HERP NEWS 244/2009

CALGARY HERALD (Alberta) 01 September 09 Frog recovery, one tadpole at a time (Kelly Cryderman)

To protect frogs, you need to think like a frog.

So says senior provincial biologist Dave Prescott, who is leading an effort to restore populations of the northern leopard frog--the largest frog on the Prairies -- in southern Alberta.

"We try to imagine what habitat would be good for them so we know where to put them. And that's a bit of educated guesswork," said the Prescott, who is based in Red Deer.

"We try to think like frogs." The amphibian is legally classified as a threatened species under Alberta's Wildlife Act.

Prescott leads a provincial recovery team nearing the end of its five-year task of releasing more than 100,000 northern leopard tadpoles at 10 locations--including sites on private property, Crown land, provincial parks and two sites in Waterton Lakes National Park.

A favourable outcome is not guaranteed.

Previous reintroduction attempts have been less than fruitful, although the province has seen some successes in an area south of Lethbridge.

And just last week, government employees found an early encouraging sign at one site:dozens of spotted frogs hopping around Beauvais Lake Provincial Park near Pincher Creek. It came just a few months after the painstaking process of introducing 11,000 tadpoles.

"They were healthy and happy," said Heidi Eijgel, a provincial visitor services specialist in Pincher Creek-Lethbridge area.

"You can actually see them with their little heads out of the water," Eijgel said.

Once plentiful, northern leopard frogs have mysteriously disappeared from many of Alberta's watersheds over the past 35 years, including Calgary's Weaselhead.

No one can pinpoint a single reason --everything from a fungus spread from African frogs once used for pregnancy tests, to drought cycles, to significant loss of habitat is thought to play a role.

Prescott and other scientists believe the best strategy for halting the frog's decline is expanding the population to more of its historic range.

"We're just trying to speed that process along and maybe help them by picking them up in buckets and moving them," he said.

The sight of a small group of frogs after introducing thousands of tadpoles may not sound impressive, but restoring northern leopard frogs to their former glory is a daunting and often frustrating task.

Northern leopard frogs--which may grow to a length of 11 centimetres --are fussy about their surroundings. The frogs prefer sloughs with no fish. They overwinter in water, instead of on land, and demand a water body that doesn't completely freeze in wintertime. They also need significant levels of dissolved oxygen in their water.

And if they avoid being eaten or squashed during the always-hazardous tadpole stage, the frogs don't reach sexual maturity until age two or three.

Prescott said even when the frogs are counted, it is often a case of mistaken identity.

People often confuse more common frogs for northern leopard frogs.

Historically, the frogs' range extended to Edmonton. Now, it goes only as far north as Red Deer--although there's a small, incongruous group near Fort Chipewyan in the northeast corner of the province.

Prescott said the next couple of years will bear out whether Alberta's recovery efforts have worked.

He added that it's easier to work to restore populations of northern leopards than other animal species because frogs aren't controversial, they don't take up much space and generally don't conflict with human interests.

"People genuinely care about the less-common wildlife out there," Prescott said.

"We all played with frogs when we were kids."

http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Frog+recovery+tadpole+time/1949997/story.html

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS (Manitoba) 01 September 09 Nuts for garters? - Snakes of any size can make great pets, but they require special care (Charlene Adam)

When my husband was younger, he owned a Burmese python called Puppy.

Puppy was purchased by my husband's buddy in Edmonton. Planning on giving his girlfriend pearls as a birthday present, my spouse's friend thought it would be funny to insert the snake in the box instead. Seconds after she opened the box, he pulled the real present out of his pocket.

Had my husband attempted to surprise me in this manner, I would have been out the door faster than he could have said, "What do you mean, 'Not if you're the last man on Earth'?" At the time, I knew little about snakes. They're one of those pets that you immediately love or hate. I've always seen the beauty and appeal of a Burmese python. Inexperience, however, made me afraid of placing a snake in a home with other animals it could likely consume.

Puppy grew from a tiny reptile to 2.1 metres long in two years.

My husband loved him. He had bragged to me about meeting Puppy's mother. She was six metres long and weighed over 90 kilograms. She required two or three people to lift her. Knowing that Puppy had the genes to make him larger than the length of my front room forced us to seek a new home for him.

Unlike what is now recommended, Puppy ate live feed. And I had a kitten.

After placing an advertisement in the local paper, we got all sorts of calls. As we reviewed prospective buyers, most seemed more likely to treat Puppy like a party favour than a real pet. It was frustrating. While arrangements were being made for Puppy to go to our local zoo, rather than the hormone-laden teenage boys who'd offered to buy her, he died. A visitor to our condo had mistakenly turned off the main switch to Puppy's heated aquarium.

Puppy's demise was as unfortunate as a current trend in Florida, where many inexperienced snake owners are releasing Burmese pythons into the wild. The snakes grow beyond their level of care and expertise and owners abandon them. Common to Southeast Asia, Burmese pythons are now treated as an invasive species to the United States, as they're affecting flora, fauna and humans. The recent death of a toddler has heightened the fear among Floridians. A bounty has been put on the head of every Burmese python outside of captivity.

Pythons, like any other creatures, should be treated with respect.

Those incapable of caring for a full-grown snake should never get a hatchling. Pets and, in some unfortunate cases, humans pay for owner error.

Rhiannon Vermeulen, chair of the Manitoba Herpetocultural Society, is passionate about responsible snake ownership. Just because you don't have to walk a snake daily doesn't mean it's not a commitment.

"Snake owners often make a variety of mistakes based the fact that they have not done enough research... some species of snakes can live up to 49 years," says Vermeulen.

