we began a python permit program on July 17 as a way to manage this unwanted species effectively. Under this program, the FWC hand-picked seven herpetologists to receive permits to go on specific FWC-managed lands and search for all Reptiles of Concern, including the Burmese python, and euthanize the snakes. We chose experts who know how to handle these large reptiles. Furthermore, we require the python be killed on site to ensure that none of these snakes escapes into other areas.

The permit holders may use hand-held instruments to kill the pythons but, under the current program, they may not use firearms or traps. Again, the professionalism of these permit holders ensures that the pythons are disposed of quickly and efficiently. The scientific data collected from these pythons will assist FWC biologists in learning more about this predator in the Everglades. And every time a python is destroyed, it means there is one less python slithering through the wilds of Florida.

The American Veterinary Medical Association provides a laudable set of objectives for euthanasia of animals in laboratory and research settings. However, these objectives are not always practical in the wild. The AVMA’s objectives are guidelines, but are not mandatory.

The FWC has been committed to preventing the spread of nonnative species throughout the state. In January 2008, the Commission approved revised regulations for nonnative and captive wildlife that require anyone owning a Reptile of Concern to be permitted through the FWC. We define a Reptile of Concern as a reptile that has habits that may adversely affect the environment or may be a threat to public safety. Reptiles of Concern must be licensed by the FWC to be kept as a pet. The license costs $100 per year and mandates specific caging requirements. Reptiles of Concern more than 2 inches in diameter must be implanted with a microchip that identifies the animal.

It is unlawful to allow these exotic pets to escape or to release them into the wild. The FWC holds Nonnative Pet Amnesty Days throughout the year so people who can no longer keep or care for a nonnative pet can bring them to us for adoption by licensed recipients. We have made every effort to ensure that no more of these pythons are allowed to escape into the wild.

Our python permit program is just the beginning. We are working with Everglades National Park, the South Florida Water Management District, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others on this problem. How the pythons are disposed of is not the issue; how we work together to solve a problem is. All groups – nonprofits, governmental and private – should be working toward one goal in the case of the Burmese python in the Everglades, which is their eradication from a place where they do not belong.

The FWC’s main responsibility remains to reduce populations of a problematic species to minimize impacts to native fish and wildlife, their habitats and to residents of Florida.

Sincerely,

Rodney Barreto

Chairman

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Tallahassee

http://www.chieflandcitizen.com/cgi-bin/c2.cgi?022+article+Opinion+20090813122847022022001

REGISTER GUARD (Eugene, Oregon) 13 August 09 Python resists police collar - Big snake rescue is all in a night’s work for Eugene police officers (Greg Bolt)

Eugene police caged a slippery suspect Tuesday evening that turned out to be a real snake in the grass.

Or at least a snake in the shrubbery.

Dwight Purdy and his son, Kyle, were driving home about 10:30 p.m. and had just turned onto Spyglass Road when they spotted something long and twisty slipping across the street. Kyle Purdy said he at first thought it might be a branch.

He put the car in reverse to take a better look and ended up accidentally running over something that definitely was not a branch.

When the pair got out of the car they found a very large snake, a good 10 feet long and several inches across. Kyle Purdy said he thinks it was a python, and that it didn’t seem at all fazed by a car rolling over it.

“It was huge,” he said.

They called Eugene police, and three somewhat surprised officers confronted the snake. Officer Lori Barnes apparently drew the short straw and tried grabbing the reptile by its hefty tail end.

The snake, though, was not going quietly.

The reptile struggled and twisted, occasionally lifting its head up to give its captor the evil eye.

By this time, Kyle Purdy said, several neighbors had come out and one of them brought out a live animal trap, the sort typically used to trap raccoons. The question was, how do you get 10 feet of writhing snake into a cage just a couple of feet long?

Turns out it’s not that hard. After someone draped a tarp over the cage so it was nice and dark inside, the snake just made itself at home.

“It slithered right in,” Purdy said. “It seemed to feel comfortable in that environment.”

That makes Purdy think that it’s probably an escaped pet, or maybe an ex-pet that got too big for its owner’s comfort zone. It’s anyone’s guess how long it has been cruising the yards in the Cal Young area or what it’s been eating. But it appears well fed.

In any case, the python is now cooling its scales at the Lane County Animal Services shelter on West First Street, where it is listed as case No. 1008-0300, SNAKE (PYTHON).

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/18589295-41/story.csp

KHOU (Houston, Texas) 13 August 09 Pet shop thief shoves turtle in his pants (Kevin Reece)

Spring, Texas: A thief who targeted a pet store in Spring can be easily identified by surveillance video of his face and by the suspicious bulge in the left pocket of his jeans.

"We've been here twenty years and I've never had a customer shove a turtle in his pants,” said Sherry Stack, Pet City owner.

On Wednesday morning, a would-be customer lingered in the reptile area of the store that featured everything from turtles to snakes and bearded dragons in locked glass display cases.

He then used a piece of metal to pry open one of the cabinets, removed the fist-sized Indian Star Tortoise and shoved it into the left pocket of his jeans.

Unfortunately for the thief, Pet City is equipped with 27 surveillance cameras recording every movement inside and outside the store on a computer hard drive. This is something the thief might not have known as the camera at the front door captured a crystal clear picture of his face while he flashed it a peace sign. It also captured the curious turtle bulge that was very visible in his left pocket.

“The way he was so blatant giving us a peace sign on the way out on the video camera, it looked like he was doing it just for the fun of it,” said store owner Paul Stack.

Security cameras outside show the man getting into a white Nissan Frontier pickup truck with temporary tags.

The store had two Indian Star tortoises, but only one was in the display cabinet targeted by the thief. They are priced at $600 and can go for as much as $2,000 when fully grown to about 10 inches.

"We just want our tortoise home,” Sherry Stack said in an appeal to the thief. “We just want him back at our store."

http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou090813_mp_turtle-thief.d9101df1.html

BRADENTON HERALD (Florida) 13 August 09 E. Manatee python capture was snake charmer’s hoax (Vin Mannix)

Manatee: Remember that 14-foot python that Wildlife Rescue’s Justin Matthews wrestled out a drain pipe on July 25, and how it drew national attention?

Turns out it was staged.

Matthews, a well known wildlife trapper, admitted as much to a Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission investigator on Wednesday.

“I wanted to make a point, but I regret it now,” Matthews said today.

FWC spokesman Gary Morse said the incident is still under investigation.

“It was a lapse in judgment on his part,” Morse said.

http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/story/1638082.html

With media and others watching, Matthews crawled into a drain pipe at 51st Avenue East and 33rd Street and struggled to pull out the large reptile, sparking fears that the spread into the Florida wild of pythons and other giant snakes had come to Manatee County.

NEWS-PRESS (Fort Myers, Florida) 13 August 09 Bradenton man staged python capture

Bradenton: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the man who captured a 14-foot Burmese python out of a drainage pipe in Bradenton staged the whole thing.

Officials say they received several tips that Justin Matthews had purchased the snake a month before the fake capture. Matthews never micro-chipped the snake, which is illegal in the state of Florida.

Matthews told his story of the capture to all of the Tampa Bay area media outlets, including 10 Connects. He conducts educational tours at Mixon Fruit Farms in Bradenton.

http://www.news-press.com/article/20090813/NEWS01/90813038/1002/RSS01

SUN JOURNAL (Lewiston, Maine) 13 August 09 50 new reptile, amphibian species added to Maine's unrestricted list (Terry Karkos)

Augusta: Tuesday was a big day for Maine Herpetological Society President Robert DuBois of Milo and people who like to keep reptiles and amphibians as pets.

That's when the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife announced that it added 50 species of snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises and amphibians to Maine's unrestricted list.

Those critters can now be traded or sold by commercial pet shops. Among the species are arrow or dart frogs, mud turtles, monitor lizards, true chameleons, geckos, and pythons and boa constrictors.

"This is really, really big," DuBois said Wednesday. "This is a huge thing in the industry just with the dart frogs alone. They're real cute and real active."

The dart frog species being allowed into Maine are captive-bred, which means they're nonpoisonous — unlike their cousins in the wild, DuBois said.

He described the additions as being "relatively common stuff" in the pet trade industry.

"Chameleons, other than the anole, which isn't a true chameleon, we couldn't have before," DuBois said. "And monitors are great animals to have and there's no reason people in Maine shouldn't have them. There are a few that don't get above 3 to 4 feet."

DuBois has kept 50 snakes as pets for six or seven years and enjoys raising and caring for them, he said.

According to an Inland Fisheries report on Tuesday, fish and wildlife species on the unrestricted list do not require an importation or possession permit. Because the society considered the state's list of reptiles and amphibians too restrictive, DuBois said they put together a list of species and worked with the department to get as many of them as possible allowed into Maine.

The society's goal since 2006 has been to get the list expanded. Because that has happened, DuBois said it is now possible for hobbyists, breeders and pet shops to expand their reptile and amphibian collections and make money doing what they enjoy.

"They're all big things — the arrows, chameleons, tortoises and monitors — things we didn't have and that's the big hole in the state that got filled," DuBois said.

The public will get a chance to see many of the new critters when the society holds its annual Portland Reptile Expo from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 30, at the Holiday Inn West in Portland.

"We should have a good sampling of them," DuBois said. "This year we will have a dart frog breeder from Ohio coming over who used to live in Maine, but because he couldn't sell the frogs in Maine, he moved to Ohio."

Species that were put forward by the society but rejected were the woma python, Dumeril's boa, Madagascar tree boa, boa Mandrita, Madagascar (Malagasy) ground boa, Texas indigo snake, Eastern indigo snake, Reeve's turtle and tomato frogs.

DuBois said the department considered those species to be possibly endangered in their natural habitat and didn't want to further that status by allowing them to be commercially sold.

Inland Fisheries removed one species from its unrestricted list: the red-eared slider turtle, as of Jan. 1, 2010. On that date, red-eared sliders can no longer be possessed or offered for sale commercially, DuBois said.

