HERP NEWS 238/2009
STARPHOENIX (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) 26 August
09 Fungus disease threatens frog species
A fungus that
threatens one out of three of Earth's 6,000 species of amphibians is also
putting at risk a stock of potential medicines for humans.
Frogs and
other amphibians have an "arsenal" of compounds on their skins,
including possible therapies for peptic ulcers, said Simon Stuart, chair of the
Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The amphibian
chytrid fungus and loss of habitat as forests are cleared for construction and
agriculture leaves the animals with limited chances for survival, scientists
say. Researchers met last week in London to determine ways to stop the spread
of the disease and halt the destruction of landscapes where the frogs make
their homes.
"The
world's amphibians are facing an uphill battle for survival," said James
Collins, co-chair of the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group. "Infectious
diseases, habitat loss, climate change, introduced species, commercial use and
pollution all affect amphibian survival."
In addition to
climate change, pathogens, invasive species, pollutants and solar radiation are
all contributing to a dropoff in the amphibian population, researchers say. To
fight the chytrid fungus, scientists are looking at breeding techniques and
naturally occurring bacteria, the IUCN added.
http://www2.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/story.html?id=3ee44fe7-4bc5-48cc-bad6-35b71697334a
NBC 24 (Toledo, Ohio) 26 August 09 Rare
salamander breeding at the Toledo Zoo
Two Northern
Slimy Salamanders have laid their eggs at the Toledo Zoo, which is uncommon in
zoo settings.
The
salamanders are located in the Amazing Amphibians exhibit in the zoo’s Museum
of Science but typically inhabit the eastern and central regions of the United
States, which includes the region east of the Toledo area.
The zoo staff
is closely looking after the salamanders and their eggs to ensure they hatch.
It is believed
that the first successful hatching of this species in a zoo setting happened in
January 2008 at the Toledo Zoo.
Habitat loss
and disease might hinder a species future so the zoo developed a breeding
program to help maintain and breed different species of salamanders.
The zoo is
participates in amphibian conservation and preservation efforts world wide.
The Toledo Zoo
is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (4 p.m. after Labor Day) and is located on
the Anthony Wayne Trail (US 25). Lucas County residents with proof of
residency are admitted free of charge each Monday from 10 a.m. to noon.
For more
information about the zoo and their amphibian conservation efforts, please
visit www.toledozoo.org or call (419) 385-4040.
http://www.toledoonthemove.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=342150
MIAMI HERALD (Florida) 26 August 09 Miami-Dade
Fire Rescue saves man bitten by green mamba snake
Miami-Dade
Fire Rescue officials Wednesday told the story of a 44-year-old man who was
saved last week by the department's anti-venom unit after being bitten by a
deadly snake.
The victim,
Comcast cable worker Pablo Vyskocil of Hollywood, was bitten as he was laying
cable lines around a small apartment building near the 2300 block of Taylor
Street in Hollywood.
Authorities
said Vyskocil was bitten once on the arm by a deadly green mamba snake as he
leaned against a tree.
Vyskocil said
within minutes his hand and arm went numb. Two hours later, the right side of
his face and the entire right side of his lower body were paralyzed.
"I was
calm," Vyskocil said in an interview after Wednesday's news conference.
"I thought I was going to die, but I was calm."
Capt. Ernie
Jillson, head of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Venom Response Unit, arrived in the
emergency room and showed Vyskocil pictures of snakes to determine if Vyskocil
needed an anti-venom. Vyskocil immediately identified the green mamba.
Over the next
two days, Vyskocil was given seven vials of mamba anti-venom; a yellow
substance made from the antibodies of horses to the toxins found in several
mambas, vipers and cobras.
A bite from a
green mamba snake can inject a victim with extremely potent neurotoxic venom
that attacks the nervous system. The venom also contains cardio toxins that
attack the heart. The bite is often fatal to humans because it shuts down the
lungs and heart.
Fatalities,
however, are rare because of the availability of the anti-venom.
The Venom
Response Team currently maintains the largest and only anti-venom bank for
public use in the United States, according to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials.
Wednesday's
news conference came on the heels of proposed budget cuts for Miami-Dade's
Venom Response Team. Under fire rescue's plan to reduce costs, the anti-venom
unit staff will be cut from five to one, eliminating $480,000.
Jillson, said
the reduction in man power would affect how future snake bite victims are
treated.
"If the
proposed cuts do come, it will significantly reduce our ability to do what we
do," Jillson said.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/breaking-news/story/1202952.html
WPGL (Miami, Florida) 26 August 09 Cable
Worker Recovers From Snake Bite - Green Mamba Not Found
A cable worker
who was bitten by a dangerous snake told his survival story Wednesday.
Pabo Vyskocil
showed off the mark on his arm, left when a green mamba snake bit him on
Thursday.
Vyskocil was
in a wooded area behind a building in the 2300 block of Taylor Street in
Hollywood, installing cable service, when the snake bit him. He knocked on a
resident's door to ask for help and, after the resident called 911, rescuers
took him to Memorial Regional Hospital.
Initially, it
was unclear what type of snake bit Vyskocil. He pointed out a picture of a
green mamba in a book on snakes, and eventually experts determined that the
green mamba was the most likely attacker.
"In the
beginning, my arm was swollen and numb. Then, after that -- dizzy,
nauseous," Vyskocil said.
A venom
response team from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue gave Vyskocil seven vials of mamba
antivenin.
The snake that
bit Vyskocil has not been found. Traps have been set near the site of the
attack.
http://www.justnews.com/news/20570894/detail.html
THE GAZETTE (Colorado Springs, Colorado) 26
August 09 Reptile rescue closed after dead animals are found (Bill Reed)
The owners of
Mountain Aire Reptile Rescue & Sanctuary are being investigated for animal
cruelty, after reptile carcasses were found on Ron and De Farley’s property at
913 E. Second St.
“There were a
number of deceased reptiles on the property as well as living,” said Ann
Davenport, spokeswoman for the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region.
The suspected
abuse was discovered by Division of Wildlife officials.
Humane Society
investigators then discovered more than 100 creatures, including snakes,
monitor lizards, geckos, turtles, tortoises, bearded dragons, iguanas and
skinks.
Davenport said
many of the animals were not in appropriate housing for reptiles, with access
to heat lamps, special diets and water. She would not say how many dead animals
were found, saying the investigation is ongoing and charges are pending.
“It was a very
reputable rescue, and the owners were very knowledgeable about reptiles, and it
just seems they got in over their heads,” Davenport said. “That doesn’t excuse,
but that does impact what type of charges are filed.” Colorado law allows
misdemeanor and felony charges for animal cruelty, depending on the case.
Rescue founder
Ron Farley confirmed the investigation and said his rescue has closed, but said
he couldn’t comment further.
“I’d like to
talk to you, but my attorneys have told me to keep quiet,” Farley said.
Davenport said
the Humane Society took many animals in need of immediate care, and they are
recuperating with area veterinarians, other rescues or at the shelter.
“Some will
eventually be available for adoption,” Davenport said.
http://www.gazette.com/news/reptile-60780-rescue-owners.html
BBC (London, UK) 26 August 09 Axolotl
verges on wild extinction (Matt Walker)
The amphibian
that never grew up is on the verge of going extinct in the wild.
New survey
work suggests that fewer than 1,200 Mexican axolotls remain in its last
stronghold, the Xochimilco area of central Mexico.
The axolotl is
a type of salamander that uniquely spends its whole life in its larval form.
Its odd
lifestyle, features and ability to regenerate body parts make it a popular
animal kept in labs, schools and as pets.
But in the
wild, the future is bleak for this "Peter Pan" of animals.
Recent surveys
suggest that between 700 and 1,200 axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum) survive in
six reduced and scattered areas within the Xochimilco area of the Mexican Central
Valley.
One of these
surveys found just a single axolotl in the whole study region.
The long-term
survival of the axolotl in the wild has now become critical, and demands urgent
action to restore the animal's number and habitat, say scientists monitoring
the population.
The Mexican
axolotl is highly unusual.
Altogether,
there are around seven species of salamander belonging to the genus Ambystoma.
All are quite
similar and may be called axolotls. Most are capable of retaining their larval
forms throughout their whole lives.
But they
usually do so in response to their environment, for example, if temperatures
are too cold to emerge onto land as an adult salamander, the tadpole larvae may
just keep growing underwater instead.
But the
Mexican axolotl is the only species that never undergoes metamorphosis.
Instead each
generation lives underwater as outsized larvae. Males and females mate
underwater and the females lay eggs on nearby structures such as plants.
The Mexican
axolotl's odd looks and unusual life history have also made it a favourite pet,
and the subject of extensive biological research into its physiology.
Though
accurate information about the population of wild Mexican axolotls is hard to
come by, recent evidence suggests that the population has declined alarmingly
in recent decades.
For example,
in 1998 there were thought to be around 6,000 axolotls per square kilometre of
the Xochimilco.