Knowing how to care for your snake is vital, both for the reptile and those living with it. My husband learned this early on. Getting ready for a feeding session, he handled Puppy's food before he handled the snake. Sensing a meal, Puppy struck him on the thumb. Even though he wasn't very large at the time, he stripped the skin from my husband's thumb like a peel from a banana.

He knew it wasn't Puppy's fault. But he did have to explain a few things to the University of Alberta nurse wondering why she was treating a snake bite in the middle of February.

Those with animals and young children should steer away from venomous snakes, despite some of them being allowed in Manitoba.

"They should only be kept by an experienced and well-informed owner," says Vermeulen.

Many misconceptions remain about snakes. Some feel that they're slimy and aggressive, but according to Vermeulen, they're not slimy and they're only aggressive when taunted. (I know how they feel.

I'm aggressive when I'm taunted, too.) Owning a snake can sometimes pose problems: Veterinary care isn't easily accessible, and moving to different cities might cause issues, as species allowed in one city may be banned in others.

Nevertheless, Vermeulen hopes all fears can be allayed. It's why she feels the Manitoba Herpetocultural Society is so important.

It helps prospective owners find good breeders and seek snakes best suited to their lifestyles and budgets. This tight community will even aid other owners when re-homing a snake becomes necessary.

Those interested in discovering further information about the society, and the reptiles the members love, can visit www.manitobaherp.com.

They'd be happy to sssspeak with you.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/life/nuts-for-garters-56534637.html?viewAllComments=y

HAMILTON SPECTATOR (Ontario) 01 September 09 Coming to grips with Julius Squeezer; 'The more people are educated, the less they'll be afraid' (Mary K. Nolan)

There will be no campfire songs, canoe trips or archery lessons at Steve Featherstone's upcoming day camp.

There won't be any kids either, unless you count the juvenile green tree python and the baby spectacled caiman.

This weekend's schedule of snake-feeding, spider-watching and crocodile-caring is just for grown-ups.

Featherstone, who operates reptile camps for children all summer, is hosting an adult session at Hamilton's The Reptile Store, where he is a manager.

"It's been in the works for a couple of years," says Featherstone, a big man who seems unbowed by a 14-foot anaconda around his neck.

"We get a ton of parents thanking us at the end of the (camp) week and asking 'When are you going to have something for adults?'"

They haven't been banging down the door to sign up for the camp, which runs from Friday night through Sunday evening, but Featherstone figures it's the age group.

"Adults wait until the last minute," says Featherstone, anticipating about a dozen campers.

They'll spend Friday at the store, interacting with the likes of Bubba Chomp Chomp, the caiman crocodile, Mojo, an American alligator, a 70-year-old snapping turtle, the Goliath bird-eating spider, assorted tarantulas and scorpions and a variety of snakes including Julius Squeezer, the aforementioned anaconda who weighs in at 145 pounds.

Saturday is a road trip to Brantford's Twin Valley Zoo, and on Sunday, after a day of working at the King Street East store, they'll visit the collection of venomous reptiles at the Seaway Serpentarium in Welland.

Featherstone expects most people who sign up will do so just for general interest. But he says there may be some who attend in hopes of conquering their fears of creepy-crawly creatures.

"The more people are educated, the less they'll be afraid. We've worked with people who have legitimate fears and phobias."

Occasionally they have been patients from the Anxiety Treatment and Research Centre at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, where Dr. Sheryl Green is a staff psychologist.

Green says the effectiveness of such an approach would depend on the degree of the phobia.

Obviously, it would not be helpful to throw someone with a severe reptile phobia into a store full of snakes.

"That would not be the best introduction or first exposure for them," she says. "You'd want more of a gradual exposure to the feared object or stimulus."

But she says exposure is the key to treating any phobia, whether it's a fear of flying or of spiders. It doesn't take long to recondition someone who is motivated to overcome their fears and willing to do whatever it takes.

With snakes, for example, it might start with discussion about the fear, then progress through looking at pictures to seeing a snake from afar to getting up close and eventually touching one.

"It's about facing the fear at a challenging but manageable pace," Green says.

Featherstone figures today's kids are less fearful than those of different generations because they've grown up with Animal Planet and Discovery Channel, and are also more conscious of the world's ecosystems and the importance of protecting the environment.

That's why the store has shifted its focus over the years from pet shop to educational facility where people can learn about exotic animals and how to treat them with respect.

Featherstone, who nearly succumbed to a bite from a deadly fer-de-lance in Costa Rica seven years ago, has his own phobias.

"Roller-coasters," he admits. "We all have something."

Need to Know:

What: Adult reptile camp

Where: The Reptile Store, 467 King St. E.

When: Friday, Sept. 4, to Sunday, Sept. 6

Fee: $150

Register: 905-521-9990 or reptilestorecamp.com

http://www.thespec.com/article/626945

THE AURORA (Labrador City, Newfoundland) 01 September 09 An uncommon pet; Family discovers salamanders on fishing trip to Blueberry Hill (Michelle Stewart)

Labrador City: Austin Maddox figures he has the coolest pet in town. The nine-year-old from Labrador City happened upon his new companion quite by accident on a fishing trip with his family at Blueberry Hill a couple of weeks ago.

His dad went to get a worm for his hook when he yelled at his family to come see a tiny lizard-like creature he had found around the worm container.

"My dad had it on his arm and it dropped off," said Austin. "I bent down to try and pick it up and there was four more on the ground, but I could only catch just one of them because they move very fast. I put this one in a worm container."

Never saw one before

Austin said his dad suspected right away it was a salamander even though he told his son he'd never seen one in his life in Labrador before.

"My dad watches the Discovery Channel and National Geographic a lot and so that is how he knew," Austin said. "So I asked my dad then if I could have it for a pet." While his dad agreed to let his son take the salamander home, Austin's mom Carol was not so comfortable with the idea of adding an amphibian to her household.