People who own red-eared sliders will be allowed to have them after that date, but they can't sell, transfer, trade or release them.

DuBois said the department considers the starter turtles to be an invasive species that are nonnative to Maine. Maine law states that a person cannot take and possess snakes or turtles from the wild for export, sale or commercial purposes.

Additionally, a wildlife or fish possession permit is required from the commissioner before any wildlife species regulated by Maine and not listed as "unrestricted," is taken, possessed or held in captivity.

The following species have been added to the Maine Unrestricted List and can be bought without a permit.

Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis)

Boelen's Python (Morelia boeleni; captive-born only)

Sumatran Short-Tailed Python (Python Curtis)

Borneo Short-Tailed Python (Python breitensteini)

Blood Python (Python brogermai)

Macklot's Python (Liasis macklotti)

D'Alberts Python (Liasis albertsii)

Angolan Python (Python anchietae)

Black Headed Python (Aspidites melanocephalus)

Spotted Python (Antaresia maculosa)

Stimpson's Python (Antaresia stimsoni)

Pygmy Python (Antaresia perthensia)

Calabar Burrowing Python (Calabaria reinhardtii; captive-born only)

Emerald Tree boa (Corallus caninus)

Amazon Tree boa (Corallus hortulanus)

Solomon island boa (Candoia ssp.)

Western Hognose (Heterodon nasicus ssp)

Mandarin Ratsnake (Euprepiophis mandarinus)

Trinket Rat Snake (Coelognathus h. Helena)

Beauty snakes (Orthriophis taeniura ssp.)

Green Red-Tailed Rat snake (Gonyosoma oxycephaia)

Blue Tree Monitor (Varanus macraei)

Black tree monitor (V. beccarli)

Green tree monitor (V. p. prasinus)

Spiny-tailed monitor (V acanthurus)

Timor monitor (V. timorensis)

Frilled Dragons (Chlamydosaurus kingii)

Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

Panther Chameleon (Furcifer pardalis)

Jackson Chameleon (Chamaeleo jacksonii)

Parson's Chameleon (C. parsonii)

Spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx ssp.)

Knob-tailed geckos (Nephrurus ssp.; exception: N. deleani)

Leaf-tailed geckos (Uroplatus ssp.)

Giant geckos (Rhacodactylus leachianus)

Gargoule geckos (R. auriculatus)

Russian tortoise (Agrionemys horsfiedldii)

Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca)

Herman's tortoise (T. hermanni)

Red-foot tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonaria)

Yellow-foot tortoise (C. denticulata)

Striped Mud-turtle (Kinosternon bauri)

White Lipped Mud Turtle (K. leucostomum)

Mississippi Mud Turtle (K. subrubrum hippocrepis)

Amboina Box turtle (Cuora amboinensis)

Arrow Frogs (Dendrobates ssp.; Exceptions: D. terribilis)

Arrow Frogs (Phyllobates ssp.; Exceptions: P vittatus)

Whited-Lipped Tree Frogs (Litoria infrafrenata)

Source: Maine Herpetological Society (www.maineherp.org)

To view the complete list of Maine's unrestricted species, visit www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/species/unrestricted_species.htm.

http://www.sunjournal.com/node/105752/

STIMME (Stuttgart, Germany) 13 August 09 Königspython verschwindet im Heizungskeller

Schönbrunn: Versteckspiel hat eine Königspython mit ihrem Besitzer in Schönbrunn (Rhein-Neckar-Kreis) gespielt. Die Schlange nutzte die Gelegenheit und entwischte am Mittwoch aus einem nicht verschlossenen Terrarium, teilte die Polizei mit. Die Suche nach ihr im gesamten Haus blieb ohne Erfolg, so dass sich der Mann an die Polizei wandte.

Die brauchte jedoch nicht einschreiten: Am Donnerstag entdeckte eine Nachbarin das Tier im Heizraum im Keller. Sie rief ihren Ehemann zur Hilfe. Er brachte die Python an einen sicheren Ort und übergab sie an den Besitzer, als dieser von der Arbeit kam. Der war doppelt froh: Er hatte befürchtet, das Tier sterbe unversorgt an seiner offenen Bauchwunde, die es derzeit hat.

http://stimme.de/suedwesten/polizei/art1495,1621062

IL MESSAGGERO (Rome, Italy) 13 August 09 Padova, spunta un pitone dal water. Un altro è in giro

Padova: Pitone reale di un metro e mezzo ritrovato comodamente "acciambellato" sul pavimento del bagno in una casa del Bassanello. A far la scoperta da brivido la coppia residente nell'appartamento. Il pitone, uscito dal water, è stato catturato da un erpetologo intervenuto per risolvere la situazione che stava facendosi complicata.

E ora si cerca un altro rettile della stessa specie, di oltre un metro e del quale è stata denunciata la sparizione, ancora libero di girare per la città e le case dei padovani.

Una scoperta da brivido nel cuore della notte. La coppia che si è imbattuta nel pitone lungo più di un metro e mezzo che, molto probabilmente risalendo dalle fognature, si era installata nel bagno di casa, abita in via Tomitano, nel quartiere del Bassanello. La terrificante scoperta è avvenuta intorno alla mezzanotte: l'uomo era andato in bagno quando ha intravisto qualcosa vicino alla tazza del water, capendo cosa fosse ha inizato a gridare e, ovviamente, si è alzato. È stato allora che il pitone si è "rigettato" nel water tentado di fuggire. Dato l'allarme, l'animale è stato recuperato.

L'ipotesi è che l'animale, affidato ad una struttura specializzata nel recupero di animali esotici, si sia introdotto nel bagno attraverso le condutture fognarie.

Un altro pitone si aggira ancora per la città. Il secondo caso - si è appreso in giornata - riguarda invece un esemplare di otto anni, lungo 120 centimetri, la cui scomparsa è stata denunciata ai carabinieri di Vigodarzere (Padova) ieri sera. Le ricerche dell'animale per il momento hanno dato esito negativo.

Il pitone ritrovato ad Arre nel luglio scorso. Un altro rettile della stessa specie, lungo circa tre metri, è stato ritrovato intorno a metà luglio in un campo ad Arre. Il serpente rimase incastrato tra le barre di una trebbiatrice e finì dilaniato.

http://www.ilmessaggero.it/articolo.php?id=69527&sez=LEALTRE

TRIBUNALE DI LA SPEZIA (Italy) 13 August 09 Il Corpo forestale recupera muta di un esemplare di pitone reale

A seguito di una segnalazione pervenuta da un cittadino di Carnea, il personale del Comando Provinciale del Corpo Forestale dello Stato della Spezia è intervenuto nella giornata di mercoledì per recuperare la muta (cambio della pelle) di un pitone reale (Python regius) delle dimensioni di circa 1,10 metri di lunghezza, custodita dal personale della Polizia Municipale di Follo. La pelle è stata rinvenuta nelle maglie di una recinzione, in località Carnea, del Comune di Follo. Probabilmente l’animale è passato attraverso le maglie della rete proprio per liberarsi della vecchia pelle e, a giudicare dallo stato di conservazione della muta, l’episodio non deve risalire a molti giorni prima.

Il pitone reale, detto anche pitone palla per la caratteristica forma che assume se disturbato o intimorito nascondendo la testa tra le spire, appartiene alla famiglia dei boidi ed è originario dell'Africa occidentale. Si nutre di piccoli roditori e mammiferi che uccide soprattutto di notte per costrizione, talvolta anche di piccoli volatili essendo un animale semiarboricolo. La muta della pelle si verifica ad ogni fase di accrescimento in vari momenti dell’anno.

Sono in corso accertamenti dal parte del personale del Nucleo CITES del Corpo Forestale dello Stato di La Spezia per risalire all’eventuale proprietario dell’esemplare che potrebbe essere scappato al proprietario. Al momento non sono pervenute segnalazioni di smarrimenti in provincia di esemplari di pitone.

http://www.cittadellaspezia.com/Val-di-Magra-Val-di-Vara/Cronaca/Il-Corpo-forestale-recupera-muta-di-un-48947.aspx

GLOBE AND MAIL (Toronto, Ontario) 12 August 09 Recovery project aims to keep mottled creatures from croaking Oregon spotted frogs - wiped out in California and nearly extinct in B.C. - will be released into wetlands where they can thrive (Wendy Stueck)

Vancouver: For much of the day yesterday, Andrea Gielens helped volunteers mark and weigh dozens of Oregon spotted frogs, mottled creatures from five to 10 centimetres long that once thrived in marshy grasslands from California to British Columbia.

The frog has disappeared from California and is scarce in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, where it is found in a handful of places in the Fraser Valley and where Ms. Gielens is part of a recovery project aimed at saving it from extinction.

Since 2002 the project has resulted in the release of hundreds of Oregon spotted frogs into Fraser Valley wetlands. The spawn is collected in the spring, the tadpoles are raised in sheltered conditions over the summer, and young frogs are released in protected areas in the fall.

The same pattern will be followed this year, with a couple of wrinkles. The Lower Mainland's recent heat wave resulted in a growth spurt among the captive frogs, resulting in an earlier-than-usual release this week.

As well, about 40 frogs kept behind until September will be fitted with electronic transmitters that will allow Ms. Gielens and other researchers to track them after they are released.

"We don't know a lot about what they do after they are released," said Ms. Gielens, husbandry co-ordinator for B.C.'s Oregon Spotted Frog Recovery Program, said this week from the Mountain View Conservation and Breeding Centre near Fort Langley, where the frogs were raised.

The young frogs being released this week are too small to be fitted with transmitters, but the ones being kept until September will be large enough to accommodate a tracking device, said Ms. Gielens, who plans to use data from the frogs as part of her research toward a master's degree in environmental management.