By 2004 just
1,000 lived in the equivalent area, and by 2008 around 100 animals survived per
square kilometre, Dr Luis Zambrano and colleagues at the National Autonomous
University of Mexico, based in Mexico City report in the journal Biological
Conservation.
That is a
ten-fold reduction in four years and a 60-fold reduction in ten years, leading
the International Union for Conservation of Nature to classify the species as
endangered on its annual Red List of threatened species.
Now "our
best estimates using unpublished data, but with two different techniques,
sampling and genetic, suggests that the total amount of axolotls in the wild is
between 700 and 1,200 animals," says Dr Zambrano.
"We are
still analysing the data, so it may change a little bit. But we don't think it
will change by an order of magnitude."
The axolotl's
range is also highly restricted.
Dr Zambrano's
team has surveyed the Xochimilco, a complex water system of artificial
channels, small lakes and temporary wetlands that help supply Mexico City, a
nearby city of some 18 million people.
As the city
has increased in size, it has dramatically reduced the axolotl's natural
habitat.
Zambrano's
team calculate that the salamander now exists in just six isolated parts of the
water system, often near to some of the few remaining natural springs supplying
clear, fresh water.
Their most
recent work shows that the reduction in water quality is one of the main
factors driving the axolotl to extinction in the wild.
Another is the
presence of large numbers of introduced carp and tilapia fish, which both
compete ecologically with axolotls for food and resource, and also eat axolotl
eggs.
While captive
colonies of axolotls exist across Mexico, the US, Canada, Germany, the UK and
Japan, reintroducing these animals would be a bad idea, say the scientists.
"Reintroduction
is not a good idea because it reduces the genetic variability and increases the
chances of chytrdiomicosis disease," says Dr Zambrano.
Chytrdiomicosis
is an often fatal condition caused by the chytrid fungus, which is decimating
amphibian populations around the world.
Dr Zambrano's team
are now embarking on a programme to create wild refuges for the Mexican
axolotl, in a bid to arrest the decline in its numbers and prevent it going
extinct in the wild.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8220000/8220636.stm
SF WEEKLY (San Francisco, California) 26 August
09 Iguana Man Optimistic He Won't Have to Give Up
His 'Service Lizard' (Joe Eskenazi)
Yesterday we
reported that Cosmie Silfa was at risk of having to give up his
doctor-prescribed "service iguana" Skippy. Today, however, Silfa is
optimistic he won't have to surrender the arm-sized, green lizard his
psychiatrist describes as "an essential component of our treatment
plan."
Silfa -- who
was profiled in a June SF Weekly cover story about the city's intriguing rules
and regulations regarding service animals -- has been entitled to keep
"Skippy" the iguana in his well-heated room at the Knox SRO for years
thanks to a note from Dr. Cynthia Resendez.
Yet for
reasons that are not totally clear, building management has recently decided it
wants more than the aforementioned note, and asked for Silfa's doctor to fill
out what appear to be reasonable accommodation request forms. Silfa reported,
however, that his doctor felt uncomfortable filling out the forms, and believed
providing the note was enough -- setting in motion a situation in which he
could be forced to remove the iguana from the premises. The John Stewart
Company, which manages this SRO, has not gotten back to us yet, and this move
puzzled Chuck Hauptman, HUD's regional director of fair housing and equal
opportunities.
It appears,
however, that Silfa won't have to relocate his service animal. He told us that
his therapist at SOMA Health has forwarded the forms to a different
psychiatrist, who could fill them out as early as this week.
"I
notified [building management] that a psychiatrist would be getting the forms
in the next few days," Silfa said. "I think they're okay with
it."
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/08/iguana_man_optimistic_he_wont.php
SF WEEKLY (San Francisco, California) 26 August
09 Whither Skippy? Will Man Profiled in
SF Weekly Cover Story Have to Give Up His Service Iguana? (Joe Eskenazi)
Our more
fervent readers may recall a June SF Weekly cover story titled "Service
with a Snarl" exploring the city's intriguing rules and regulations
regarding service animals. Yes, it was the one with the maniacal Chihuahua on
the cover.
One of the
service animal users profiled in the article was Cosmie Silfa, who keeps a
platoon of lizards in his 80-degree SRO hotel room, including
"Skippy," his service iguana.
"To whom
it may concern, I am the treating psychiatrist of Mr. Cosmie Silfa," reads
the well-worn letter written on Silfa's behalf by Dr. Cynthia Resendez. "I
have been treating Mr. Silfa for depression. His pet iguana, Skippy, helps him
to maintain a stable mood as she provides companionship and motivation for him
to stay well. She is an essential component of our treatment plan, and I
recommend she continue to be able to live with Mr. Silfa in his apartment."
Ostensibly,
this should be all Silfa needs in order to leapfrog (no pun intended) rules
regarding pets in his room at the Knox SRO in SOMA. But his building managers
want more, and have told him if he doesn't hand back some forms, he'll have to
get rid of his service iguana.
Silfa told SF
Weekly that representatives of the John Stewart Company, which manages the
Knox SRO, have demanded he not only present his letter, but get his doctor to
fill out a "Section 504 Housing Application." According to Silfa, his
doctor balked, telling him that the letter was enough.
"They
were expecting to hear something by [Monday]," said Silfa of his apartment
managers. "They want me to show them the paperwork or get rid of the
animal."
Our calls to
John Stewart -- the company, not the Daily Show host -- were passed up a
successive corporate ladder until we reached CEO Jack Gardner, who is out of
town. When we asked to speak to the second- or third-best person regarding
their service animal policy, we were told more than a few people were out of
town and it might take a couple of days to return our message.
As for whether
the building managers are entitled to ask for more than a doctor's note --
which would be news to us -- the Mayor's Office on Disability said this isn't a
matter of interpreting the Americans with Disabilities act (which they do) but
the Fair Housing Act (which they don't do). That's a matter for the office of
Housing and Urban Development.
Chuck
Hauptman, HUD's regional director of
fair housing and equal opportunity, said he's confused by Silfa plight.
"If, in fact, the housing provider was aware this was a service animal and
approved that [earlier], I don't understand what they're doing at this
point."
We'll keep you
posted on the situation.
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/08/whither_skippy_will_man_profil.php
DE REDACTIE (Brussels, Belgium) 26 August 09 De
"lachende salamander" dreigt te verdwijnen
Die unieke
eigenschap en het feit dat een axolotl
in staat is om verloren ledematen opnieuw te laten aangroeien, maken dat
het dier bestudeerd wordt in veel laboratoria. Zijn vreemde uiterlijk, met de
kleurrijke uitwendige kieuwen en de dwaze grijns die ze lijken te hebben, maakt
er ook een populair huisdier van.
Maar in het
wild ziet het er dus niet goed uit voor de salamander die nooit volwassen
wordt. De axolotls worden bedreigd door de vernietiging van hun leefgebied, dat
nu is ingekrompen tot zes gebieden in Xochimilco in Mexico.
Ook de
verslechtering van de waterkwaliteit bedreigt de dieren, het is ongetwijfeld
niet toevallig dat hun zes overgebleven leefgebieden rond bronnen liggen die
voor vers, zuiver water zorgen. Maar de ergste bedreiging is waarschijnlijk het
introduceren van niet-inheemse vissoorten zoals karpers en de vraatzuchtige
Tilapia of nijlbaars die de eieren en de jonge dieren verslinden en
concurrentie vormen voor het bemachtigen van voedsel.
De Mexicaanse
axololtl (het woord komt uit de Azteekse Nahuatl-taal en betekent dienaar van
het water, de Latijnse naam is Ambystoma
mexicanum) is een zeer merkwaardig dier.
Tot het
geslacht Ambystoma, de molsalamanders, behoren enkele tientallen soorten
salamanders. De meeste daarvan zijn ook in staat tot neotenie, het
geslachtsrijp worden in het larve-stadium, maar ze doen dat enkel in
uitzonderlijke omstandigheden, bijvoorbeeld als het te koud is om aan land te
gaan als volwassen salamander.
De axolotl is
de enige soort die nooit volwassen wordt. In de plaats daarvan blijven ze onder
water leven als overmaatse larven en paren ze ook onderwater. De vrouwtjes
leggen daarop hun eieren aan bijvoorbeeld planten.
Nog een
vreemde eigenschap van de axolotl is dat de dieren in staat zijn een nieuw
lidmaat te laten groeien als ze er een verloren zijn. Ook dat vinden wetenschappers uiteraard erg interessant.
De populatie van de axolotls neemt al lang af maar de jongste jaren is
de teruggang dramatisch. In 1998 werd er geschat dat er zo'n
6.000 axolotls per vierkante kilometer leefden in de Xochimilco.
Dat is een
ingewikkeld systeem van moerassen, kleine meertjes en kunstmatige kanaaltjes in
de buurt van Mexico City. Naarmate die stad van nu 18 miljoen inwoners gegroeid
is, is het leefgebied van de axolotl dramatisch ingekrompen en is ook de
populatie in het overgebleven gebied drastisch verminderd.