"I have to keep him in the garage because Mom is scared of him," Austin explained. He keeps his new pet in a plastic container with lots of moss, small rocks and sticks in it, a lot like the habitat where he was found.

Many of his friends have come by the garage to have a look at the strange creature.

"Yeah I had a lot of friends come by to see it, because when I called a couple of friends and told them, they told a lot of people about the salamander, too," he said.

Austin feeds his new friend flies and spiders mostly, he says, and he is considering getting more permanent housing for him like a terrarium.

The Aurora sent photos of Austin's new pet to Wildlife biologist Tony Chubbs in Goose Bay and he verified it is, indeed, a salamander.

"From the photos, it appears to be a Northern Two-Lined Salamander, one of two species occurring in Labrador," said Chubbs. "The other is the Blue Spotted Salamander, which is more widespread."

Chubbs explained the Northern Two-Lined Salamander is the less common of the two species and has been recorded only in the vicinity of Labrador City and Goose Bay.

According to the biologist, the salamander does belong in the wild in its natural habitat. It's around this time of year when salamanders would be seeking out areas where they will hibernate for the winter months.

Salamander quick facts

The Northern Two-lined Salamander is small and slender, with small legs.

It has a broad yellow, greenish-yellow, or tan stripe extending from head to tail, and is bordered by uneven black lines. The light dorsal stripe is often marked with a row of dark spots or flecks. The sides of the body are usually yellowish with some dark mottling and the belly is typically yellow.

Adults may grow to lengths of 6.4 - 12.1 centimetres and have 15-16 grooves on the sides of the body.

Ecology

Living close to flowing water, both in woodland and open areas, the Northern Two-Lined Salamander can be found under rocks, logs, or leaf mats.

During winter months they will retreat underground.

Source: Center for Reptile and Amphibian Conservation and Management

http://www.theaurora.ca/index.cfm?sid=282846&sc=298

STAR PHOENIX (saskatoon, Saskatchewan) 01 September 09 Alligator not a Sask. Resident

No, an alligator seen in a photo with a Saskatchewan conservation officer was not caught in the wild.

The reptile was one of four brought to Lloydminster in a covered pickup truck as part of the Colonial Days fair in July, says Rob Grainger, the conservation officer who was asked to dispose of the alligator, which apparently died in transit.

Grainger took a photo of himself with the alligator before delivering it to Saskatoon, where a veterinarian at the Canadian Co-operative Wildlife Health laboratory conducted an autopsy.

Someone who saw Grainger's photo forwarded it in an e-mail, along with a false claim the alligator was found in the North Saskatchewan River. The e-mail has since been making the rounds and has caused some to wonder if it is safe to use the river.

"We don't have alligators in Saskatchewan, absolutely not," Grainger said Monday.

Alligators can't survive in Saskatchewan's climate and habitat, he said.

"It's the same reason there's not elephants here," he said.

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/Alligator+Sask+resident/1949794/story.html

DAILY GUIDE (Accra, Ghana) 01 September 09 Snakeman Arrested (Rocklyn Antonio)

Mallam Fatau, a Muslim cleric who shot to fame both home and abroad in the alleged Snake Men story, is currently in the cells of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Accra, for alleged fraud.

Mallam Fatau is also being investigated in connection with the snake story.

A police source told Daily Guide that a German-based Ghanaian, Willy Wise Kwaku Kyeremeh, who hailed from Chiraa in the Brong-Ahafo Region, lodged complaints of fraud against the Mallam, whom he said, had succeeded in defrauding him to the tune of GH¢7,000.

The amount was the fee Mallam Fatau charged him in order to conjure some gold ornaments for the burger’s family at Chiraa.

He was therefore arrested on Friday August 28, 2009 and taken to Sunyani over the weekend to assist in investigations. Police said he had since been returned to police cells and is being held at the Police Headquarters.

A police source at Sunyani said the suspect was granted a police enquiry bail after admitting to the offence in his caution statement. He was then handed over to the Commercial Crime Unit (CCU) at the CID Headquarters in Accra.

A source at the headquarters said the story which broke a few weeks ago that two among four young men had been turned into African pythons due to their inability to provide the blood-soaked menstrual-pads of their lovers for a money making ritual, was a concocted one.

Mallam Fatau was alleged to have bought the snakes from a hunter who trapped the reptiles at Sakyikrom in the Eastern Region.

He then made up the cock-and-bull story that four young men had gone to the shrine of a certain Nana Ogya at Aburi New-Town for ritual money. All efforts to trace the said Nana Ogya had proved futile.

According to the story which caused huge sensation and screaming newspaper headlines, the four young men were each made to pay GH¢500 and given a ‘sacred pot’ in which they were to put the bloodied menstrual pads of their lovers in order to invoke money making spirits.

However, according to the story, two of the boys, Kofi Adjei and Kwame Tetteh, who failed to get the pads, turned into snakes when they opened the pot which allegedly contained human hearts.

The two others, Filco and Goro, were said to have been stricken with numbness and became ‘jimi jimi’ until they were brought to the sanctuary of Mallam Fatau who took them through various procedures of rituals including bathing them with the snakes wrapped around their necks at the Kokrobite Beach in the presence of a huge crowd of people.

He promised to get some special oil from Yeji, in the Brong-Ahafo Region, to turn the two snakes back into human beings in four days time, but had since not done that, claiming he could not get the oil.

At one time, he said the snakes were speaking to him: other times he claimed they were fighting and blaming each other for their plight and he had to put them into two separate pots to calm them down.

Mallam Fatau was alleged also to have had syndicates who posed as relatives of the boys, wailing at the time of the rituals, as well as granting interviews to the media.