Biologists already know the Oregon spotted frog - once confused with the much more common Columbia spotted frog - is in dire shape as a result of habitat loss and predation by non-native species such as the bullfrog, an import from Eastern Canada.

Roads, agriculture and urban development have wiped out ponds and streams once frequented by the Oregon spotted frog.

By the time the recovery project kicked off in 1999, there were only an estimated 300 Oregon spotted frogs in B.C., a fraction of the hundreds of thousands that once inhabited the west coast of North America. Today, despite releases of juvenile frogs every year since 2002, that number remains about the same, because habitat continues to disappear even as captive-raised frogs are being released, Ms. Gielens said. The frogs gravitate to temporary ponds, such as the ones that form after rainstorms, and so are vulnerable to even small-scale construction or development.

The Oregon Spotted Frog Recovery Program involves Mountain View, the Vancouver Aquarium, the Greater Vancouver Zoo and Fraser Valley native bands.

Disappearing frogs are a global concern. Worldwide, about 100 species have gone extinct since the 1980s, says Kerry Kriger, an environmental scientist and founder of non-profit group Save the Frogs, who is to speak in Vancouver today.

"They are disappearing at a rapid rate, even though they've been around for about 250 million years in their current form," Mr. Kriger said. "They are very strong creatures. They outlived the dinosaurs, and yet in the past half century a third of them are on the verge of extinction." Frogs eat mosquitoes and ticks that carry infectious diseases, provide food for birds and other predators, are used extensively in medical research and play an as-yet-unknown role in broader ecosystems, Mr. Kriger said.

Projects such as the Oregon spotted frog recovery effort are important because frogs are exceptionally sensitive to loss of habitat.

"Frogs don't move very fast," Mr. Kriger said. "So if something goes wrong in one location, they're pretty much gone."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/recovery-project-aims-to-keep-mottled-creatures-from-croaking/article1248941/

NORTH STAR (Parry Sound, Ontario) 12 August 09 Rattlesnake bite forces police antivenin escort to hospital (Carli Whitwell)

Local hospital staff is urging people that cross paths with rattlers to let them be.

Last Thursday night, Aug. 6, a man visiting the area was bit when he picked up an eastern massasauga rattlesnake.

This is the second bite in less than a week the local emergency room has treated after someone handled the venomous snake.

“That’s disappointing,” said Donald Sanderson, chief executive officer of the West Parry Sound Health Centre. “That’s a heavy price for the health system to pay for somebody’s poor judgment.”

The man, who is recovering, was treated overnight at hospital Thursday with 12 vials of the antivenom CroFab the hospital had obtained from a Welland hospital just days earlier, draining the hospital stock.

Friday morning, Ontario Provincial Police quickly escorted six more vials from Welland.

The health centre was also able to obtain 15 vials of a different type of antivenom —?called Antivipmyn — from the Indian River Reptile Zoo in Peterborough before the weekend in anticipation of more bites or further treatment.

Neither the Welland hospital nor the reptile zoo have billed the health centre for the serum, but at $20,000 for a 12-vial treatment, which is enough to treat a moderate bite, these could add a hefty tab to the hospital’s already cash-strapped budget.

Once the province’s anti-venom depot, the health centre was provincially-funded to stock the drug and dole it out to other hospitals.

Since funding was cut two years ago, they have relied on a series on one-time funding to purchase the expensive serum and are working to get permanent dollars.

This summer is proof that the hospital needs a long-term solution, said Sanderson adding the issue has taken a back seat to the bites. “We’re focusing on the clinical treatment of patients.”

Experts say they’re unsure why there have been so many rattlesnake bites this summer. It could be the weather, said Bry Loyst, curator of the Indian River Reptile Zoo, a non-profit charity, which gave serum to the health centre, leaving the zoo with only five vials left.

Male rattlers, which tend to do the biting, could be roaming further to meet females because of the cooler temperatures. Or more people building cottages may be disrupting habitats. “It could be numerous factors,” said Loyst.

This is the first time the reptile zoo has shared its eastern massasauga rattler antivenom.

According to Heather Logan-Lane from the health centre, there have been a total of 11 bites in the province, five of which have been treated with the antivenom in Parry Sound and three that didn’t require treatment.

The other three were treated in Midland, Owen Sound and Windsor.

If you are bitten, go to the hospital directly and never apply a tourniquet, suction or heat or cold to a bite. ‘The less you move, the better,” said Loyst.

If untreated, said Loyst, you can die from the bite.

http://www.parrysound.com/press/1250092021/

TIMES HERALD (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) 12 August 09 Lizards and turtles and snakes, oh my (Colin Dewar)

Lights! Cameras! Animals!

Naturalists Jeff and Shannon McKay were at the Town ’n’ Country Mall entertaining and educating kids of all ages about wildlife and the environment during the Great Green Adventures of Safari Jeff and Shannon.

“All living creatures have some job or role to play in the environment,” said Jeff McKay.

The message of the show was all about learning to keep balance in the environment.

“These kids are the future of this planet,” said Shannon McKay. “There has to be more awareness and a deeper appreciation.”

Using animals such as frogs, snakes, lizards, turtles and crocodiles the McKays teach children how the animals live and affect their surroundings.

The McKays first brought out a baby alligator and a dwarf crocodile, for the children to see.

“These creatures are designed for the water. They have powerful tails, webbed feet and a third eye lid,” said Shannon. “The third eye lid acts like a built in set of goggles that allows the alligator to catch prey and eat under water.”

To introduce the children to amphibians, the McKays brought out a set of giant African bullfrogs.

“These frogs are very adaptable,” said Jeff. “They don’t need to live near water and can survive in a desert by burrowing underground for up to two years, waiting for the rains to fall.”

The bullfrogs will eventually grow to the size of basketballs.

The star of the show, an African spurred tortoise, named Father Time, generated a lot of cheers from the crowd watching.

At 30 years old, the tortoise is still very young and only weighs about 65 pounds. Eventually he will grow to weigh 250 pounds said Jeff.

“(The tortoise) lives in a hot, dry environment,” said Jeff. “It doesn’t swim or drink any water. He gets all his water supply from the vegetation he eats.”

Shannon explained how the front and hind legs were different. The front legs are spurred and help to dig holes while the back legs are flat and made to walk in sand.

“These animals are all entwined and connected to balance the environment together,” said Shannon.

To end the show. the McKays brought out the “most misunderstood animal — the snake” for the children to view.

Bonita, the boa constrictor, hung around the neck of Jeff as Shannon explained how these animals once had legs.

“Sharp claws at the base of the tail and remnants of the legs snakes used to walk with,” said Shannon. “These claws can only be found on pythons and boas.”

Aidan Mitchell, 11, was shocked to learn that snakes once had legs.

“That was very interesting. I had no idea snakes once had feet,” Mitchell told the Times-Herald after the show.

Mckenna Stewart, 12, said the show was great from start to finish.

“I learned so much about the animals. It is very important that we all learn and spread what we know about animals and the environment to our family and friends,” said Stewart.

http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/index.cfm?sid=277161&sc=8

GUELPH MERCURY (Ontario) 12 August 09 Salamander expert wants city to halt construction until spring (Thana Dharmarajah)

Guelph: One of the country’s foremost experts on Jefferson salamanders says the city should halt construction until next spring when further testing can determine whether the creature exists within the Hanlon Creek lands.

The city’s consultant Natural Resource Solutions Inc. took water samples from wetlands on the site, beginning as early as March. On April 20, a dead hybrid Jefferson salamander was found along Laird Road. Following the discovery, further testing of the ponds were done.

“It must have been using a pond somewhere,” said retired University of Guelph zoologist Jim Bogart, who has been studying salamanders since 1975. “I think it would be wise to find out where that was before the development (takes place).”

Since the Jefferson, protected by the federal Species At Risk Act, is so rare, Bogart said it’s often difficult to sample populations. Monitoring for the Jefferson should be done during their breeding season, which begins in late March or April, he said, adding that certain years the testing isn’t successful as some ponds dry out. That’s why it would be ideal to monitor a pond for three years, Bogart said.

“We need more information from this area,” he said of the Hanlon Creek lands.

Following a meeting Tuesday between city staff and a Ministry of Natural Resources representative, the city’s economic development officer Peter Cartwright said there are plans to do additional monitoring at the site next spring.

“It would mean we would not do the entire servicing,” he said.

The discussion at the meeting surrounded on how construction could proceed on a culvert in a tributary of the Hanlon Creek, without having a potential impact on the Jefferson, Cartwright said.

The ultimate decision lies in the judge’s decision later this week, he added, noting the Ministry of Natural Resources has said the city does have to take care in moving forward with the culvert. The city filed a motion for an injunction on July 31, after protesters shut down construction of the proposed business park on July 27. Last week, the protesters also filed a motion to prevent the city from going ahead with construction.

Some of the options for the culvert discussed with the ministry were putting up additional silt fences, setting up additional salamander traps and possibly stopping vehicles from driving onto the site to minimize impact on a possible Jefferson in the vicinity, Cartwright said.

The city plans to schedule another meeting with ministry officials later this week. The ministry has also requested to examine engineering drawings of the culvert.

On the Hanlon Creek lands Tuesday, activity was quiet as about 10 protestors were rising for the day and getting food in the kitchen they built earlier on during the two-week occupation. A core group of 30 activists remain camped on the site. They saw the judge’s decision to reserve his decision as a positive one.

“It’s pretty spectacular that we have that much evidence against the city,” said Shabina Lafleur-Gangji, referencing correspondence from the ministry in May and July recommending construction not proceed until the site had been re-examined for a potential Jefferson salamander habitat.

On the witness stand Monday, a ministry official said the city wasn’t in contravention of any current legislation by beginning construction.

Activist Sam Ansleis said Tuesday that a report from the city’s consultant Natural Resource Solutions Inc. states that on an April 2 visit to the site with ministry officials, staff was taken to all salamander trap sites with the exception of two wetlands, north of Laird Road.