In 2004 waren
er volgens een telling nog maar 1.000 axolotls per vierkante kilometer en en in
2008 nog maar 100, 60 keer minder dan 10 jaar eerder.
Hoewel er
kolonies axolotls bestaan in gevangenschap in Mexico, de Verenigde Staten,
Canada, Duitsland, Groot-Brittannië en Japan, is het waarschijnlijk geen goed
idee om die dieren in het wild opnieuw uit te zetten. Vaak zijn de gekweekte
exemplaren albino's die in het wild weinig overlevingskansen hebben en
bovendien zijn ze allemaal familie van elkaar zodat de genetische
verscheidenheid van de axolotl zou afnemen.
Bovendien zou
een dergelijke introductie de kans op besmetting met de
Batrachochytrium-schimmel verhogen. Die schimmel, die van nature voorkomt bij
enkele amfibieënsoorten maar die nu wereldwijd oprukt, richt momenteel
wereldwijd een ware ravage aan onder de amfibieën.
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/ookdatnog/090826_axolotl
DE TELEGRAAF (Netherlands) 26 August 09 Slang
lift mee terug
Photo: The curious snake is also under the hood (Tiet
Sandra Hoff)
Amsterdam: Sandra Tiethoff en echtgenoot René kregen de
schrik van hun leven toen na de vakantie in Italië ineens een slang onder de
motorkap vandaan kwam.
Het beest
bleek 700 kilometer te zijn meegelift onder de motorkap. "Onze grote vraag
was natuurlijk wat voor beest het was: giftig of niet?"
Nadat ze in
hun huisje in Italië ook al eens een schorpioen naar buiten hadden geveegd,
werd de tocht huiswaarts hervat. Die verliep voorspoedig. "In Oostenrijk
genoot ik van de prachtige bergen. Tot ik vanuit de motorkap ineens de kop van
een slang naar boven zag komen. Hij keek nieuwsgierig bij ons naar binnen en me
recht in de ogen."
Aanvankelijk
dacht Sandra, in het dagelijks leven voorlichter bij de politie Twente, dat ze
droomde. "Maar toen ik doorkreeg dat het echt was, begon ik te gillen en
zetten we de auto aan de kant."
Onmiddellijk werd de politie erbij gehaald. "De agent
lachte. Dacht dat het om een addertje ging. Of ik een toverfluit bij me had,
schamperde hij. Dan zou-ie wel weer tevoorschijn komen. Toen het dier zich
echter liet zien, schrok hij zich wezenloos. Maar dat is een echte slang,
schreeuwde hij."
"Er werd
een slangenexpert bij gehaald, maar hij kroop alleen maar verder weg. We hebben
bijna vier uur op die parkeerplaats gestaan. Uiteindelijk zei de expert dat we
maar verder moesten rijden."
Er zat echter
niets anders op. "In Duitsland belandden we in een kilometerslange file.
En telkens keek het dier even bij ons naar binnen. "We kregen medelijden
met hem. De ruitenwissers hoefden we gelukkig niet te gebruiken. Dochtertje Sam
en zoontje Boyd vonden het op een gegeven moment zelfs leuk. Boyd wilde de
slang wel als huisdier, maar dat zagen we toch niet zo zitten."
Na urenlange
fileleed vond de slang het kennelijk welletjes. "In een van de files kroop
hij in de volle lengte over onze voorruit de vrijheid tegemoet. Het dier was
toch al snel een kleine anderhalve meter. Nadat ik eerst nog gilde, heb ik toch
nog maar snel een foto van hem gemaakt."
Volgens Walter
Getreuer van reptielenzoo Serpo gaat het om familie van onze inheemse
ringslang. "Ze worden dobbelsteen- of dambordslang (Natrix tesselatta) genoemd. Ze eten vis en kikkers en zijn niet
giftig. Leven vaak in of in de buurt van water en zo af en toe komen ze bij ons
binnen.
http://www.telegraaf.nl/reiskrant/4686953/__Slang_lift_mee_terug__.html
CALGARY HERALD (Alberta) 25 August 09 U of C
scientist helps reveal gecko's secret (Ibby Caputo, The Washington Post)
Put a gecko on
a level piece of glass and it might slip all over the place. Tilt that glass
about 10 degrees and it will stay in place. This is because the gecko's grip is
triggered by gravity, a recent discovery made by scientists at the University
of Calgary and Clemson University in South Carolina and published in Proceedings
B, a biological research journal.
"They
actually don't respond to how slippery a surface is--they only respond to the
angle of the surface," said Tim Higham, an evolutionary biologist at
Clemson.
Geckos, which
are lizards found in warm climates, are known for their ability to scale the
walls and ceilings of almost all surfaces. But unlike most animal adhesion
systems, which involve claws or sticky residue, the gecko's adhesion system
uses a reversible molecular attraction, according to an earlier study.
"When you
touch the gecko pad, it's not sticky. It's not like tape," Higham said.
The gecko
species studied by scientists--and only a few out of thousands have been
studied, according to Higham--have pads on each of their toes. The pads are made
of hundreds of thousands of setae, which are hairlike structures that elongate
and are invisible to the naked eye. When activated on a surface, their adhesion
is extremely strong.
Before the
discovery by Higham and co-researcher Anthony Russell, a zoology professor at
the University of Calgary, no one knew when the gecko would use its grip.
Higham
suggested that the study of the gecko's grip could lead to the development of
military and other applications, including gloves and shoes that could adhere
to a variety of surfaces.
In a YouTube
video, Russell proposes surgical applications to close wounds and picture
hangers that would not require a sticky residue.
The study
could also lead to a robot made in the gecko's image. "In a bomb scare . .
. where having humans go in might not be really safe, you can send in a little
robotic gecko and explore a dangerous situation," Higham said.
FLORIDA TODAY (Melbourne) 25 August 09 Monitor
lizard found in Melbourne (J.D. Gallop)
A four-foot
long reptile – described as a monitor lizard – is headed to a shelter after
being spotted roaming along a busy Melbourne intersection.
The creature
was first seen by an off-duty firefighter about 11 a.m. crawling along New
Haven Avenue and Dairy Road intersection.
“It’s not very
common,” said Brevard County Animal Services Capt. Bob Brown of calls to
retrieve monitor lizards.
“We have one
or two calls a year about monitors that get out or push the top off a container
to go exploring. They’re fairly hard to catch.”
The off-duty
firefighter took the lizard, which requires a state-issued license to keep, to
a nearby pet store.
Monitor
lizards, with long necks, striped tails and claws, are also carnivorous.
“We’ll
probably end up taking it to a shelter. You have to be very cautious handling
it,” Brown said.
Anyone with
information on the lizard can call animal services at 633-2024.
WILTSHIRE TIMES (Swindon, UK) 25 August
09 Brickie
stunned to see exotic snake in barn (Emma Streatfield)
Bricklayer
Dean Hazell could not believe his eyes when he spotted an exotic snake in a
barn where he was working.
Mr Hazell, 43,
pictured, of Upham Road, Walcot, came across the Honduran milk snake while he
was carrying out repairs in the grounds of Flaxlands Manor, in Hook.
It looked more
scared than we were if that’s possible.
Dean said: “It
was a bit of a shock. It wasn’t aggressive. It looked more scared than we were
if that’s possible.
“I’m not sure
it could look any more scared than I did — I didn’t know if it was poisonous.”
Dean came
across the snake on Wednesday, but before he was able to catch it or identify
it the reptile made a quick escape.
“I thought, oh
God, I have got to work there now knowing it’s there,” said Dean.
“I wasn’t too
thrilled.”
When the snake
appeared on the same brick wall the following day, Dean and colleague Jamie
Curtis captured it and put into a black recycling box using a stick and a pair
of gloves.
“We could have
left it in the recycling box and let the council deal with it – that would have
been another story,” joked Dean.
The pair then
took it to the Planet Reptile specialist shop, in Newport Street, Old Town.
Shop staff
taught Dean how to hold the snake and he also got some memento pictures of it.
“I don’t have
a phobia of snakes,” he said.
“I wouldn’t
have one as a pet, I wouldn’t want to share the house with one, but I’m not too
frightened of them.”
Pete Blake,
the owner of the shop, said finding milk snakes, which can grow up to 4ft long,
was unusual because they are not native to this country.
He said milk
snakes can often be confused with coral snakes, which are red and yellow and
highly venomous. He said the snake was likely to be an escaped pet and will now
be rehomed.
BYM MARINE ENVIRONMENT NEWS (Gibraltar)
25 August 09 Western Swamp Tortoises released into wild
Australia: A creep of critically endangered Western
Swamp Tortoises was today released back into their former habitat at Moore
River Nature Reserve north of Perth.
Environment
Minister Donna Faragher said the 30 tortoises were bred at Perth Zoo and their
translocation was part of the Western Swamp Tortoise Recovery Plan, which aimed
to bring the species back from the brink of extinction.