At the time, a certain woman who claimed to be the mother of one of the ‘snake-men’, said she saw her son turn into snake.

The source at the Police Headquarters said investigations so far revealed that all of the supposed relatives of the snakemen as well as Filco and Goro were now accomplices and would be invited to answer charges in due course.

Meanwhile, when Daily Guide called Mallam Fatau’s phone on Friday after his arrest, a suspected syndicate member answered the call and posed as Mallam Fatau, alleging he had traveled to Pokuase when the reporter requested to meet with him for an interview.

The sensational fetish priest, Nana Kwaku Bonsam, according to the police, had also reported a fraud case against Mallam Fatau, who allegedly used a picture of him (Bonsam) and one of his gods, ‘Kofi Kofi’, on a calendar which was designed and sold in the streets for commercial purposes.

http://dailyguideghana.com/newd/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5151&Itemid=245

KTAR (Phoenix, Arizona) 01 September 09 Man accused of throwing kitten at snake (Sandra Haros)

Phoenix: A man accused of throwing a kitten at a snake and kicking it to death has been arrested.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's office said Jeremy Tuffly, 28, of Mesa, was arrested for animal cruelty.

Officials said they received a DVD that showed Tuffly throwing the kitten at a python snake, hoping the snake would attack it. They said the attempt failed.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said what happened next was "very gruesome" and "a disgusting act of violence."

"A helpless kitten trying to feed it to a large snake," said Arpaio. "But I think the worst part was kicking it like a football."

That is when the kitten died. Tuffly is being charged with a felony count of animal cruelty.

"Well I'll tell you one thing," said Arpaio. "I'm sure that the guy never figured he'd be approached and arrested yesterday. I'm sure he was a little surprised."

http://www.620ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1205797

STRAITS TIMES (Singapore) 01 September 09 Killer croc captured in India

Bhubaneswar: A three-metre crocodile suspected of killing up to six fishermen in the east of India has been caught, a local wildlife expert said on Tuesday.

The adult crocodile was captured last Saturday from a village pond in Orissa's densely-populated Kendrapara district before being transferred to a nearby estuary, regional wildlife chief Prasanna Behera told AFP.

Village residents told local media that the crocodile had killed at least five people in two days after drifting in from the nearby river last week.

Mr Behera said he was unable to confirm the number killed.

'The safety of human lives is uppermost in our mind,' he said.

The Press Trust of India said the crocodile had feasted on six humans in the river district adjoining the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary, popularly called the croc kingdom by local inhabitants for its large crocodile population.

The creature was captured with fishing nets, Mr Behera said. -- AFP

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_424139.html

POWELL TRIBUNE (Wyoming) 01 September 09 Large lizard eludes capture (CJ Baker)

A lizard sighted at the high school football stadium last week apparently remains at large — both figuratively and literally — after eluding capture by Powell Police.

On Aug. 24, around 3:19 p.m., police received a report of a big lizard at Panther Stadium, north of the old Powell High School gym. Officer Chad Miner and Detective Dave Brown responded to find a reptile sunning itself on the bleachers.

“It was a little monitor lizard,” said Brown. “Actually, I probably shouldn’t say little.”

By his estimation, the creature measured between 2.5 feet and 3 feet long from snout to tail tip. In appearance, the monitor lizard looked a bit like a miniature Komodo dragon, Brown said.

Attempts to apprehend the animal were unsuccessful.

“We tried to get it, but it would take off (when police approached),” said Brown.

Monitor lizards — found naturally in the Eastern Hemisphere — typically avoid confrontations and try to flee, according to the American Federation of Herpetoculturists. (Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians.)

The lizards can cause injuries by scratching with their claws, whipping their tails or biting.

Brown guessed the creature was a pet that either escaped from its owner or was released after growing too big.

However, he said no one has reported a missing lizard, and it was not a class pet at nearby Powell Middle School.

The police department has dealt with porcupines, snakes, an in-town badger and a treed mountain lion earlier this year, but Brown said the escapee lizard was a first.

“If anybody sees something with four legs and a long tail that looks like a lizard — call us,” he joked.

http://powelltribune.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2580&Itemid=2

NEW TIMES (Broward, Florida) 01 September 09 On the Hunt for Exotic Lizards in the Florida Everglades (Tim Elfrink)

Dennis Giardina was walking up a sun-blasted hill just outside Homestead Air Reserve Base when he spotted the monster. From the forked black tongue to the whipping tail of tightly corded muscle, the creature stretched seven feet through the dead grass. Mottled green and yellow scales glinted in the sunlight. Razor claws arched from five dexterous fingers.

Giardina stared in shock. Then the 46-year-old botanist with a salt-and-pepper beard motioned to his colleagues.

He lured the beast to a fence marking the base's edge. When the animal stuck its sinuous neck through a gap in the chainlink, his partners pinched the fence together, trapping it. Giardina grabbed a jagged chunk of stone and slammed it straight onto the lizard's spine. The animal died instantly.

That was August 2008. Giardina and company had caught one of the largest Nile monitor lizards trapped in South Florida. The wily African import eats everything and routinely grows as long as an NBA power forward is tall.

But monitors don't get much attention. Following the recent killing of a Central Florida toddler by a Burmese python, local media have focused recently on the dangers presented by those 20-foot-long giants. They're large enough to eat small alligators and sufficiently voracious to digest anything else they can fit in their gaping mouths. Unfortunately, they're likely too widespread to ever root out.

Other invaders — such as the monitor lizard, the purple swamp hen, and the lionfish — are on the horizon. "Our best hope is to catch invasives before they can establish a foothold," Giardina says. "If we catch them early enough, we can eliminate them before they spread. With the monitors, I just hope we're not too late."