The wetlands have been identified as a potential breeding site for the salamander by the city consultant, Ansleis said, and one of them is located about 40 metres away from the access road on McWilliams Road.

Senior biologist David Stephenson with Natural Resource Solutions Inc. said he believes thorough monitoring of the site for the Jefferson was done. He said perhaps the ministry hadn’t attended to those wetlands on April 2.

“I do know as of today, they have seen all these wetlands and assisted with sampling,” Stephenson said.

He added the site will continue to be monitored every year, until there is 75 per cent buildup and then another two years later.

City officials say the Hanlon Creek Business Park will house 21 century enterprises such as environmental technology and agribusiness companies. It is part of the city’s plan to accommodate 32,400 new jobs by 2031 without sprawling beyond the city’s boundaries, a city news release stated Tuesday.

At the injunction hearing, it was brought forth that the city doesn’t have any businesses that have committed to setting up on the land yet.

“You will not have a confirmed land sale until you have property serviced,” Cartwright said. “There has to be more certainty (for the businesses).”

Cartwright said it’s a realistic goal for Guelph to want to draw agribusiness companies, especially when the city already has a cluster of such types of business. Guelph is seen as a leader in agri-technology and that in itself will be a draw to many, he said. If the city doesn’t attract such businesses right away, they’ll work on examining their marketing initiatives to ensure they do, Cartwright said.

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/521141

THE SPECTATOR (London, UK) 12 August 09 Let’s hear it for the python that had the civic good sense to eat Wilbur the cat (Rod Liddle)

(Rod Liddle takes issue with Wilbur’s grieving owners who want a change in the law to impose restrictions upon creatures such as snakes. What we really need is a new citizen’s right to defend ourselves against the feline menace)

It’s been a grim summer for news, all things considered, what with Afghanistan and flying pig flu and the rain and now Harriet Harman squatting over us all like one of those terrifying smallpox deities the Hindus have. So I thought I’d share with you a story which, in the midst of this gloom, cheered me up enormously. It is the story of a little ginger and white pussycat called Wilbur, who lived in Bristol with his owners, Martin and Helen Wadey. Martin and Helen loved Wilbur a lot. His purr was, according to Martin, ‘like a dynamo’. He was the family pet and suitably adored.

Anyway, one day Wilbur set off in pursuit of that familiar and engaging leisure option for our millions of domesticated cats — killing wildlife in a neighbour’s garden and then taking a massive dump in the middle of the lawn. Off he went on his pitter-patter little paws, over the fence, across the flower bed (pausing briefly to urinate on a rose bush) to check out what creatures he might harry to death — look, over there, a vole scampering with fright beneath the hedge! Or that fledgling mistle thrush obliviously looking for its mum. Wilbur thought about it for a moment, then devised a plan of action: start with the thrushling, then have a dump just by the patio and finish up spending a bit of time tracking down the vole — worth the effort because they’re endangered, apparently. But then Wilbur caught a first whiff of something quite unexpected; a rich, exotic, luxuriant smell he did not recognise — beguiling and yet somehow carrying a sleek, sinuous, harbinger of danger. What the hell is that, Wilbur wondered to himself, in those last few seconds before he was eaten by the python. Wildlife 1, Pussycat 0.

Not just eaten, mind, but — according to the press reports — ‘crushed, asphyxiated and consumed whole’. I don’t know what the Daily Telegraph would have preferred the python to do — maybe stun Wilbur humanely with some sort of electrical device before flambéing his liver for a light supper, accompanied by a glass of Chablis. Whatever, Martin and Helen heard ‘blood-chilling cries’ emanating from their neighbour’s garden and immediately suspected that it was Wilbur. They were right! The RSPCA turned up and with some piece of hi-tech equipment detected the cat’s ID chip inside the python’s bulging stomach and the faintest, defeated, plaintive miaow. Laugh? At this point of the story I was paralytic with mirth and jubilation — but then I read on and a familiar irritation began to settle on my shoulders.

First, the Wadeys’ bizarre and unjust reaction in complaining about such an outcome. Like all cat owners they seem utterly without any notion of responsibility, either to their neighbours or indeed to the wildlife which surrounds them. Some 80 million wild birds and animals are killed by domesticated cats each year and this may well account at least partly for the rapid decline of some of our garden songbirds — the thrush, the dunnock, the starling, the house sparrow. Not to mention the water vole. But cat owners could not give a monkey’s — that’s nature, they argue, that’s what cats do, they decimate wildlife.

Well, sure — and that’s what pythons do, they eat cats, given half a chance, so stop whining. Cat owners also do not care that their creatures wander over all the gardens of their neighbourhood, leaving behind their toxic ribbons of noisome defecation and the bodies of dead birds and mammals on the back steps of their neighbours houses. Wilbur was doing precisely this when he was eaten by the neighbour’s civic-minded Burmese python; if the foul creature had stayed in its own backyard, it would be alive right now to rub itself up against its owners in the manner of a sexual deviant released on parole several years too early. The snake was minding its own business in its own terrain and had not expected to be disturbed by an agreeable late afternoon snack blundering through the undergrowth, believing itself — mistakenly, as it turned out — to be top of the local food chain. Tough, puddytat. And yet when the RSPCA was called the focus of anger was directed at the owner of the python, who was issued with a written warning about keeping his snake indoors, safely locked away. Why? Why wasn’t the same warning issued to Mr and Mrs Wadey, to the effect that they should not be allowed another cat unless they could guarantee that it would not invade their neighbour’s gardens? At least the python stayed in its own backyard. And didn’t the RSPCA have a device to see what was lurking in Wilbur’s stomach?

Listen — things get worse, they get much worse. The bloody Wadeys are now petitioning 10 Downing Street for a change in the law. They want to introduce an amendment to the Dangerous and Wild Animals Act which would ensure that heavy restrictions are placed upon the people who wish to own such creatures as snakes. They have called this proposed adjustment to the law ‘Wilbur’s Amendment’. This little nugget of information may make you feel slightly nauseous, as if you too had just digested a whole cat without so much as a side salad of rocket dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. But, despite that, I suggest that we keep the title — ‘Wilbur’s Amendment’ — but change the legislation so that cats are classed as dangerous and wild animals and that ordinary members of the public, when faced with a cat prowling in their back garden, may take arms against them so as to protect both their property and the lives of asylum-seeking wild animals which may have taken refuge there.

Certainly, shooting cats would be a lot less time-consuming and probably more effective than some of the measures I have adopted over the years. The passive ones, such as urinating into a beaker, mixing it with Tabasco sauce and scattering the resultant emulsion around the perimeters of my garden works only for a week or so, until the local cats realise that it’s not a tiger living there, just an angry human. My cat pit failed too — plenty of the creatures fell into the pit but too few were speared on the sharpened apple-wood tines at the bottom. The obvious answer, I suppose, is to buy a python and underfeed it, so that it is perpetually on the look-out. I think I will call it Wilbur, or maybe Wadey, out of respect.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/features/5258993/lets-hear-it-for-the-python-that-had-the-civic-good-sense-to-eat-wilbur-the-cat.thtml

KHOU (Houston, Texas) 12 August 09 Parishioner mistakes coral snake for rosary (James Muñoz)

San Antonio, Texas: Father James Galvin has served at Mission San Juan de Capistrano for 11 years. In that time he's seen plenty of coral snakes in his rectory and even inside the church.

On Sunday, a woman in line to take communion spotted what she thought was a rosary; instead it was a colorful coral snake. The woman threw the snake and caused quite a scare.

Despite the scare, no one was hurt.

As for the snake in the church, a greeter took care of it and threw it outside. The coral snake was about a foot long.

Father Galvin said keeps at least five cats around, including two in the house, to alert him when a snake sneaks in.

http://www.khou.com/news/state/stories/khou090812_jj_snakes-in-rosary.d2556644.html

BBC (London, UK) 12 August 09 Exotic snake found at beauty spot

A Florida kingsnake has been discovered at a Hampshire beauty spot.

It is understood the 5ft (1.5m) serpent, which is yellow and brown, was found by a vigilant ranger in the New Forest over the weekend.

The American reptile is now being looked after at Liberty's Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre in Ringwood.

Linda Bridges, one of the centre's owners, said: "It is not venomous but it can be aggressive." She is keen for the owner to contact the centre.

Ms Bridges hopes the creature escaped from someone's vivarium - an enclosed area for keeping and raising animals - and was not abandoned.

She added: "It is a snake eater and is an enemy of the rattle snake.

"If it has been released into our native New Forest it would be eating our own adders and grass snakes, which are in decline themselves.

"If cornered in any way or surprised, it would bite you first."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/8197184.stm

HERALD EXPRESS (Torquay, UK) 12 August 09 Zoo creates ark to save amphibians

A new ark designed to save entire endangered species from extinction has opened at Paignton Zoo.

The zoo is responding to an amphibian extinction threat said to be 'the greatest species conservation challenge in our history' with a £75,000 investment.

The Amphibian Ark will be a rescue and reintroduction centre for species of frogs, toads and salamanders from Madagascar, Tanzania and Trinidad.

The building, formerly an education space, has been turned into a bio-secure animal area, with public viewing.

Amphibians curator Mike Bungard said: "We aim to save at least three distinct species — not just help with the work or support the work but actually save them from extinction.

"It's an incredible opportunity but a huge responsibility. We have to get it right."

He says the building work is just the beginning: "It is a complicated project that can't be rushed. We need to do the right thing for the right species.

"At this stage I'm not sure how many species the ark will hold. The amphibian extinction crisis is the greatest species conservation challenge in our history. Out of 6,000 known amphibian species, 50 per cent are threatened or endangered, compared to 10 per cent of mammal species."

He is currently making lists of priority species for each country and is planning fact-finding trips to both Tanzania and Trinidad within the year.

"We are working with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature on Malagasy amphibians and negotiating with partner organisations in all three countries.