“The Western
Swamp Tortoise is one of the world’s rarest tortoises and is Australia’s most
endangered reptile,” Mrs Faragher said.
“Just 50 adult
tortoises exist naturally in two locations in the Swan Valley.
“Since 1994,
the Western Swamp Tortoise Recovery Team has made significant headway in
increasing the numbers of the animals in the wild in Western Australia, but
there is a long way to go to ensure the survival of the species.
“The tortoise
did occur naturally in the Moore River but died out due to predation by feral
animals and the onset of a drier climate in the past few decades.
“Rainfall
levels this year have produced favourable conditions for their release.
“Western Swamp
Tortoises require swamps and plenty of surface water during winter and spring,
burrowing under the ground during the warmer, dry months, and this nature
reserve is ideal for that process.
“The Department
of Environment and Conservation (DEC) has undertaken habitat modifications at
the release site to improve conditions for the tortoise and provide resilience
to drier climatic conditions.”
Prior to
release the tortoises were weighed, measured and fitted with radio transmitters
to ensure they could be monitored and tracked at the reserve.
DEC
co-ordinates the recovery program in partnership with the Perth Zoo, the
Natural Heritage Trust, the Perth Region Natural Resource Management (NRM)
Group, the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Friends of the Western Swamp
Tortoise.
Recently, the
Minister announced the allocation of $250,000 of NRM funding to continue
tortoise recovery work.
“The Perth Zoo
has run a successful breeding program since 1988 to produce more than 450
captive-bred tortoises for release into the wild,” she said.
“Since 1994,
more than 400 individuals have been released with the oldest now reaching
breeding age.”
Last year, 44
Western Swamp Tortoises were successfully released into Moore River Nature and
Mogumber Nature Reserves.
http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=59418
GEORGINA ADVOCATE (Ontario) 24 August 09 Hopping
to help amphibians, reptiles (Keely Grasser)
A collective
gasp sounds as our varied group of hikers comes to a stop mid-trail, all
peering into the weedy side of a pond, eyes straining, cameras at the ready.
What's the
cause of all this excitement?
One
goldish-coloured, black-spotted leopard frog that suddenly leaps from the
grasses.
Spottings like
this were the treasures of a reptile and amphibian awareness trek held in Rouge
Park for two days last week.
Painted
turtles were glimpsed from afar, basking in the warm sun.
But the star
of the day was a baby milk snake, who patiently posed for dozens of snapshots
while slithering through careful fingers.
It's hard not
to get passionate about reptiles and amphibians when listening to the
enthusiastic hosts of the Rouge Park event: agencies like Rouge Park, Ontario
Nature and the Toronto Zoo.
They're hoping
more will become interested in protecting Ontario's snakes, frogs, toads,
salamanders and lizards.
Ontario Nature
and other agencies are heading up a new Ontario Herpetofaunal Atlas - a
database about reptiles and amphibians in the province.
It began this
year, the program's John Urquhart said. It's needed, he said, because experts
don't currently know where many species are.
Other animal
counts are done, he explained, like those conducted by bird watchers.
"Reptiles
and amphibians are just not as cool ... as a result, there's a lack of
information on where they are," he said.
You can't
protect them if you don't know how many there are and where they are, he
explained.
Amphibians are
doing well in Canada, where fewer species are threatened. But that's not true
internationally, Mr. Urquhart explained.
Reptiles
aren't as lucky.
Almost half of
Canada's 42 reptile species and 18 of 24 Ontario species are listed as
endangered, threatened or of special concern.
There's 15
snake, 8 turtle, 13 frog and toad, 11 salamander and one lizard species in this
province.
Rouge Park is
home to 19 species of reptiles and amphibians. There you may hear the calls of
bullfrogs, tree frogs, spring peepers or American toads.
You may see a
red bellied snake slither by.
Or, if you're
lucky, catch a glimpse of a snapping turtle, map turtle, or even better, a
Blandings turtle.
Turtles have
been hard hit by a number of factors, including habitat degradation,
Adopt-A-Pond's Erin Nadeau explained.
She encourages
the public to help turtles by building habitat when the opportunity arises, to
clean up litter and to conserve water.
Also dangerous
to turtles, as well as snakes, frogs and toads, are cars. No point in southern
Ontario is more than 1.5 kilometres from a road, said Mandy Karsh, the
co-ordinator of the Ontario Road Ecology group.
To help
Ontario's reptiles and amphibians, she recommends driving cautiously, not
littering (it attracts animals to the side of the road to feed) and to move
wildlife out of harm's way, when it's safe to do so. The government can also
help preserve these animals, she said, by putting in specialty wildlife
crossing signs, speed limits, clearing vegetation at roadsides and draining
salt puddles.
Ms Karsh said
fences can also be installed in wildlife hotspots, or special underpasses can
be built to help animals cross safely.
Both she and
Ms Nadeau also encourage the public to report reptile and amphibian sightings.
You can easily
report any sightings to the Ontario Herpetofaunal Atlas.
Visit
ontarionature.org/herpetofaunal_atlas.html to report a sighting, or to print
out forms to fill in and send.
Mr. Urquhart
said you should report every sighting of a reptile or amphibian, common or
rare, dead or alive.
Both old and
new sightings are welcomed, he said, as are reports of shells and skins.
The best time
to spot turtles is in June, snakes on sunny days or warm nights and amphibians
on rainy days, especially in the spring, Mr. Urquhart explained. You'll find
reptiles and amphibians at the edges of water bodies and wetlands, in shallow water
or under logs and rocks, he said.
http://www.georginaadvocate.com/News/Regional%20News/article/95806
WASHINGTON POST (DC) 24 August 09 Gravity
Governs the Gecko's Strong Grip (Ibby Caputo)
Put a gecko on
a level piece of glass and it might slip all over the place. Tilt that glass
about 10 degrees and it will stay in place. This is because the gecko's grip is
triggered by gravity, a recent discovery made by scientists at the University
of Calgary and Clemson University in South Carolina and published in
Proceedings B, a biological research journal.
"They
actually don't respond to how slippery a surface is -- they only respond to the
angle of the surface," said Tim Higham, an evolutionary biologist at
Clemson.
Geckos, which
are lizards found in warm climates, are known for their ability to scale the
walls and ceilings of almost all surfaces. But unlike most animal adhesion
systems, which involve claws or sticky residue, the gecko's adhesion system
uses a reversible molecular attraction, according to an earlier study.
"When you
touch the gecko pad it's not sticky. It's not like tape," Higham said.
The gecko
species studied by scientists -- and only a few out of thousands have been
studied, according to Higham -- have pads on each of their toes. The pads are
made of hundreds of thousands of setae, which are hair-like structures that
elongate and are invisible to the naked eye. When activated on a surface, their
adhesion is extremely strong.
"It can
hold more than just the weight of the gecko," Higham said. "You could
hang people on the gecko's foot, if the foot wouldn't come off."
Higham said
one hypothesis for the gecko's super-strong grip is so it can withstand extreme
forces, such as the winds of a hurricane.
But before the
discovery by Higham and co-researcher Anthony Russell, a zoology professor at
the University of Calgary, no one knew when the gecko would use its grip.
"What we
found out really was something quite surprising," said Russell in a
YouTube video explaining the findings. "Body orientation rather than any
interaction with the surface is what triggers when this system is switched
on." He said the central nervous system of the brain and ear probably
plays an intensive role in the gecko's internal trigger.
One way that
the gecko may protect its special ability is by using it only on an incline,
Higham said.
"Something
in their system tells them to turn it on at 10 degrees," Higham said.
"If you only use it when you need it, then you are not going to subject it
to damage."
There are advantages
for the lizard to not use its adhesive system on level surfaces, Higham said --
mainly to run faster.
"Having
that extra speed can help them run away or catch something," he said.
Higham
suggested that the study of the gecko's grip could lead to the development of
military and other applications, including gloves and shoes that could adhere
to a variety of surfaces and allow people to scale walls. In the YouTube video,
Russell proposes surgical applications to close wounds and picture hangers that
would not require a sticky residue. The study could also lead to a robot made
in the gecko's image.
"In a
bomb scare or military-type situation, where having humans go in might not be
really safe, you can send in a little robotic gecko and explore a dangerous
situation," Higham said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/23/AR2009082302489.html
THE TELEGRAPH (Calcutta, India) 24 August
09 Turtles
get village shield - Wildlife conservation gets boost in sanctuary & rural
temple (Priya Abraham)
Bhubaneswar:
The 200-odd fresh water turtles in Champeswar are fortunate not to have met the
fate of thousands of Olive Ridleys in Gahirmatha.
For centuries,
they have found a temple tank in this village in Cuttack district to live where
nobody harms them, rather protect them, unlike their oceanic counterparts who
are killed by fishing trawlers every year.
Villagers of
Champeswar, around 112km from here, take care of the turtles, who have of late
drawn an interest from wildlife conservationists and the state government.