Explorers and settlers have bombed the Glades with foreign plants and animals for hundreds of years. Hernando de Soto brought along Spanish wild hogs during his trek through Florida in the late 1530s. The descendents of those pigs still run wild today.

Plenty of other species have followed their lead. Cuban tree frogs found their way to South Florida on commercial boats in the 1930s and have wiped out their native counterparts in the region. Dozens of Asian fish species have thrived in Everglades canal systems and Florida Bay. The Sunshine State now has twice as many exotic lizard species in the wild as natives.

Then there are the plants. South Floridians in the mid-20th Century dotted their properties with ornamentals such as melaleuca, Old World climbing fern, and Brazilian pepper, which quickly spread from the suburbs to the swamps and have crushed native tree islands and cypress groves ever since.

"It's really difficult to control the influx of exotic species in a place like South Florida," says Scott Hardin, the exotic-species section leader at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "You have an incredibly diverse community bringing things here from their native lands."

Sometime in the early '90s, Burmese pythons were released into the wild around the region. No one knows for sure where they came from. Some say the snakes escaped when Hurricane Andrew blasted dozens of pet shops to bits. Others blame amateur collectors who dumped the animals in the Glades.

Either way, sometime in the mid-'90s, the pythons reached "critical mass," when they could easily find eligible partners, breed, and rear their young. By the mid-'00s, park rangers had removed more than a thousand pythons from Everglades National Park, and the creatures had been spotted from Big Cypress to Kissimmee.

That's where Giardina comes into the picture. The deep-voiced scientist grew up outside Boston and then dropped out of college and moved to Puerto Rico in his mid-20s, eventually finding a job in the Caribbean National Forest. He has made a career in conservation. Early last year, he left a position running the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park to head the fight against invasive species across South Florida.

Today, he cochairs a group of scientists with the unwieldy acronym Everglades CISMA (Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area), which is dedicated to preventing other species from reaching critical mass. "I'm an animal lover, and I really love big reptiles. The last thing I thought I'd be doing is trying to catch and kill animals," he says as he carefully ties a rotting chicken leg inside a trap near Homestead. "But you've got to think of the bigger picture."

Two years ago, CISMA set up a website to report sightings of the hundreds of invasive species that threaten the Glades. A volunteer "early detection, rapid response" team investigates each sighting.

Around 2001, someone on Grassy Key lost track of a few unusual pets: a group of Gambian pouch rats. The gigantic rodents grow to three feet long, the size of a raccoon. By 2005, the rats had multiplied, and soon dozens were running around the island, feasting on garbage. Residents contacted state authorities, who alerted the animal experts.

Four years ago, a team led by Hardin began setting traps and motion detectors, trying to wipe out the rats before they could hitch a ride on a trash truck to mainland Florida. It worked. The team has caught more than 180 of the animals and hasn't spotted one in more than three months. "That really looks like a success story so far," Hardin says. "We caught them early enough to kill most of them."

In 2008, Giardina's group learned about a quickly spreading flock of sacred ibis. The handsome black-and-white birds with gently curved beaks likely escaped from zoos after Andrew. In the Glades, they feasted on food key to endangered native species.

So Giardina gathered $25,000 in grants for a team to attach radio bands on a few of the birds. Then they tracked the ibises to their roosting grounds. After months on airboats, the crew blasted the feathered pests using shotguns. The team killed around 70, and no new sightings have been reported in about six months. "They tend to roost together, so it was easy for us to find them and kill them," Giardina says.

The Burmese pythons are more difficult to find. They are well-camouflaged and don't hang out in groups. The problem received a huge publicity boost this summer after a pet python killed a 2-year-old girl outside Tampa, and Sen. Bill Nelson dangled a 16-foot-long snakeskin on the U.S. Senate floor, asking for eradication money. Gov. Charlie Crist pledged money for python bounty hunters.

But a python hunting team has killed fewer than a dozen snakes since it formed last month. The best python hunter in the state, a bearded South Florida Water Management District expert named Bob Hill, has nailed fewer than 40 this year. Scientists estimate the snakes number in the thousands. "You can't find them reliably to kill them," Hardin says. "I don't believe we'll ever be able to eradicate pythons."

Nile monitor lizards aren't nearly so widespread in the region — yet. They're omnivorous, voracious, and hardy. They thrive in a subtropical climate. And as of last summer, they've shown signs of nearing critical mass.

No one doubts how far they can spread. A colony was released in Cape Coral in the early '90s, and today more than 5,000 roam the canals and subdivisions there. They will likely never be exterminated on the Gulf Coast. On the Atlantic side of the state, there are fewer. Since last summer, Giardina and his group have caught and killed 13 in and around Homestead.

On a recent humid weekday, Giardina receives a phone call from one of his colleagues checking the traps. He assumes they caught a monitor lizard. It wasn't. In fact, they snared a black-and-white Colombian tegu, another huge reptile sold in pet shops around Florida. Giardina sighs at the news. "So I guess we've got tegus running wild out here too," he says. "You never know what's next in this state."

http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2009-09-03/news/on-the-hunt-for-exotic-lizards-in-the-florida-everglades/

CAIRNS POST (Australia) 01 September 09 Man wrestles 5m python in chicken pen (Ben Blomfield)

A burly bloke who wrestled a 5m python after it ate one of his chickens has handed it to authorities in a bin after winning the fight.

The Kuranda resident was stunned to find the scrub python in his chicken pen last Friday, its belly bloated after eating one of his prized egg producers.

The man latched on to the 28kg python and subdued it, putting it in a bin and taking it to the Australian Venom Zoo at Kuranda.