"People and politics can complicate matters. Madagascar is particularly difficult right now with all the political unrest. But the amphibians there really need our help."

Amphibians are affected by habitat loss, climate change, pollution, pesticides and a fungus which, he said, is 'unstoppable and untreatable in the wild', killing 80 per cent within months.

The aim is to protect species from the fungus, possibly by taking animals from the wild and then reintroducing them when it is safe to do so.

Mike said: "The world needs amphibians. Their skins produce substances that kill microbes and viruses, offering us the promise of medical cures for a variety of illnesses.

"Amphibians also perform important pest population control. They are also fascinating, wondrous creatures."

The move follows on a Year of the Frog Campaign, to which Paignton Zoo donated £3,000 and pledged to build amphibian conservation facilities.

http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Zoo-creates-ark-save-amphibians/article-1245231-detail/article.html

NEWS-PRESS (St. Joseph, Missouri) 12 August 09 Python spotted near river

The City of St. Joseph Health Department issued a warning of a python loose at Riverfront Park on Tuesday evening.

The city said the python, described as about 10 feet long, was spotted by Parks Department employees while they were mowing on Tuesday at the park, located on the banks of the Missouri River at the west end of Francis Street. St. Joseph Animal Control and Rescue was notified.

The Parks Department warned residents that pythons can grow to more than 20 feet in length, depending on their species. It also cautioned citizens that even though pythons usually eat small animals, if hungry enough they can be dangerous to humans.

Calls to Animal Control were not returned Tuesday evening. Visitors at the park Tuesday night said they hadn’t seen anything noticeable.

The health department urges people to avoid contact with the python if they see it. If it is seen, contact Animal Control and Rescue at 271-4877.

This is the second snake-related call in the past week, the first being a 5-foot boa constrictor spotted in the North Belt Wal-Mart parking lot Sunday afternoon. It was found and taken in by Animal Control and Rescue.

http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/aug/12/python-spotted-near-river/

AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION 12 August 09 Boa constrictors seized in wildlife bust

Authorities taking part in a major wildlife smuggling investigation have seized two boa constrictors from a house in Perth's northern suburbs.

The snakes were found at a house in Quinns Rocks along with two native bearded dragons and two geckos.

David Mell from the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) says boa constrictors pose a serious threat to local fauna and would be as big a pest as cane toads if they became established in Australia.

"They have a very wide environment and climatic tolerance plus they have the potential to carry disease, which could be transferable to our native pythons," he said.

Mr Mell says a decision is yet to be made about what to do with the snakes.

"Our first option is to endeavour to place them in a secure facility, but if that's not possible they may have to be euthanised because of the risk that they represent," he said.

He says keeping boa constrictors is a serious offence.

"Charges are expected both from customs, under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which carries very significant penalties - fines of up to $110,000 or 10 years in jail," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/13/2654406.htm?section=justin

CITIZEN-TIMES (Asheville, N Carolina) 12 August 09 Reptile business owner ordered to move animals (Mike McWilliams)

Waynesville: The owner of an Internet-based reptile business pleaded guilty today after authorities seized nearly 100 snakes and other reptiles prohibited in Haywood County.

Allen Rivera, 35, paid a $300 fine for violating the county’s animal control ordinance and received his 93 reptiles back from animal control about 5 p.m., Waynesville police Lt. Brian Beck said.

The court ordered Rivera to move the reptiles out of the state by midnight, and Rivera was supposed to be moving his reptiles to another business he has in South Carolina, Beck said.

Officers responded about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to Green Desert Reptiles on Haywood Street in Waynesville for a report that the business was housing venomous reptiles, in violation of the county animal control ordinance, Beck said.

Upon arrival, officers and animal control workers seized reptiles, including rattle snakes, exotic vipers, cobras, boa constrictors and pythons. Officers also seized other reptiles, including an iguana and an alligator, Beck said.

Rivera is licensed to sell and keep the reptiles, Beck said.

“Basically, he just did not check the county laws and research them prior to moving them into the area,” he said.

Rivera could not immediately be reached for comment.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090812/NEWS01/90812069/1009

NEWS-PRESS (Fort Myers, Florida) 12 August 09 Python hunting will heat up as it cools (Byron Stout)

I hope you caught the piece in Sunday's paper about Burmese pythons in southern Florida. I was really energized by the story, but disappointed all the same.

I've be fascinated all my life with snakes, and I've caught pretty near all the local species I know about. That includes some husky rattlesnakes, and indigos more than 6 feet long. But by python standards those are toddlers.

As you may have read, Burmese pythons grow to an average of 7 feet in their first year. Bob Cowlishaw of Everglades Day Safari told me he grew a female to 13 feet in a year, back in his snake-dealing days in the 1970s.

He also really activated my catch-it gene, with his descriptions of the big snakes that he speculated could go toe-to-toe (so to speak) with an alligator, in a weight-class fight. Right away, I decided I didn't want to jump on a big one.

I've examined a python skull, with awe. They have four rows of very long, incredibly sharp teeth in each jaw — vicious Velcro, designed for flesh.

The bite would be more than nettlesome. But that's only the beginning of a nightmare as they pull you and their coils of steel together, applying 80 pounds per square inch of pressure — twice the squeeze of the average man's strongest grip — to your entire body.

So it was that, preparatory to my python hunt, I spent a couple of hours in my garage constructing a snare. A metal pole of 51Ú2 feet and a steel cable noose would keep me sufficiently distant from death long enough for an accompanying, experienced snake hunter to bag the beast, I reasoned.

I then made arrangements for a taxidermist to skin the snake, while cohorts cooked up something like an "Iron Chefs meet Python Meat" taste test. I've studied python skeletons (amazing what you can Google, eh?) and believe I could extract some dandy filets therefrom.

The reptiles I've eaten (rattlesnake and alligator) have had delicate, white flesh, at least in part. Everglades pythons do test high in mercury, but your multivitamin should have plenty of selenium to counteract that.

The whole idea of python hunting was utterly compelling for me, until I saw one literally disappear into 4 inches of mown weeds (see the video online at news-press.com). Given that the height of the vegetation they choose to inhabit in the steaming, mosquito-infested Everglades is more like 4 feet, finding them turned out to be tedious, exhausting, and ultimately futile work more than fun.

I think I'll wait for cool weather, when they come out on roads to get warm, and I can ride a bike to find them. Stay tuned.

http://www.news-press.com/article/20090812/COLUMNISTS09/908120361/1058/SPORTS

EXPRESS (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) 12 August 09 'There's a caiman in my yard' (Carolyn Kissoon)

Maulana Mushtaq Sulaimani awoke yesterday morning to find a six-foot-long caiman in his front yard.

The caiman likely crawled out of the flood-swollen Cipero River, looking for a safe place to survive the torrent.

Said Sulaimani, "At first I thought it was part of the flower garden in my lawn, but then I saw it moving. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. It was a caiman.

"I went to the Wild Life Division, but it was closed so I waited for a team to come and remove it".

Sulaimani said he spotted the reptile around 6 a.m. But it was not until an hour later that the team of game wardens, including workers from the Ministry of Agriculture's Forestry Division, arrived to remove it. "It was really scary. My family had to lock themselves indoors because we were afraid of it," he said.

Sulaimani lives at Union Hall in Golconda, near San Fernando.

Game warden Steve Seepersad said the fully grown male caiman may have crawled out of the flood-swollen river and entered the family's home through the front gate.

"Because we cannot seem to find any other entry. The caiman had to come through the front gate," he said.

Seepersad said the reptile will be released into the wild.

"We would take it to a safe place and release it. With the kind of weather we are having these days, we expect to find many more like these," he said.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161516333

NEW YORK POST (New York) 12 August 09 Laundry Wash & Sssssscare (Laurie Kamens)

A Manhattan Laundromat worker thought the 4-foot-long boa constrictor behind a sack of clothes she was about to wash yesterday was a giant toy -- and then it moved.

"It's alive! It's alive!" screamed Erika Vega, 27, of the slithering critter.

It turns out, the 9-pound boa named Silky escaped five months ago from an apartment three floors above the West 110th Street laudromat.

"I missed her a lot," said owner Sury Leguisamon, 17, after animal-control workers reunited them.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08122009/news/regionalnews/laundry_wash__sssssscare_184173.htm

ST PETERSBURG TIMES (Florida) 12 August 09 Alligator — whew! — is the one that got away (Jamal Thalji)

St. Petersburg: This is the story of the one that got away.

Which is fortunate for the group of Harbordale kids who decided to play tug-of-war with a 10-foot alligator Tuesday.

The kids, who had been fishing for crabs, tied a raw chicken to a rope to lure a gator that was swimming in a canal. The idea worked almost too well: The gator chomped down on the chicken, then got its toothy snout ensnared in the rope.

Not wanting to lose their rope, the kids hung on. The ensuing back-and-forth drew a large crowd, then the police, to their block.

And what exactly would the kids have done had they somehow managed to drag that sharp-toothed, voracious — and apparently annoyed — behemoth out of a city canal and onto land?

Well, aside from running away screaming, that is?

Postal carrier Kim Kryza wasn't worried about the middle-school-age kids winning. She called 911 because she was worried that the other guy — or gal — was going to win.

"They were pushing and pulling the gator back and forth on the rope," she said. "But the gator was huge, and these kids were kind of small. I was afraid one of them would get pulled in."

And, she added, the gator seemed a tad perturbed.

Kryza was delivering mail along the 800 block of West Harbor Drive S when she saw the gator thrashing around in the canal about 4 p.m.

All the commotion blocked her truck's delivery route. She took a photo of the alligator with her camera phone so she'd have proof about what was delaying her.

She said the kids told her the whole story afterward.

After the rope wrapped around the gator's snout, the big reptile tried to pull free. But the two or three kids standing along the sea wall wouldn't let go. They didn't want to lose their rope.