According to
historians, the temple is about 1,000-year-old and the 150sqft tank — adjacent
to it — seems to be as old. Local villagers worship the turtles as incarnation
of Lord Vishnu.
The huge
number of turtles is one of the major attractions for devotees visiting the
temple and the state tourism department wants to reap benefit out of the
tradition. The devotees feed bhog (temple offerings) to the turtles and
consider it as an act of virtue. They also take care so that the 3-metre deep
tank remains clean.
“No one knows
how old the turtles are or how they came here But it is believed that if anyone
harms them, their family will suffer from incurable diseases,” said Lokanath
Panda, the temple priest.
The turtles
are harmless and there has been no incident of any visitor ever being harmed by
the reptile. People place food on the stairs leading to the tank and it’s
exciting to see the turtles rushing for it. Some even respond to their names.
“Two giant turtles emerge out of the water when called by their name Balia and
Kalia,” claimed a village elder.
“While the
stock of this species is declining everyday and the government has been coming
up with several projects for its safety, this unique conservation measure by
the villagers of Champeswar is encouraging,” senior environmentalist Bijay
Mishra said.
Since the
temple is a monument of archaeological importance, the department of tourism is
also concerned about its conservation effort. “However, the role of key actors,
the local community in this system, is yet to be acknowledged,” lamented
Mishra.
The temple
authorities believe that the tank is spacious enough to accommodate the turtles
as of now. “Even is the population goes up, we might have to construct another
pond. The entire village will contribute towards this effort,” said Panda.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090824/jsp/nation/story_11376841.jsp
WPRI (Portsmouth, Rhode Island) 24 August
09 Snake search has $1,600 price tag - Escaped
python is costing Portsmouth big bucks (Amanda Mathias)
Portsmouth,
R.I.: Officials in Portsmouth say last
month's search for an escaped Burmese python cost the town $1,600.
Back on July
24th, Portsmouth Police led an extensive search for the snake, which had
slithered away from its owner's home on Gormley Avenue. Officials put the
entire neighborhood in Island Park on alert.
Seven Police
officers and members of the Fire Department were involved in the search. The
police department incurred more than a thousand dollars in overtime costs to
call in two officers to handle other calls while the search was underway.
The snake was
eventually found under the foundation of its owner's home. According to police,
it was the third time this same snake escaped. The reptile's owner agreed to
surrender the animal to Environmental Police. The agency has since found the
Python a home in Providence.
NEWS & STAR (Carlisle, UK) 24 August
09 New
tactic to tempt home missing Carlisle snake (Meg Jorsh)
It takes a
snake to catch a snake – or at least that’s the theory, for a Carlisle couple
whose serpent has given them the slip.
Empty-nest
syndrome: Murray Macnab, above, and wife Amanda are hoping new pet Pedro will
tempt Sid homeMurray and Amanda Macnab, of Upperby, have been scouring the
streets since their python Sidney went missing a fortnight ago. Now as a last
resort, they’re hoping to lure him home with some like-minded company, in the
form of their new snake Pedro.
Both snakes
are Royal Pythons, a non-poisonous species that can grow between 5ft and
6ft-long. The snakes are also known as ball pythons, because of their tendency
to curl into a ball when threatened.
Mr Macnab, of
Scalegate Road, said: “It’s been a while now, but we really miss Sid and we’re
holding out hope that he might come back. We wondered if having the smell of
another snake around would entice him home.”
The 3ft-long
python is believed to be living wild somewhere on or near Scalegate Road, after
escaping through a gap in his cage door. Mr Macnab described the nine-month-old
as tame and friendly, but warned that he could bite if startled.
And while
Pedro is settling in well, he said, it still feels like part of the family is
missing.
He added: “I
think he’s very loveable. At first I didn’t fancy the idea of a snake, but my
wife always wanted one. When I handled him, I found it very calming the way he
wraps himself around your arm.”
Sidney is
brown and golden green and has a sore patch of scales on the back of his neck
where he scraped himself on a previous escape attempt. Potential rescuers
should be wary of touching him, as he can carry the salmonella bacteria.
A reward is
being offered for Sidney’s safe return. Anyone with information should phone Mr
or Mrs Macnab on 07834 156393 or contact police.
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/new_tactic_to_tempt_home_missing_snake_1_602466?referrerPath=home
ORLANDO SENTINEL (Florida) 24 August 09 Couple
charged with third-degree murder, manslaughter in python-related child death
(Anthony Colarossi)
Oxford: The mother of a 2-year-old Sumter County girl
asphyxiated by a Burmese python and the woman's live-in boyfriend were charged
with third-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with the death,
officials said Monday.
Jaren Ashley
Hare, 19, and Charles Jason Darnell, 32, also face child-abuse counts,
according to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office. The charges come nearly two
months after the July 1 the death of little Shaiunna Hare, who was killed by
the snake in her crib.
The mother
turned herself into the Wildwood Police Department Monday after a warrant was
issued by the 5th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office. Darnell, who was
already incarcerated at the Sumter County Jail on unrelated narcotics charges,
was notified of the three new charges late Monday.
The attack in
the rural community about 60 miles northwest of Orlando was believed to be the
state's first case of a nonvenomous constrictor killing a child. Chief
Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway said the manslaughter by culpable
negligence charges reflect a "reckless disregard" that is criminal.
The third-degree felony murder charge indicates "the death was not
intended. You didn't set out to kill somebody, but it was the result of your
behavior."
Individuals
can be charged with both counts and go to trial on both counts, but if they're
found guilty of both, the court would have to dismiss one of the charges and
convict on the other, Ridgway said.
The murder and
manslaughter counts carry maximum sentences of 15 years in prison; the
child-abuse charge carries a five-year maximum.
Both were held
on $35,000 bond each in connection with the charges, which stem from the escape
of an albino Burmese python from a glass container inside the couple's home in
Oxford. The snake was later found wrapped around the child's lifeless body.
Darnell, who
was not Shaiunna's father, discovered the child that morning. Sobbing during a
911 call, he said, "The baby's dead! Our stupid snake got out in the middle
of the night and strangled the baby!"
The 8 1/2-foot
reptile had escaped its enclosure earlier. Darnell said he had put it inside a
bag and placed it back into the glass tank. He also put a quilt over the
container, tying down the ends. But the python escaped again and headed for the
young child's crib.
State wildlife
officials said the snake was not properly secured and not registered as a
required by state law. The python is considered a "reptile of
concern."
During an
interview with the Orlando Sentinel just about a month after the attack,
Darnell said he and Hare were still grieving the death of the child. He called
the snake attack a "terrible, awful accident."
"It's not
guilt," Darnell said at the time. "It's remorse and grief. I'll never
have another one [a snake]."
Darnell said
the child's death -- and the international publicity surrounding the case --
made him a "monster" in the eyes of many. But he also said he had
been around the reptiles much of his life.
"Some
people are bird people. Some people are cat people. And some people are snake
people," Darnell said during the interview.
The attack on
the child was followed up by state and federal efforts to hunt Burmese pythons
in and around the Everglades in South Florida, where the snakes have thrived,
reproduced and become dominant predators of native wildlife.
Hare has since
given birth to another baby fathered by Darnell.
THE TELEGRAPH (Calcutta, India) 24 August
09 Artificial
eggs spawn baby crocodiles
Kendrapada
(PTI): Wildlife lovers are jubilant as babies of estuarine crocodiles have
emerged out of the artificially hatched egg-shells in the crocodile research
farm of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary.
As part of the
“rear and release” programme of these endangered species, eggs collected from
the wild were hatched artificially, said Rajnagar mangrove (wildlife) division
officials.
Of the 79 eggs
hatched this year, there has been emergence of 63 babies from equal number of
nests, they said.
The young
crocodiles released into a captive pond would be reared for more than a couple
of years before being freed into the wild. The rear and release of these
hatched reptiles has been going on since 1975, funded by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP).
The
conservation project undertaken in Bhitarkanika tasted success while a similar
UNDP-funded gharial conservation project launched simultaneously in Tikarpada
sanctuary was a failure.
From hardly a
hundred, the crocodile population has swelled considerably over the years. Now,
1,572 crocodiles inhabit along Bhitarkanika’s water bodies, according to the
latest census of these animals. The estuarine crocodiles are not found in any
other river system in Orissa.
Besides the
mangrove forest along with its fauna, these reptiles are a major tourist
attraction of Bhitarkanika sanctuary.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090824/jsp/nation/story_11382425.jsp
DAILY MIRROR (Columbo, Sri Lanka) 24 August 09 Crocodile
hunters arrested (Athula Bandara)
Anuradhapura: Two persons who went hunting for a crocodile
for its flesh in Galenbindunuwewa were taken into custody by the police on
Saturday.
The suspects
had reportedly captured a seven feet crocodile in Belikulama Tank which was
subsequently killed for its flesh.