Zoo owner Stuart Douglas said the citizen’s arrest was made by a "very strong bloke" who should be hailed a hero for his snake-seizing efforts.

"It’s a big male snake that could easily eat a wallaby or something seven times the size of its mouth," Mr Douglas said.

"It’s always better to get a snake removed professionally but it also depends on how capable the person is. The guy did really well in my opinion."

Mr Douglas warned the public to brace for more snake sightings as the reptiles head into their active season.

"As it gets warmer, snakes will start to move around more and head to residential properties, so people have to be aware," he said.

The man who wrestled the python could not be contacted but he is believed to be an environmentalist.

The python will be released this week somewhere near Kuranda.

http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/09/01/61435_local-news.html

NORTHWEST FLORIDA DAILY NEWS (Fort Walton Beach) 01 September 09 Pricey tortoise found safe in neighbor's yard

Crestview: A local pet found out what life on her own was like as she fended for herself for a week’s worth of food and shelter.

Scooter the Spur-Thighed Tortoise is back at home, safe and sound.

Crestview Police Lt. Jamie Grant said Scooter was found in a neighbor’s yard a few houses down from her own Brackin Street home.

Scooter’s owner, Susan Dean, had feared the worst when she couldn’t find her 120-pound pet last Wednesday as a storm moved through the area. Dean had gone outside as the rain fell to bring the 12-year-old tortoise inside, but she was missing. Police checked the perimeter of the backyard fence and didn’t find an area where Scooter could have gotten out.

“She’s lived here a while,” Dean had said of the disappearance, adding that if there had been a hole to escape through, Scooter would have probably already found it.

Dean first got the tortoise when Scooter was only 3 inches in diameter. Now she is about three feet long and more than two feet wide.

Police had suspected turtle-napping because of the high value of Dean’s pet. A Spur-Thighed Tortoise such as Scooter could fetch a price of $8,500. However, owning one is a little more difficult. You have to have a Florida Fish and Wildlife inspection to obtain a permit to keep the creature at your home.

After her disappearance, Dean said Scooter’s size would require “a strong man or two good-sized teenagers” to lift the tortoise into a vehicle. Now, it looks like Scooter may have made a break for it by herself.

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/safe-20203-called-search.html

WIRED (New York, New York) 31 August 09 Lizards Use Third Eye to Steer by the Sun (Brandon Keim)

A series of clever experiments into the reptilian “third eye” has confirmed that lizards use this patch of light-sensitive cells as a sun-calibrated compass.

To test how third eyes — technically known as parietal eyes — help them find their way, biologists at Italy’s University of Ferrara first trained Italian wall lizards to swim from the center of a small outdoor swimming pool to a hidden ledge at its edge. A fence was erected around the pool, so that the only visual point of reference was the position of the sun. The lizards passed the test.

The researchers next put groups of lizards in three artificially lit rooms for a week. In the control room, lights brightened and dimmed in sync with the rise and fall of day. Lights in the other rooms were set out of sync, causing the lizards’ body clocks to be artificially sped up or slowed down by six hours.

When tested in the pool, only lizards from the control group could find the ledge. Depending on the state of their body clock, the others swam too far to the left or right, as would be expected if they’d used the sun to navigate and were now confused by the disjunction between the sun’s location and where they expected it to be.

Finally, the researchers covered the lizards’ third eyes with paint or — in a later, more gruesome iteration — removed their third eyes altogether. In both cases, the lizards swam in random directions, no longer able to navigate at all.

The findings, published last Friday in the Journal of Experimental Biology, reinforce the third-eye-as-compass theory, at least in lizards. The eyes are also found in some species of amphibians and fish. If it works the same way in fish, that could help explain part of their navigational prowess.

Humans also have a version of the third eye system. Unfortunately for hikers and drivers, it’s located under our skulls. It’s essential for spatial processing, but not much help if you’re lost.

Citation: “Orientation of lizards in a Morris water-maze: roles of the sun compass and the parietal eye.” By Augusto Foà, Francesca Basaglia, Giulia Beltrami, Margherita Carnacina, Elisa Moretto and Cristiano Bertolucci. Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol. 212 Issue 18, September 15, 2009.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/thirdeyesteering/

THE OBSERVER (Gladstone, Australia) 31 August 09 Slithery visitor at back door (Rob Black)

The McLeods of Agnes Water had an unwelcome visitor last week as a huge red-bellied black snake took up residence at their back door.

The weather is heating up and experts say snakes are on the move, which Stuart McLeod found out in a heart-stopping episode in the middle of the night.

“I was watching TV and it was pretty late, close to 1am when one of the dogs went crazy, barking and carrying on like I'd never heard before,” Stuart said.

“I came outside and was looking around with the torch and when I turned the torch back towards the door, here was this big snake curled up just near my foot.

“I jumped sideways and luckily he didn't move much.”

Stuart, his brother Jeff and father Wayne rang the local wildlife carer who put them on to snake catcher Anthony Zink.

Mr Zink advised them to leave it alone, but to keep an eye on it until he got there from Bundaberg.

“It moved its head a couple of times, but wasn't going anywhere,” Stuart said.

“That night was pretty cool actually and it was curled up in some plastic near the door.”

“It was hissing sometimes but didn't move much, until the snake catcher guy came,” said Jeff.

Mr Zink said he was receiving plenty of calls as the warm weather was flushing out reptiles of all types and sizes.

“I've been getting calls every day and they are everywhere,” Mr Zink said.

“You have to be pretty careful because they've come out of hibernation and they are pretty cranky - hungry and wanting to mate.

“This red-bellied black was okay at their place (The McLeods'), but he was a bit angry when I got him home.”

Mr Zink said people needed to be particularly aware of snakes at this time of year and to stay well away, or if close to stand still.