Finally a police officer came by and cut the alligator loose. Kryza believes the alligator came from Lake Maggiore and quickly headed back there.

She estimated the kids were just 12- or 13-years-old, further proof that school cannot start soon enough.

Here's their first lesson of the year: Feeding an alligator is not only illegal in Florida, it's also unwise. The practice erases the reptile's fear of humans. It also associates humans with food.

Police took no action against the children Tuesday.

Kryza has worked route 512 through Harbordale for 11 of her 22 years with the U.S. Postal Service. She said it's not a boring route.

"I've seen gunfire and gunshots and stuff like that," she said. "That's more scary than bizarre."

She's even seen alligators before. Five years ago, a baby gator, about 3 feet long, cornered her on someone's porch. She had to call the police, who trapped the reptile and released it into Lake Maggiore.

"It might be the same gator," Kryza said. "Who knows?"

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article1026869.ece

WOKINGHAM TIMES (UK) 12 August 09 Seven-foot python found at roadside in Emmbrook

Veterinary staff have got a slippery customer after taking in a seven-foot long python found at the side of the road.

Nine Mile Ride Veterinary Hospital in Finchampstead took in the scrub python on Tuesday, August 4, after police found it slithering along near a gutter on a busy commuter route in Wokingham.

It had apparently been thrown, in its cage, from a car and although seemingly unharmed, the snake urgently needed to be re-housed.

Karen Roberts, an insurance advisor at the practice, said: “The police had rung round the other vets in the area but no one would take it as they were not specialist snake handlers.

“The police officers found someone from the council who used a litter picker to get it into the back of the transit van.

“It was very grumpy and when we gave it a drink of water it got even grumpier.”

Scrub pythons are not venomous but are constrictor snakes, capable of squeezing victims and administering a nasty bite with their two sets of teeth.

Receptionist Sarah Wells said: “It was rearing up and we had to get gloves and a grabber to move it. The snake was quite cold when it first came in but it was put on a heat pad and got quite lively.”

Staff emailed a photograph to London Zoo, who helped to identify the snake and said they would look after it. It was driven there later that afternoon.

The snake is now residing with a veterinary nurse from London Zoo’s reptile house, who took it home to look after while a new owner is found.

Due to the snake’s irritable temperament, it needs a specialist carer.

Scrub pythons usually grow up to 16 foot long and when fully grown in the wild can eat kangaroos, wallabies and ground-dwelling birds, but usually eat bats and small mammals.

http://www.getwokingham.co.uk/news/s/2055566_sevenfoot_python_found_at_roadside_in_emmbrook

PETERBORO EXAMINER (Ontario) 11 August 09 Zoo Gets Charity Status

The Indian River Reptile Zoo has been granted charity status by Revenue Canada, a release from the zoo states.

The Highway 7 zoo first said it intended to seek charity status in March.

The change allows the zoo to issue tax receipts to anyone who makes a donation.

The zoo has also received a registered charity number.

Bry Loyst, formerly the owner of the zoo, is now the zoo's curator.

The zoo received the status because it offers lectures, seminars, awareness programs, and provides information about the ecological value of indigenous, exotic and endangered reptiles.

It also conducts research related to the survival of reptiles in Canada and other countries and provides public access to a zoo housing indigenous, exotic and endangered reptiles, a release from Loyst states.

Volunteers are needed to work with the zoo on fundraising projects and special events.

Anyone interested in volunteering or donating can do so by emailing or visit www.reptilezoo.com.

http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1694305

TIMES COLONIST (Victoria, British Columbia) 11 August 09 Letter: Dangers of pythons outweigh pet value

Re: "Tylin, meet Monty," photo caption, Aug. 7.

As a visitor here, I noted your photo of a pet python along with a caption indicating that pythons make good pets. I question that assertion.

A two-year old girl was killed on July 1 in Oxford, Fla., by a pet python that entered the child's room at night and strangled her in her bed. The Associated Press reports that, according to the U.S. Humane Society, at least 12 persons have been killed in the U.S. since 1980 by pet pythons or boas.

Of course there are other pets, such as vicious dogs, that have injured and killed children, but a pet python is particularly dangerous because it attacks without warning and when least expected. Like other serpents (and unlike mammals such as dogs and cats) it is incapable of developing any affection for humans. It also cannot be trained to avoid dangerous behaviour. I believe it is unwise to keep animals such as pythons as pets, and I think you should consider warning your readers to take a good look at the risks before acquiring such pets.

Arnold Braswell, Potomac Falls, Va.

http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/letters/story.html?id=57ab65a0-c553-460b-bd87-1acdccf0bf21

NEWS SHOPPER (London, UK) 11 August 09 Stranded terrapins to get new home (Vicki Foster)

Around 60 terrapins which had been left stranded have found a new home.

The terrapins were left stranded in Hackney after the water in which they live was dredged to make way for the Olympics.

After losing their home, local Bromley tortoise group, Just me and my tortoise, and charity Beaver Water World based in Tatsfield, got together to create a new pond for the little reptiles.

On August 8 the 11 volunteers got together and started to prepare the ponds in which the terrapins would live.

Stella Quayle, curator for Beaver Water World said: “It gets people together and doing things for the community.

“We are just making a happy little environment for them to come to.”

Just me and my tortoise hold regular meetings with the next being organised starting at 1.30pm for September 6.

The meetings include advice on how to care for tortoises, terrapins and turtles. To book a place call 07874 034320.

To read more environmental news visit greenguardian.co.uk/news/

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/green_2009/greenguardian2007/4539791.BROMLEY__Stranded_terrapins_to_get_new_home/

AMERICAN NEWS (Aberdeen, S Dakota) 11 August 09 Rattlesnakes Killed Near Aberdeen - Not Native To Area, But Caution Urged (Emily Arthur-Richardt)

Authorities are cautioning area residents to watch out for rattlesnakes after two were killed last week on the edge of Aberdeen. John Weaver, Aberdeen's animal control officer, said the two western diamondback rattlesnakes were reportedly killed Friday in Lakeside Estates, near a pond at 925 Ninth Curve. A man reported that the poisonous snakes coiled as if they were going to attack before he killed them. The same man reported that he saw a couple of more snakes there as well.

Weaver said the man, a Montana native who is familiar with rattlesnakes, was able to describe what they looked like - tan two-tone, olive-colored inside the diamond pattern, a head the size of a silver dollar and three rattles.

The western diamondback rattlesnake is not native to eastern South Dakota. Weaver suspects that the rattlesnakes might have been dropped off by a biker returning from Sturgis.

"The climate here is not right for them," Weaver said. "I doubt they'll survive very long."

He said area residents should avoid any contact with the snakes.

"They won't come looking for people," he said.

The venom of the western diamondback isn't instantly fatal; however, anyone bitten should seek medical attention immediately, Weaver said.

"There's really no cause to panic," he said. "But you can't stop people from poking them with a stick."

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=12A09CB422337288&p_docnum=1

NEW YORK POST (New York) 11 August 09 Police: Snake Found Slithering Down Harlem Street (John Doyle)

Eek!

A four-foot-long snake found slithering down a steamy Harlem sidewalk this morning had pedestrians in a tizzy -- until cops came and removed it.

The snake -- identified as a boa constrictor -- was found across the street from Central Park after a passerby stumbled upon it at about 8:30 a.m., police said.

The reptile was outside the entrance to a laundromat at 410 W. 110 St. It was taken by police officers to a nearby NYC Center for Animal Care and Control shelter in upper Manhattan.

The snake, a female, is believed to be a pet that either got away or was abandoned by its owner, authorities said.

No one was hurt.

Boa constrictors, although not poisonous, are known to bite.

The large serpents are native to Central and South America and are generally brown and gray in color. They can be as large as 14 feet in length.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08112009/news/regionalnews/manhattan/snake_found_slithering_down_harlem_stree_184058.htm

BBC (London, UK) 11 August 09 'Alien scene' of tadpoles' feast (Rebecca Morelle)

"Alien-like" scenes of tadpoles feasting on eggs emerging from their mother have been caught on camera.

The footage marks the success of a captive breeding programme for the critically endangered mountain chicken frog, one of the world's largest frogs.

In April, 50 of the amphibian giants were airlifted from Montserrat after a deadly fungus swept through the island, devastating the population.

Now several breeding programmes are under way to save the frogs.

Once numbers have been boosted in captivity, researchers hope to reintroduce the frogs back into the wild within the next two years.

The remarkable footage was recorded at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in Jersey, which took in 12 of the rescued frogs. Twenty-six others went to Parken Zoo in Sweden, and 12 are now housed in ZSL London Zoo.

So far, four pairs of mountain chicken frogs have started to breed - which could result in hundreds of frogs. And this has given researchers an insight into the way that these unusual amphibians care for their offspring.

Professor John Fa, director of Durrell, said: "Mountain chickens have very peculiar breeding habits because they form foam nests in burrows in the ground."

The females lay their eggs in these nests, which eventually hatch into tadpoles. But as the nests are underground, food is scarce - so the frogs need to find a way to provide nutrition for their young.

Professor Fa explained: "In the case of mountain chickens, we have discovered that the female comes into the nest and starts laying a string of infertile eggs.

"We thought that the eggs would come out and drop to the bottom of the nest and then the tadpoles would start eating them. But the footage shows about 40 tadpoles congregating around the female and eating the eggs as they come out of the female's body.

"Every now and again, the female uses her back legs to push the tadpoles away from her body so another set can come up and eat as much as they can."

He added: "It is really weird - it is an alien scene. This is the first time we have caught this on film."

The mountain chicken frog (Leptodactylus fallax) is one of the world's most threatened frogs. The frog is so called because its meat tastes like chicken.

It was once found on seven Caribbean Islands, but thanks to hunting and environmental pressures it is currently found only on Montserrat and Dominica.

Now, however, the deadly chytrid fungus, which has devastated amphibian populations around the globe, has also ravaged Dominica's mountain chickens.