They were
nabbed in a tip off and recovered several kilograms of meat while the rest had
been sold by the suspects. OIC police
Chanaka de Silva is conducting investigations.
http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=59094
REUTERS 24 August 09 Bangladesh
crocodile farm aims to bite into luxury market (Azad Majumder)
Bhaluka,
Bangladesh: A Bangladeshi entrepreneur
wants to add bite to the country's meager exports with skin and meat from
crocodiles, products he says are largely recession-proof as they're targeted at
the rich.
Mushtaq
Ahmed's Reptiles Farm Ltd is the first to commercially farm saltwater
crocodiles in largely impoverished Bangladesh, with the aim of supplying the
luxury goods market.
It took Ahmed
several years to get the necessary financing and bureaucratic approvals to set
up the farm, which started operating in late 2005 with imported crocodiles and
fulfils all international wildlife protection treaties.
"People
first thought it was a crazy idea. But I always knew it was going be a
successful project," Ahmed told Reuters.
"Four
years on, it is now home to over 400 crocodiles, which is more than the
combined total of wild saltwater crocodiles in Bangladesh," he said at the
farm in the village of Bhaluka, 110 km (65 miles) north of the capital Dhaka.
Later this
year, the farm will start exporting baby crocodiles and skin from the larger
ones, with several European buyers already showing interest, Ahmed said.
The skin is
used to make luxury leather products such as belts and handbags, and Ahmed aims
to export over 5,000 crocodile parts annually, eyeing an income of about $5
million by 2015.
Crocodile
teeth are used to make necklaces or decorative pieces, while bones are used in
perfume production. Crocodile meat is also widely consumed in several parts of
the world.
With all these
commercial prospects Ahmed is confident his business will succeed, even in
difficult times.
"This
industry is not going to a affected by the global recession because those who
use crocodile skin are targeting the really rich," he said.
Commercial
crocodile farming exists in several countries, notably Australia, Thailand and
Malaysia, but Ahmed says Bangladesh has a competitive advantage because of
special import tariff agreements with the European Union.
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE57N0PG20090824
THE STATESMAN (Kolkata, India) 24 August
09 Bhitarkanika
croc claims woman, toll rises to six
Kendrapara: Estuarine crocodiles claimed yet another
human life today. A 30-year-old woman, identified as Sanjukta Behera is the
latest victim. With this, the rampaging crocodiles have slaughtered as many as
six people in recent past in villages located at the close periphery of
Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary.
A preying
crocodile pounced on the victim when she was washing utensils at the Kharasrota
river ghat in Mahuri village under Rajkanika police station area. The victim
was killed instantly. Later local fishermen retrieved the victim’s maimed body
remains.
“The reptiles
are killing innocent villagers on the riverside at will. But for the forest
department, crocodiles are more precious than human beings. The crocodile
conservation programme should be stopped or else people would begin killing
these animals,” decried agitated villagers.
This is the
third human casualty registered in and around Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary
over the past fortnight. Two adult crocodiles had been killed previously in a
retaliatory attack by the locals in recent months.
On 13 August,
crocodiles had killed 60-year-old Anadi Barik in the Kharsrota river waters
near Ranipokhari ghat.
On 4 August,
50-year-old Chanchala Digal was killed under similar circumstances near a creek
in Trilochanpur village under Dangmal gram panchayat. The number of crocodiles
in the Bhitarkanika river system has been rising steadily, with the latest
census indicating that 1,572 crocodiles inhabit the water bodies.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=9&theme=&usrsess=1&id=265768
NEWS-MAIL (Bundaberg, Australia) 24 August
09 Snakes
on the move in bundy
As shorts and
T-shirts come out so do summer nasties like snakes - a fact Richard Cervellin
found out the hard way.
The BSES
Limited research assistant was going about his work when he discovered an
eastern brown snake on the property.
“I didn't
expect to see one and I certainly didn't expect to see one that size,” Mr
Cervellin said.
As the snake
fled for a nearby power box, Mr Cervellin said there was only one thing he
could do.
“I stopped
walking. He's got little sharp pointy bits which you do not want attached to
you,” he said.
Snake catcher
Anthony Zinc, who was called in to remove the snake said the discovery of the
snake was not surprising.
“It is usually
around this time of year - the snakes are just starting to move about,” Mr Zinc
said.
“If you come
across a snake, stand still and leave the snake alone,” he said.
Mr Zinc said
he has already been called out to remove about six poisonous snakes in the Bundaberg
region since the weather started warming up - including a red belly black snake
in a home in Agnes Water at 1am.
“There are a
lot of people who don't pay attention and they really need to be on the
look-out for snakes now,” he said.
Snakes Downunder
Reptile Park owner Ian Jenkins agreed and said at this time of year people
would be more likely to see snakes.
“Spring is
mating time and males have one thing on their mind - staying out of the way of
humans is down on their list,” he said.
Mr Jenkins also
warned people to be careful if they are cleaning out backyards, in case snakes
were hiding under old pieces of rubbish.
Mr Jenkins
said there was one sure fire way to avoid being bitten.
“The safest
thing is to leave it alone,” he said.
However, Mr Jenkins
realised some times that was not an option.
“If you have a
snake that is around your feet or within biting distance, the safest thing is
to freeze,” he said.
If you see a
snake • Freeze - a snake sees by sensing movement • Do not attempt to deal with
the snake yourself - call a snake catcher • Watch the snake from a safe
distance until help arrives
http://www.news-mail.com.au/story/2009/08/24/snakes-on-the-move-in-bundy/
AMMO LAND (Manasquan, New Jersey) 24 August
09 Who
Is No. 1? Georgia Is In Salamanders, Thanks To New Species (Georgia
Department of Natural Resources)
Social Circle,
Ga.: The discovery of a startlingly distinct salamander and research that
defined another species have given Georgia a slippery title: No. 1 in the
nation for salamanders.
Scientists
have documented 58 species in the state, more than a 10th of the salamanders
known worldwide. The diversity is largely because of the state’s large size,
its five physiographic regions and its share of the moisture-rich Southern
Appalachians, described by Piedmont College professor and amphibians expert
Carlos Camp as “the center of the world for lungless salamanders.”
Chance and
technology also played roles in the newest additions.
Two graduate
students looking for salamanders near Toccoa in 2007 found a tiny brown one
unknown in that region. The find is making headlines. The patch-nosed
salamander (Urspelerpes brucei) is not only the world’s smallest salamander in
body size – and second-smallest at 2 inches long including the tail – it represents
the first new genus of four-footed animals described in the U.S. in 50 years.
“It’s
genetically not close to anything known,” Camp said.
This
yellow-nosed salamander is also unique physically. Besides the miniature size,
males are more distinctly patterned than females, a difference common to birds
but not lungless salamanders, which breathe through their skin and comprise
two-thirds of all salamander species.
Patch-nosed
salamanders have since been found at five Georgia sites – all along small, upper
Piedmont streams in steep ravines on the Chattahoochee National Forest – and
one site in South Carolina. The original research group included researchers
from five colleges.
Graduate
students Joe Milanovich of the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of
Forestry and Natural Resources and Bill Peterman of the University of Missouri
discovered the patch-nose. The team also included Camp, East Carolina
University professor Trip Lamb, Warnell assistant wildlife professor John Maerz
and David Wake, a professor at the University of California Berkeley.
Camp and
Milanovich are heading up further study with funding from The Environmental
Resources Network. TERN is an advocacy wildlife group that supports the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources’ Nongame Conservation Section.
Compared to
the patch-nosed, the brownback has a murkier history.
Specialists
had long debated whether the salamander found in spring seeps from Birmingham,
Ala., to northwest Georgia was simply a variant of common two-lined salamanders.
Auburn University doctoral student Sean Graham and Elizabeth Timpe, now a
University of Connecticut doctoral student, answered the question.
Their
analysis, published this spring in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and
Evolution, confirmed that the brown, short and, in Graham’s words, “dumpy
looking” Eurycea aquatica is a
separate species. Considering genetic and physical characteristics, “When we
looked at those two things together, everything kind of came into sharp focus,”
Graham said.
The classification
of flatwoods salamanders as two species this February kicked off Georgia’s
banner year in the amphibian world. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
recognized research distinguishing between frosted and reticulated flatwoods
salamanders, both found in the lower Coastal Plain. As a result, reticulated
salamanders were listed as federally endangered. The frosted is considered
threatened. They are among only nine salamander species protected in the state.
Secretive but
often numerous, salamanders are bellwethers of habitat change and an important
part of a complex, eat-and-be-eaten food web on the forest floor, according to
“Amphibians and Reptiles of Georgia,” a definitive guide to the state’s
herpetofauna.
Senior Nongame
Conservation Section biologist John Jensen, an editor of “Amphibians and
Reptiles” along with Camp, Whit Gibbons and Nongame Program Manager Matt
Elliott, emphasized that the number of salamanders in Georgia has not
increased. “All we’re really doing is increasing our knowledge of them,” Jensen
said. Habitat loss and other factors are undermining salamander populations, he
added.