“Even some of the big pythons, which are normally fairly quiet, are a bit cranky at the moment,” he said.

“If you do see a snake nearby, stand still and leave the snake alone.”

http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/story/2009/08/31/slithery-visitor-at-back-door/

TIMES & TRANSCRIPT (Moncton, New Brunswick) 31 August 09 Good Samaritans rally to save snake; Alberta residents help save the life of an injured bull snake

Sure, there are lots of Good Samaritans out there who will help an animal in distress, but it was a particularly determined group of Medicine Hat residents this weekend who banded together to rescue a 1.5-metre-long bull snake.

"By God, I'll save this snake's life," said Dr. Sartaj Wazir of Valley Pet Hospital as the wounded reptile was being prepared for surgery.

It all started Saturday morning when a couple out for a walk along the river came across the snake, which was obviously in distress and was bleeding from two wounds near its tail.

Troy and his wife, Shannon -- who didn't want their last names used -- tried calling vets and fish and wildlife officials but weren't having much luck.

"I'm not a rich man," said Troy, sitting outside his home with the snake in his lap. "I think he should be fixed and put back into the wild. But who do you call?"

The couple ended up at the Police Point Park Interpretive Centre, where park interpreter Rick Belliveau examined the snake and said the wound was a bite probably inflicted by a dog.

Belliveau sprang into action with a flurry of calls and eventually tracked down Wazir, who left a summer party to attend to the snake.

Aided by Dr. G.P. Gabba, the two went to work.

"These animals have as much right to exist as we do," said Wazir. "Snakes aren't the enemy."

After the initial examination, it was determined the snake's penis was damaged and would have to be amputated.

"He won't breed again," said Wazir.

There were some tense moments during the operation when it appeared the snake might have died. But the doctors worked to resuscitate the reptile and he sprang back to life.

Though Wazir said the snake should recover, when it comes to man or beast, "if they lose the will to live, they won't make it."

Belliveau said the incident outlines the need for city residents to respect wildlife, adding that dogs' owners should keep their pets leashed.

"We are encroaching on (the wildlife's) territory," he said.

After being warned by Wazir that naming a rescued animal Lucky usually ends up as more of a curse than a blessing, Troy and Shannon asked that the snake be known as Sunny.

Sunny will spend the next two weeks recovering at the Police Point Park Interpretive Centre, where he will enjoy all the frozen mice he can eat, courtesy of Valley Pet Hospital.

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/search/article/776937

STUTTGARTER NACHRICHTEN (Germany) 31 August 09 Verbot exotischer Haustiere - Keine Kobras mehr im Wohnzimmer (Katrin Teschner)

Brüssel: Immer mehr Europäer begeistern sich für Tiere aus fernen Ländern. Während den einen Hund, Katze und Vogel lieb sind, mögen andere lieber Krokodil, Affe und Schlange als Haustier. Doch viele Besitzer sind mit den Exoten hoffnungslos überfordert. Deswegen gehen immer mehr EU-Länder dazu über, die Haltung von Haustieren generell per Gesetz zu kontrollieren.

Neben Österreich wird im Oktober auch in Belgien eine Regelung in Kraft treten, die nur noch bestimmte Tierarten in heimischen Wohnzimmern zulässt. Tierschützer fordern auch in Deutschland ein Verbot von Exoten im Haus - bisher allerdings vergeblich.

"Diese Tiere können hierzulande einfach nicht artgerecht gehalten werden", sagt James Brückner, Experte für Arten und Naturschutz des Deutschen Tierschutzbundes. Die Tiere haben unter anderem sehr hohe Ansprüche an die Ernährung, die ein Hobby-Halter kaum erfüllen kann. Und die Exoten brauchen oft ein Lebensumfeld, das in unseren Breitengraden nur schwer und mit erheblichem finanziellen Aufwand nachgestellt werden kann. Auch Marlene Wartenberg von der Organisation Vier Pfoten würde es daher am liebsten sehen, wenn das "stille Leiden in den Kellern", wie sie es nennt, endlich beendet würde.

Belgien hat zu diesem Zweck eine Liste von Tieren aufgestellt, die künftig in Heim und Garten zugelassen sind, darunter sind neben Hund und Katze allerdings durchaus auch ungewöhnliche Hausgenossen wie der asiatische Büffel, das Lama und der Steinbock aufgeführt. Andere Exoten wie Krokodile und Schlangen sind hingegen tabu.

Auch in Österreich dürfen bestimmte Tiere, zum Beispiel Großkatzen, gar nicht im Haus gehalten werden. Für Wildtiere, Lurche und Reptilien besteht eine Meldepflicht. "In Deutschland kann sich hingegen jeder ein Chamäleon für zehn Euro von der Reptilienbörse mitnehmen, ohne nachweisen zu müssen, dass er etwas von den Tieren versteht", kritisiert Brückner. Auch auf dem weltweiten Online-Marktplatz E-Bay gibt es einen florierenden Handel.

Die Haltung von Exoten unterliegt Modewellen, erklärt Brückner. So manch ein vermeintlicher Tierfreund findet es chic, wenn Terrarien mit Vogelspinnen und Kobras im Regal stehen. Der Experte schätzt, dass jedes Jahr bis zu zwei Millionen Tiere nach Deutschland gebracht werden. Allein die Einfuhr von Reptilien sei zwischen 1998 und 2003 um 14 Prozent gestiegen.

http://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/stn/page/detail.php/2181114

SALZBURGER NACHRICHTEN (Austria) 31 August 09 Lungauer hielt illegal zwölf Schlangen (Maria Pfarr)

Nach einem Hinweis hat die Polizei über Auftrag des Veterinäramtes am Montag Nachschau gehalten. Dabei konnte in einem versperrten Raum des Wohnhauses in vier Käfigen fünf Königspythons, drei Tigerpythons, zwei Kornnattern und zwei Boas vorgefunden werden.