The fungus was first detected on the island in 2002, and within 15 months, 80% of the mountain chicken population had been obliterated.

Conservationists were extremely concerned when they found that the chytrid fungus had spread to Montserrat earlier this year, and was sweeping quickly through the last mountain chicken population.

The team made a decision to airlift some of the last healthy frogs and bring them into captivity in a bid to save the creatures from extinction.

Professor Fa said: "Things are not going terribly well in Montserrat because chytrid has now infected the safe population - or at least the one we thought was safe."

The breeding success has offered scientists a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak situation, and they are now concentrating on increasing the frogs' numbers.

They hope to eventually release the captive mountain chickens back to their native home of Montserrat, and are currently looking for sites that are free of the deadly fungus.

But Professor Fa said: "If that doesn't work, if the area is infected, we will have to think again, and it could be that we take the animals to another island.

"Within a year or two we have to get these animals back to the wild. The longer you keep them in captivity, the more difficult it is for them to enjoy a life in the wild again."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8185125.stm

WESTERN MORNING NEWS (Plymouth, UK) 11 August 09 Tortoise sanctuary owner to sell up

The owner of a popular tortoise sanctuary has announced plans to sell up after thieves stole up to 20 endangered reptiles after a series of raids on the premises this year.

Joy Bloor, who owns The Tortoise Garden in Lower Sticker, near St Austell, Cornwall, said she had "lost trust in the public" after dozens of her tortoises were stolen.

She says she is now considering closing the business after 11 years following the spate of thefts.

Mrs Bloor is today counting the cost of the losses, which will run into several thousands of pounds, after three separate thefts in the last few weeks.

She said: "This has destroyed me. I closed the business yesterday because the last thing I wanted was people walking around. I am very suspicious of people now, which I didn't want to be, and I am afraid I have lost trust in the public."

The business was left in shock yesterday morning after two thefts in 24 hours.

Zeus, a seven-stone African tortoise worth up to £4,000, was stolen along with more than 20 other tortoises in a burglary at the sanctuary between Sunday night and yesterday morning.

Police said the offenders forced their way into a number of locked enclosures and stole Zeus along with Margis, Leopard, Spur, Redfoot and Yellowfoot tortoises.

Other tortoises had been stolen from their pens earlier on the Sunday, probably by a visitor who went to the garden which is open to the public. On that occasion five tortoises were stolen.

Staff at The Tortoise Garden say the tropical creatures will die if their captor does not have the equipment to care for them.

Mrs Bloor said: "I am appalled and disgusted that one of my visitors could do this to me yet again.

"Every gate in the sanctuary had a locked padlock on it and the only way to steal those tortoises was to drop a young child over the fence to pick them up. The police have again been very good but are not hopeful of any recovery."

John Hawyard, security advisor for tortoise welfare charity the British Chelonia Group, said: "It is a most serious offence for anyone to buy or sell these animals which are on the endangered species list.

"It is not the monetary value which is our main concern, but the welfare of the stolen tortoises. Some are quite young and require special nutritional care and it is vital they are returned as soon as possible.

Additionally, as a result of the action of the thieves, vital breeding programmes have been destroyed."

Mrs Bloor has yet to decide whether to close the business permanently, but is expected to make a decision when the tortoises hibernate this winter.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Mr Hayward on 07802 404 929 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

http://www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk/news/Tortoise-sanctuary-owner-sell-thefts/article-1241495-detail/article.html

HARTFORD COURANT (Connecticut) 11 August 09 Two Capture Alligator In Hamden Driveway

Hamden: Two Elmer Avenue residents captured an 18-inch alligator roaming about their property Sunday evening, the New Haven Register reported.

One of the residents, June Gallo, saw the animal in the driveway of her home at 67 Elmer Ave. while looking out her kitchen window about 7:30 p.m., the newspaper reported.

After a discussion, Julius Gallo got a 6-foot-long crab net from the garage and placed it over the animal before securing it by placing a recycling bin over it. June Gallo then called 911.

Police and animal control responded. The alligator was taken to a reptile rescuer in Avon on Monday for eventual transfer to Beverly, Mass. It will be used for educational purposes with Rainforest Reptile Shows until it grows too large and must be sent to an alligator wildlife park in Texas.

Police said the alligator likely was a pet that either got away or the owner no longer wanted, the New Haven Register reported. Police said they may try to locate the animal's owner, and if that person is found or comes forward, he or she may be prosecuted.

Last month, the state Department of Environment Protection held an amnesty day for illegal, exotic animals at Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport. The DEP took in 135 animals, including eight alligators and caimans, a South American reptile that is similar to an alligator.

http://www.courant.com/community/hamden/hc-web-hamden-alligator-0811aug12,0,3619662.story

EXPRESS (Trinidad & Tobago) 11 August 09 Woman dies of snake bite ffter floods hit Rio Claro (Richard Charan)

As residents of Rio Claro and Mayaro fought rising floods waters last night came news of the death of a villager, bitten by one of the most venomous snakes in the country.

The woman, of Cushe Village, died yesterday, after attempting to treat the bite without medical intervention.

The snake was identified as a fer-de-lance, also commonly known as the mapapire or bushmaster.

The snake is considered the most deadly in South and Central America.

Chairman of the Rio Claro/Mayaro Regional Corporation, Ramlochan Panchoo said although there were flood waters between the hospital and the woman's home, she could have made it across.

On Sunday, he said, a pregnant woman was rescued after she went into labour while marooned in a sea of brown water that submerged Poole Valley.

A contractor tried getting a dump truck through the water to the woman's home.

When that failed, a backhoe was brought in.

The woman was carried through the flood in the loading bucket of the machine.

Panchoo praised the villagers for their efforts but he feared last night for the residents of Mafeking and Cedar Grove near Mayaro.

Panchoo said, with the rising tide, the floods waters coursing down the Ortoire River had nowhere to go.

He said the villages could expect floods overnight, the worst of it at Cedar Grove where the river ran parallel to the road for half a mile.

Panchoo said the corporation had begun the removal of debris washed down by the floods, and would assess today what areas were in need of chemical spraying to avoid a mosquito invasion.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161515798

SUN-SENTINEL (Fort Lauderdale Florida) 11 August 09 She's 87 and tough. Let's see you kill a rattler with your hands (Barbara Hijek)

Esther, we love ya.

You're 87 years old and when a rattler bites you, you think 'No big deal.'

Just kill the snake and then treat the snakebite yourself.

What a woman!

That's what happened when Esther Orring saw a pygmy rattler on the doorstep of her home at Tampa's Hunters Green.

Not realizing what it was, she first pushed it around with her cane.

When she bent over to move it aside, the snake bit her on the middle finger of her right hand.

Orring then killed the snake with her hands and went inside to try treating herself.

She pricked herself with a pin to try to draw out blood and venom, then swabbed the bite with alcohol.

Then she called her daughter -- Orring doesn't speak English -- and her daughter called an ambulance, reports Tampa Bay Online.

Her daughter says she had plenty of snake-killing experience in Italy.

"In the farm back home in Italy, we have lots of snakes,'' her daughter said. "So she kills the snake because in a farm we would eat on the floor because we had no table …. so you had to sit on the floor to eat. So the snakes that come around she would kill with the rocks.''

The trip to the hospital was somewhat traumatizing for her mother, she said.

Not so much because of the snake but because her mother "don't like to take her clothes off.''

The final score: Cane-wielding octogenarian, 1: venomous snake, 0.

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/specials/weirdflorida/blog/2009/08/woman_87_bitten_by_pygmy_rattl.html

BORNEO BULLETIN (Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam) 11 August 09 Largest python captured so far (Kasha)

The Lamunin Fire and Rescue team, branch Operation E, received an emergency call from the family of Umpud binti Balah, Kampong Pandkalan Dong, Ukong, to help capture a huge python found slithering under the staircase of the family home. The python was believed to have been waiting for a potential prey in the form of a stray dog or cat wandering around the area. The Fire and Rescue Department personnel, headed by ABK 114, Redo Daman, rushed to the scene and were successful in capturing the python, which measured up to 20 feet in length and weighed approximately 60 kilogrammes. According to sources, the python is the largest captured so far.

http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/tue/aug11h26.htm

AUSTRIAN TIMES (Vienna) 11 August 09 Python warning in Carinthia (William Green)

Carinthians have been warned to be on the look out for a dangerous python that escaped from a terrarium in St. Veit and der Glan last Friday.

Helga Happ from Klagenfurt’s reptile zoo warned today (Tues): "Pythons are aggressive and defend themselves through aggression."

Happ said a python would seek a dry place like a basement, a garage or a shed during wet weather and a warm place like a roof when the sun was out.

She said anyone who saw the snake should remain quiet, avoid looking it in the eye and above all not attempt to handle it.

She added they should immediately call the police or the reptile zoo.

http://austriantimes.at/news/Panorama/2009-08-11/15450/Python_warning_in_Carinthia

LINCOLNSHIRE ECHO (Lincoln, UK) 11 August 09 Kristy 'adder' shock from reptile remains

Slithering slowly through Lincoln's Ermine estate, it's near nine foot frame could scare even the hardiest of estate dwellers.

But thankfully for solicitors' receptionist Kristy Hill, 26, it was only the skin of the giant snake that confronted her as she went to visit her family's horses last Friday morning.

"It was last Friday morning at about 10am when I was walking along Pine Close, near the police station, to see our two horses that are kept up there," she said.

"It was just laid out in a long line, stretched out on the path."

The St Giles resident took the skin, complete with evidence of the eyes and nostrils, home to show to her family.

"I can't see that it would be wild as snakes need warmth and to be kept in heated tanks.

"I just imagine it is someone's pet and kids have left it out to scare people.

"Hopefully someone will come forward and say it's belongs to their snake."

A spokesman for the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust, Helen Wraight, said that after studying the Echo's photos, their experts were "pretty certain that it's the skin of a python".