Discoveries of
new species highlight that trend. For example, Graham said that habitat for
brownback salamanders has been dwindling. “We’ve been losing populations and
nobody has been looking.”
The Nongame
Conservation Section of DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division works to conserve
animals not legally hunted, fished for or trapped, as well as native plants and
habitats. The section receives no state funds, depending instead on grants,
donations and fundraisers such as sales of the eagle and hummingbird
conservation license plates. The plates are available for a one-time $25 fee.
Details at www.georgiawildlife.com.
http://www.ammoland.com/2009/08/24/georgia-salamanders-to-new-species/
CTV (Calgary, Alberta) 23 August 09 Horned
Lizard makes comeback in Alberta
The only
lizard native to Alberta may be making a comeback.
University of
Calgary researchers found populations of the "Greater Short Horned
Lizard" have rebounded from 2004, but their numbers are still far below
what they were thirty years ago.
Magdalene
Leung and her research assistant Michael Sveen have spent much of the summer
scouring the hills along the Milk River, searching for the Greater Short Horned
Lizard, and updating information that University of Calgary researcher Tony
Russell first began collecting in 1979.
At one time,
Horned Lizards ranged as far north as the Red Deer River in Alberta. Northern
populations have been declining, partly because of the affects of industry,
agriculture and irrigation.
Horned Lizards
are the only species of lizard native to Alberta. Their short horns offer some
protection from predators, and there unique in other ways too.
Researchers
tell me you might find several lizards on one small hill, then have to travel
fifteen kilometers or father to find the next population. This summer, they're
not only counting and documenting the lizards, but also taking DNA samples to
compare the lizards in different areas.
Researchers
from the University of Calgary will be analyzing this years data over the
winter, and hope to continue their field work next summer.
Researchers
are urging farmers and ranchers in southern Alberta to contact Fish and
Wildlife if they come across Horned Lizards, or know of existing areas where
they can be found.
HERALD TRIBUNE (Sarasota, Florida) 23 August
09 Enlisting
citizens in battle of reptiles (Eric Ernst)
As invasive
spiny-tailed iguanas and other unwelcome species begin to spread in Florida,
it's a good time to look at what Sarasota County is doing to stem a tide of
invasive reptiles that are fanning out from Boca Grande and threatening to
overrun the area's native wildlife.
The short
answer: Not much, yet.
The county's
Web site, scgov.net, reviews the potential peril (go to R for reptiles under
the A-Z box at the left of the home page), and provides a list of trappers for
private property owners. The county encourages citizens to call 861-5000 to
report sightings. And the county commissioners have budgeted $50,000 for next
year to come up with some sort of plan.
Chance Steed
is trying to put the plan together while he maintains his real job, reviewing
environmental permits. Jerris Foote from the parks department is helping.
Sarasota trapper George Cera, who led eradication efforts in Boca Grande, has
been donating his time.
Understandably,
they don't want to rush into anything. We're talking about killing animals
here, and even though the iguanas are potential environmental disasters and
public nuisances, they haven't reached the concentrations they have on
Gasparilla Island, where Cera last year killed 16,000, sometimes 500 in a day.
Charlotte
County animal control supplies traps for homeowners. Sarasota County does not,
although animal services will retrieve exotics that property owners have
contained.
For now, the
county is focusing on eradication efforts within its parks.
It's
important, though, for people to report sightings in all locations. Repeated
sightings in one area indicate a concentration where trappers can be most
effective. Charlotte County residents can report sightings at
charlottecountyfl.com (go to the Resident section of the home page, and click
"Report an iguana sighting").
Ultimately,
the reptile invasion should be handled as a state, not a county, issue.
Brian Wood,
whose All American Gator Products in Hallandale Beach is the largest processor
of alligator hides in the state, says he's branching into the iguana skin and
meat business. He's not worried about supply. On Wednesday, he says, he
surveyed a trapping job for 120 homeowners in Boca Raton. In his short time
there, he spied 50 to 75 green iguanas five feet or longer.
"It's a
Jurassic Park in people's back yards," he says. And we all know how that
turned out.
VIETNAMNET (Hanoi, Vietnam) 23 August 09 Mekong
Delta: Watch out for crocodiles!
Unreliable
cages mean that crocodile escape to the rivers and canals during transportation
and attack people. More and more such reports from Mekong Delta provinces
frighten local residents.
A Kien Giang
Provincial Forest Protection Bureau official says that local rangers have
killed a crocodile 1.6m long, weighing 20kg, after it escaped from a crocodile
farm in Ha Tien Town. Locals complain there is still another loose crocodile in
the area.
Mrs. Nguyen Hong
Le of Can Tho was attacked by a crocodile when she held her 1-year old baby at
a canal bank near her home on March 22nd. Luckily, the crocodile didn’t snap up
the woman. She ran and called for help. It took local people half an hour to
catch the crocodile, which had escaped from its cage at a neighbor’s home.
In mid-May
2009, Hau Giang province residents discovered a crocodile in Nang Mau canal.
The animal has not yet been captured.
Nguyen Thi
Bay, a fisherwoman in Can Tho city, says her family caught six baby crocodiles
from a nearby canal. She sold all six as pets for 500,000 dong/head. Because
regulation enforcement is almost nonexistent, many people build cages in their
gardens to breed crocodiles as pets.
On July 20th,
a crocodile escaped to a river in Bac Lieu province while being transported.
Several days ago, the local people caught another crocodile in the same river,
which had also escaped during transport.
“Kids often
have bath in the river, so we are very worried about crocodiles on the loose,”
explains Nguyen Thi Nguyen in Bac Lieu province.
Who is
responsible for escaped crocodiles?
Breeding
crocodiles in the Mekong Delta is nearly out of control. Phan Thi Hong from Can
Tho city, is breeding 180 crocodiles. Hong said four years ago, when she began
raising the animals, she registered with the local Department of Agriculture
and Rural Development. Since then, the department has inspected her crocodile
farm only once.
In Bac Lieu
province, most crocodile breeders have several to several dozen crocodiles.
They rear them as part of hunger eradication and poverty reduction projects.
Phuoc Long district alone has several thousand families breeding around 56,000
crocodiles. Most don’t register with local authorities and they have to
transport their crocodiles to other provinces for sale. Some crocodiles have
escaped on the way, but no one admits responsibility for them.
Nguyen Quoc
Hung, Vice Chief of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of
Phuoc Long district, acknowledges: “Crocodile farmers have to seek the market
for crocodiles by themselves. The local agricultural department doesn’t have
any effective measure to control crocodile breeding, transporting and trading
activities”.
Nguyen Vinh
Phuc, chief of the Forest Protection Department of Hau Giang province, reports
that there are only 15 families registered to rear crocodiles in Hau Giang, but
the real number of breeders is many times higher.
“We plan to
arrange for the Forest Protection Bureau to control crocodile farms,” notes an
official from the Can Tho Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2009/08/864897/an
to arrange for the Forest Protection Bureau to control crocodile farms,” notes
an official from the Can Tho Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
GAINESVILLE SUN (Florida) 23 August 09 Woman
has a close call with a moccasin bite (Cindy Swirko)
Christen
Crevasse didn’t see the water moccasin coiled under her son’s toy car in the
garage, but she sure felt it.
On Friday,
three days after the bite, she was home from the hospital but still nursing a
fang-pierced toe and other effects of the surprise attack.
“All of a
sudden I felt something like a fang or a claw slam my foot. I yanked my foot
out and ran in the house very quickly,” Crevasse said. “It was pretty painful.
It was like a really hard shot. It immediately started going numb and
tingling.”
Crevasse and
her husband, Beau, owners of Crevasse’s Pet Funeral Home, live on a creek in
the Summer Creek subdivision off Northwest 39th Avenue.
Tuesday
evening she was reaching down for an item when the snake bit her foot. Beau
Crevesse came home a few minutes later and looked around the garage. He found
the snake, killed it and took both his wife and the snake to Shands at the
University of Florida.
Crevasse said
she was treated with antivenom and monitored until her release late Thursday
morning.
“It freaked me
out and I think it freaked (Beau) out when he saw it was a poisonous snake,”
she said. “Fortunately, I did pretty well. I wasn’t having any problems
breathing and I wasn’t feeling sick in any way.
“I was able to
tolerate the antivenom without having any side effects,” Crevasse said. “They
were doing lots of measuring around my foot and ankle. It swelled up to about
mid-calf. We were kind of watching it grow.”
Beau Crevasse
said the snake was between 2½ and 3 feet long. He had seen water moccasins
elsewhere in the neighborhood in the past but not in his yard.
Dr. Craig
Kitchens at Shands said the hospital treats 30 to 50 poisonous snake bite
victims a year. Most are from pygmy rattlesnakes because they are quite common.
Of the venomous snakes in Florida, the eastern diamondback rattler is the most
dangerous.
Nationwide
about 5,000 people are bitten by poisonous snakes a year and only five die,
Kitchens said.
“In the grand
scheme of things, water moccasins are very benign. It is very difficult to die
from one,” Kitchens said. “Accidental bites are 10 to 15 percent max. The other
85 percent are people who know it’s a rattlesnake or moccasin and they are
acting bravadoish. There is almost always alcohol involved. The best way to
avoid snake bites is when you see them, leave them alone.”
Kenneth L.
Krysko, herpetology collection manager at the Florida Museum of Natural
History, said it is not uncommon for snakes to find their way into garages. He
added that snakes have been on the move lately with the rain but that snake
bites are uncommon.
BIRMINGHAM NEWS (Alabama) 23 August 09 Alabama
among the best places to study salamanders (Thomas Spencer)
On a summer
afternoon under a canopy of hemlock trees, Leslie Rissler is hunting
salamanders in a fern-rich ravine along Clear Creek in the Bankhead National
Forest.
If as a child
you spent time searching for salamanders and crayfish in Alabama creeks, you
are probably feeling a twinge of jealousy at the thought that you could still
be doing it as a grown-up, a grown-up with advanced degrees from the University
of Virginia and the University of California at Berkeley, a grown-up professor
at the University of Alabama and curator of herpetology.
It turns out
that this is important work. And Alabama happens to be one of the best places
in the world to do it. There are more species of salamanders in the southern
Appalachians than in any other temperate region.
And
salamanders - slimy, secretive and silent - happen to be key components of the
ecosystem. They are found where it is moist: in rotting logs and leaf litter,
in muddy bogs and clear springs, creeks and rivers. They are in the crevices of
cliffs and caves and in the mist zones of waterfalls.
They are
abundant: The total mass of the salamanders in the southern Appalachians
exceeds the poundage of any other predator.
You may think
of black bears as the top of the forest food chain, but salamanders are
actually the dominant vertebrate predators in forests. Scientists estimate
there is one salamander per meter in the southern Appalachians.
They dine on
insects, and, in turn, birds, mammals, snakes, fish, turtles, frogs and
crayfish dine on them.
"They eat
whatever they can fit in their mouth," Rissler said. "Salamanders are
really important to a healthy forest. A lot of things eat them, and that allows
energy to move up the food chain.
"And they
are extremely sensitive to environmental changes, so we can monitor their
populations and judge the general health of natural areas."
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/statebriefs.ssf?/base/news/1251015351174990.xml&coll=2
HERALD-TRIBUNE (Sarasota, Florida) 23 August
09 Letter:
'Python prankster' hurts wildlife cause
Regarding Aug.
16 "This python prankster shouldn't go unscathed":
As the
volunteer director of education services for the Wildlife Inc. Education and
Rehabilitation Center, I wish to add a strong "amen" to Tom Lyons'
column regarding the unprofessional antics of Justin Matthews, who runs a
wildlife operation in East Bradenton.
Our
organization has existed for 24 years. We rehabilitate upward of 3,000 animals
a year, out of a small facility on Anna Maria Island. Gail Straight, who
operates our facility, is a past president of the Florida Wildlife
Rehabilitators Association and a current advisory board member.
We have
visited hundreds of schools and civic organizations, and have staffed a
wildlife education booth at arts and crafts shows in Manatee and Sarasota
counties -- all to teach people how to interact responsibly with and maintain
respect for wildlife. We have written many articles to encourage environmental
responsibility and to advocate win-win solutions in growth management. In all
these activities, we seek to call attention to our practice, not to ourselves.
The
self-promotion of Matthews, questionable use of "pets" rather than
licensed educational animals, emphasis on a "tourist attraction"
rather than rehabilitation, non-involvement in the state organization, and,
now, the staged capture of a "pet" snake, all militate for a
suspension of his license to practice. His stunt also involved the Fire
Department and emergency medical squad (at taxpayers' expense).
Wildlife
rehabilitators work tirelessly and mostly anonymously to redress the balance of
nature and to educate the public. By our professional standards, Matthews might
wish to staff a tourist attraction, but he does not deserve to be considered a
part of our profession.
David Sadkin,
Bradenton
NEVADA APPEAL (Carson City, Nevada) 23
August 09 Dipatch from Iraq: The hazards of espresso in triple-digit heat
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait: Aug.
19, 2:30 a.m. {Excerpt}
Given the
choice between pulling back-to-back missions and down time, I would much rather
be cruising Iraqi highways staring at mud huts and desert, and dodging
potholes, camel spiders and “dub-dubs.”
(“Dub-Dubs”
are giant, beige, 4-foot-long Kuwaiti lizards that are so named for the
distinctive sound they make when you run them over with an up-armored Humvee at
45 mph. “Dub-Dub.”)
...
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20090823/NEWS/908229956/1070&ParentProfile=1058
THAINDIAN (Thailand) 22 August 09 Lizards
sunbathe for a vitamin D boost
Washington
(ANI): Keeping warm isn’t the only reason lizards bask in the sun. A new study
has found that chameleons sunbathe for vitamin D.
Kristopher B.
Karsten and his graduate adviser at the time, Gary W. Ferguson of Texas
Christian University in Fort Worth, along with two colleagues, studied panther
chameleons, Furcifer pardalis.
For two
months, the team fed six chameleons crickets that were either enriched or low
in vitamin D3, reports Live Science.
The team then
set the chameleons in separate outdoor enclosures that had similar amounts of
sun and shade for five days, and tracked where they spent their time.
The
researchers found that the three vitamin-deprived chameleons spent more time in
the sun than did their three vitamin-fortified counterparts.
That behavior
led to a mathematically optimum exposure to UVB, particularly in the
vitamin-deprived bunch, the researchers calculated.
The chameleons
are thus pros at balancing diet and sunshine.
The
researchers suspect that a special brain receptor lets the reptiles determine
when they’re low on D3 and how much sunning will make up for it.
The study has
bee published in the issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/lizards-sunbathe-for-a-vitamin-d-boost-2_100236286.html
LA PRENSA (Cuauhtémoc, México) 22 August 09
Decomisan serpientes en Tepito;
una pitón y 2 cascabel (Gabriel Zendejas)
Agentes federales que ejecutaban un operativo en el populoso barrio de
Tepito, se llevaron buena sorpresa al meter la mano a unos costales para
corroborar si había droga, pero en vez de eso se toparon con unas cosas
gelatinosas que se movían, mismas que resultaron ser nada menos que serpientes.
Repuestos de la sorpresa, los agentes federales encontraron en total
seis alimañas, entre las que estaban tres coralillos, una pitón, dos de
cascabel y un escorpión, que por fortuna no los mordieron para inyectarles su
veneno.
Estos hechos ocurrieron ayer en un departamento que catearon en calle
Herreros número 26, Colonia Morelos, Delegación Venustiano Carranza, donde
además lograron la detención de un hombre que además de los reptiles tenía una bolsa
de mariguana en su poder.
Cabe destacar que los agentes se comportaron valientes, pues ninguno
intentó echarse a correr o saltar por la ventana del inmueble donde estaban las
alimañas.
Como ya se dijo, ahí detuvieron a un hombre como de 50 años de edad,
mismo que ahora deberá enfrentar serios cargos, pues además de la droga, la
simple posesión de los reptiles constituye un delito federal, por lo cual lo
trasladaron ante el ministerio público.
http://www.oem.com.mx/laprensa/notas/n1294460.htm
TIMES OF INDIA (New Delhi) 19 July 09 Dead
tiger in Sunderbans had swallowed king cobra
New Delhi
(PTI): The 14-year-old tiger that was
found dead two days ago in Sunderbans of West Bengal had swallowed two snakes,
including a venomous king cobra, before it succumbed to liver infection, a
senior state forest official said.
"It was a
startling revelation for us when we found the pieces of the snakes inside the
tiger's stomach. One of them was a king cobra while another was a commonly
found reptile species," Atanu Kumar Raha, principal chief conservator of
forests (PCCF) of West Bengal, said.
It is probably
for the first time that a tiger having consumed poisonous reptiles like cobra has
come to the knowledge of wildlife officials, Raha said.
He said
hostile ecological conditions make the Sunderban predators more hardy and agile
when compared to their counterparts in other reserves. "As the predator
was aged, it might be possible that it could not hunt carnivorous
animals."
The official
ruled out that the big cat's death was due to snake venom or poaching as there
was no injury mark neither any gunshot on its body.
"It had
died due to some bacterial infection in its liver that might have deteriorated
after consuming the reptiles. Cobra hoods were found to be intact while there
were pieces of body part of snakes in the big cat's viscera."
Besides Raha,
other Sunderban Tiger Reserve officials and World Wildlife Fund (WWF)'s Anurag
Banda who was appointed as nominee by the National Tiger Conservation Authority
(NTCA) were present during the post-mortem of the animal.
As per NTCA
guidelines, the post-mortem has to be conducted in the presence of its nominee.