"It is highly likely it is an escaped pet," she said.

"But the deliberate release of an exotic species into the wild is a fineable offence."

http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/news/Kristy-adder-shock-reptile-remains/article-1239420-detail/article.html

EVENING POST (Bristol, UK) 11 August 09 Bristol boy tells of snake bite attack

A Bristol who was bitten by a snake in an alleged racist attack has said the pain he felt was a "nine out of 10".

Daniel Buddington, 14, was bitten by a 4ft Boa constrictor or python after apparently being cornered by a group of youngsters on his street – The Avenue in Patchway.

It is alleged Dan was persuaded by a girl to go round to a house and had water squirted at him as he sat watching television in the lounge. Feeling uncomfortable, he tried to leave, but he says he was stopped from doing so by six boys and girls.

When he did finally manage to get out of the front door, it is alleged he was cornered at the front gate and an agitated 4ft snake, a family pet, was deliberately thrust towards his face.

As the snake struck, Dan put his arm up to protect himself and was bitten on his wrist. In excruciating pain, he had to prise the green reptile's jaws off of him. One of the snake's teeth got stuck in his arm and had to be removed at hospital.

As previously reported, it is also alleged he was the victim of racist, verbal abuse.

Although the Patchway High pupil does not like talking about what happened and is still very shaken up, he has told his mum Junise what it felt like to be bitten by the snake.

"I asked him, on a scale of one to 10 how painful was it and he said it was a nine," said Junise.

The community development worker, 31, got the shock of her life when she got a call from Frenchay Accident and Emergency on Saturday evening telling her what had happened.

"I said 'you what? A snake?' I couldn't take it in at first, I couldn't believe it."

She went to visit Dan and once he told her what had happened she went round to the house where the attack is alleged to have happened, as she knows the people in question.

Mum-of-three Junise added: "It makes me really upset, what has happened. You should be able to get along together whatever the colour of your skin. Dan's a big lad for his age and he has been picked on before by kids wanting to see how strong he is – that's what kids are like.

"I'm worried about him going out in the holidays now because you don't know what's going to happen.

"You hear about people fighting and using knives or guns, but now it's animals. I think it's awful and I think it's cruel to the snake too."

Doctors X-rayed Dan's right arm and it is not thought there will be any lasting damage.

At the moment, the bite marks are still visible and he has been given antibiotics and pain killers.

Constricting snakes, such as pythons and boas, are not venomous, but they have many teeth which they use to hold their prey in place while squeezing the life out of them.

Police have spoken to the alleged culprits but, as of yesterday evening, no arrests had been made.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary spokesman Wayne Baker said: "The teenager had been subject to racist comments and then reportedly held down as a snake was held in front of him, which bit his right arm.

"Experts have confirmed that the snake, described as green coloured and about four feet long, was not venomous."

Police are appealing for witnesses following the incident.

Police would like anyone who was in the Avenue area at the time of the incident to contact Staple Hill police station on 0845 4567000.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/homepage/Bristol-boy-tells-snake-bite-attack/article-1241502-detail/article.html

HAMBURGER MORGENPOST (Hamburg, Germany) 11 August 09 Exoten-Wahnsinn im Wohnzimmer (Wiebke Strehlow)

Nachdem Manfred K. (50) aus Ottensen zum dritten Mal von einer seiner hochgiftigen Schlangen gebissen wurde (MOPO berichtete), hat die SPD gestern den Gesetzesantrag einer "Gefahrtierverordnung" für Giftschlangen und andere Exoten an die Bürgerschaft gestellt. "Wir brauchen ein Regelwerk, das Gefahren für Nachbarn und Allgemeinheit eindämmt", sagt der SPD-Abgeordnete Andreas Dressel. Der Grund: Die Haltung von Exoten im Wohnzimmer boomt. Die MOPO beantwortet die wichtigsten Fragen:

Wer kontrolliert die Einfuhr von exotischen Tieren?

Die Einfuhr der exotischen Tiere wird vom Zoll in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Bundesamt für Naturschutz kontrolliert. 2001 waren es noch 46000 Tiere, 2006 bereits 93000. Den größten Anteil der nach dem Washingtoner Artenschutzübereinkommen geschützten Tiere machen Grüne Leguane und Chamäleons aus. Die geschützten Tiere sind jedoch nur ein kleiner Teil der exotischen Haustiere in Hamburg. Die meisten sind nicht geschützt, wie zum Beispiel Kobras und Grüne Mambas.

Welche Voraussetzungen müssen Halter von nicht speziell geschützten Exoten erfüllen?

Die Halter müssen bei der Umweltbehörde nur nachweisen, dass sie ihre Haustiere legal erworben haben. Unter welchen Bedingungen die Tiere leben und ob der Besitzer in der Lage ist, sich um die gefährlichen Tiere zu kümmern, ist egal.

Warum gibt es keine "Haltergenehmigungen"?

Der Senat sieht dafür offensichtlich keine Gründe. Volker Dumann, Sprecher der Umweltbehörde, sagt lediglich: "Die gibt es nicht, weil es dafür in Hamburg keine Vorschriften gibt. Das Ganze ist über das Sicherheits- und Ordnungsgesetz geregelt, nach dem keine Dritten gefährdet werden dürfen."

Wie sieht es in anderen Bundesländern aus?

Fast überall müssen die Halter von zum Beispiel Giftschlangen eine Genehmigung beim Ordnungsamt beantragen. Nur in Hamburg und Bremen nicht. In Hessen ist die private Haltung von giftigen Tieren grundsätzlich verboten. Seit Jahren fordern Tierschützer eine entsprechende Regelung auch von Hamburger Politikern. "Exotische Tiere wie Schlangen oder Echsen gehören nicht in private Hände", sagt die Vorsitzende des Hamburger Tierschutzvereins Gabriele Waniorek-Goerke. Jan Knoll (34), Schlangenexperte der Hamburger Feuerwehr, fordert, dass exotische Tiere in jedem Fall gemeldet werden müssten. "Zudem sollten die Besitzer eine Schulung machen, um zu beweisen, dass sie das Tier halten können."

Wie viele exotische Tiere leben in Hamburg, welche Arten und wie viele Züchter gibt es?

Vor einem Jahr waren es etwa 4000 exotische Haustiere. Jan Knoll schätzt: "Heute gibt es in jedem vierten Haushalt in Hamburg exotische Tiere, besonders Vogelspinnen und kleinere Schlangenarten." Eine Statistik über die Anzahl, Art und Züchtung der Tiere gibt es nicht. "Weil es dazu bisher keine gesetzlich Regelung gibt", so Volker Dumann.

Warum wurde im Fall von Manfred K. nichts unternommen?

"Die von dem Mann gehaltenen Tiere sind nicht besonders geschützt und er hat auch nicht gegen das Tierschutzrecht verstoßen. Wenn Dritte gefährdet gewesen wären, hätte man eingreifen können", so Dumann.

Was passiert nun mit den Schlangen?

Derzeit sind die Schlangen, um die sich das Bezirksamt kümmert, in der Eigentumswohnung des Mannes. Er soll nach wie vor in Lebensgefahr schweben. "Da erneut keine Gefahr für Dritte bestand und er die Tiere vorschriftsmäßig hielt, wird er sie behalten dürfen", so Dumann.

Zitat: "Es gibt bei uns in jedem vierten Haushalt exotische Tiere" Jan Knoll, Schlangen-Experte "Wir brauchen ein Regelwerk, das Gefahren eindämmt" Andreas Dressel, SPD "Der Mann wird seine Schlangen behalten dürfen" Volker Dumann, Umweltbehörde

http://archiv.mopo.de/archiv/2009/20090811/hamburg/panorama/exoten_wahnsinn_im_wohnzimmer.html

BANGKOK POST (Thailand) 13 July 09 Croc eggs kept from harm (Chaiwat Satyaem)

Phetchaburi: Wildlife workers have plucked 23 wild crocodile eggs from a national park to stop them being eaten by water monitors.

Eight eggs have been eaten from a batch found in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi.

The number of water monitors in the park is increasing, putting the local crocodile population at risk.

The surviving eggs are now being raised in the national park's office, said park chief Chaiwat Limlikitakson.

The eggs, found near the water source of the Phetchaburi river, would be raised with the help of expert John Thorbjarnarson from the Wildlife Conservation Society.

One corner of the office has been turned into a hatchery. The eggs are being kept in polystyrene containers covered with sand, also taken from the river bank.

The national park is drawing up plans to conserve fresh water crocodiles. They are hard to find, and without better conservation efforts, could become extinct, Mr Chaiwat said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/20132/croc-eggs-kept-from-harm

SLOBODNA DALMACIJA (Split, Croatia) 03 July 09 SAD: piton iz akvarija ugušio dvogodišnju djevojčicu

Dvogodišnja djevojčica umrla je na Floridi kad ju je ugušio obiteljski piton, životinja duga 3,60 metara koja je pobjegla iz akvarija, objavila je u četvrtak policija.

Pratioc djetetove majke vlasnik je tog mianmarskog bijelog pitona kojeg je držao u akvariju kao i dva metra dugu bou, kazao je Bobby Caruthers iz ureda šerifa okruga Sumter na Flordi.

"Kad je vlasnik ustao u srijedu ujutro, zmija više nije bila u akvariju. Odgmizala je u sobu djevojčice te se u djetetovu krevetu omotala oko tijela jadne djevojčice", ispričao je Bobby Caruthers.

Na tijelu djeteta bilo je tragova ugriza po glavi i rukama. "Za reptila dijete je predstavljalo hranu", kazao je policajac. Mianmarski piton hrani se živim plijenom.

Vlasnik nije posjedovao dozvolu za držanje takve životinje u kući, kazao je glasnogovornik ureda šerifa, dodajući da bi istraga mogla dovesti do optužbe zbog nemara.

http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Svijet/tabid/67/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/60386/Default.aspx