Nach Auskunft des Schlangenexperten des Salzburger Hauses der Natur sind die Reptilien ungiftig und grundsätzlich ungefährlich. Der Reptilienbesitzer wird wegen illegaler Tierhaltung angezeigt.

http://www.salzburg.com/online/salzburg/aktuell/Lungauer-hielt-illegal-zwoelf-Schlangen.html?article=eGMmOI8VfOXJDbyQPvQXDa7650J6Xozb7rUbLI9&img=&text=&mode=&

BRADENTON HERALD (Florida) 30 August 09 Is it too late to stop pythons? (Nick Walter)

This attempt by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to control the booming Burmese python population in south Florida is amusing.

If you haven’t heard, the commission began a permit program that allows reptile experts to capture and kill Burmese pythons in state-managed lands around the Everglades.

There are likely more than 100,000 pythons in the Everglades, some possibly more than 20 feet long.

The FWC reported in a news release that as of Friday, permit holders have captured and euthanized 17 pythons.

Nice.

Only 99,987 to go.

It’s like trying to remove all the shells from the beaches. Not gonna happen.

The FWC authorized 13 permits for the program, which ends Oct. 31. At this rate, there could be 50 pythons dead.

That’s but a chink in the armor of pythons, which have no natural enemies. Even alligators have fallen prey to the python.

The FWC claimed that offering permit holders a chance to hunt the pythons could bring invaluable data to scientists to assist and stop the spread of species in Florida.

At least they’re trying.

But what could that data bring?

I don’t know how you eliminate even half of that population, unless scientists invent some poison that’s put in the water and kills only Burmese pythons. Seen stranger things happen.

But give the permit holders credit. They’re not even allowed to use firearms or traps. They can capture the snake with nets and snares and must kill the snakes with a blunt or sharp hand-held device.

According to the FWC release, the hunters report the G.P.S. location of the pythons captured and take a digital picture of the carcasses. The FWC will study the data collected, according to the release, to determine the stomach contents and location to see if the program should be extended.

If the program is extended, perhaps there should be more than 13 licensed permit holders trying to control such an immense population. Because this is not a problem that will be solved by so few. In fact, it would take hundreds of hunters who have gone through some kind of python-hunting training just to balance out the number of pythons that will spawn in April and May. But they likely would not have the time to put a dent in the populations.

Unfortunately, one of the best solutions has come far too late. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee recently approved legislation that would prohibit importation and interstate commerce of Burmese and African rock pythons, which the committee deemed the most dangerous, for the pet trade. The bill, H.R. 2811, has moved to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

We have irresponsible pet owners to thank for discarding their pythons. After a few months, or years, or whenever their little honeymoon period was over, maybe python owners decided they should have settled for something not at the top of the food chain.

Maybe a gerbil would have been a better buy. Or a hamster. Python chow. Anything that can’t take over an ecosystem and threaten the lives of animals and small children.

I think it might be a little too late to control the Burmese python.

Barring some miraculous idea, look for pythons to become more widespread.

They’re spawning, they’re elusive swimmers and climbers, and when it comes to the food chain, they’re on no one’s menu.

To close, the FWC reported in its news release that it “hopes the information collected will lead to an expansion of this initial step to help eradicate Burmese pythons in Florida.”

Eradicate Burmese pythons in Florida?

Now that’s a gut-buster.

http://www.bradenton.com/living/story/1672212.html

VIRGINIAN-PILOT (Hampton Roads, Virginia) 30 August 09 Close Encounters gets into the skink of things (Mary Reid Barrow)

The other day when I came home, I found a visitor enjoying the mid-day sun on my front porch steps.

It was big dark lizard with light brown stripes- a female broad-headed skink, I think. Our largest lizards, growing up to 12 inches long, these chunky skinks have a kind of swaggering attitude compared to the smaller five-lined skinks that skitter away when they see me coming.

This one sat tight on the porch as if to say she didn't care how close I came. And of course I didn't go too near. I would rather look at her than chase her off.

I said I thought it was a broad-headed skink female because the females are really hard to distinguish from adult five-lined skinks. Both have the lighter colored stripes down their blackish backs, but I am pretty sure I detected seven (rather than five) lines characteristic of the broad-head.

When it comes to the males of the two species, it's easy to tell the difference. Male broad-headed skinks are brown all over, losing all their stripes as they mature. In breeding season the heads of the males turn a bright, angry red.

They have a totally muscular macho look about them. The females, like the one on my porch, seem to have a more brawny look, too, compared to the daintier five-lined skinks.

Whether five-lined and broad-headed, this is the time of year when more skinks than ever are out and about. Females of both species lay their eggs in June, and the young - 2 inches or so long -hatch in late July or August.

The females are out of commission during that period as they stay with their eggs to incubate and protect them. Once the babies hatch, they are on their own, and the females are back to front porch sitting again. So this time of year you will see males, females and young.

My neighbor Lynn Schultz just put a new rock facing on her house, and it looks like the young five-lined skinks with their bright blue tails have moved in to scamper in and out of the rock crevices. A perfect habitat for skinks, the rock wall absorbs heat that these cold-blooded animals love, and it also provides hiding places up off the ground.

Both species of skinks are found up on things - whether steps, walls or trees - more often than down on the ground. The broad-headed skink is so arboreal, it may even nest in tree cavities.

Neither skink is territorial as such, but during mating season males of both species will fight if they run into one another. I once witnessed two male broad-headed skinks going at it for an hour or more.

They would circle one another, making a tighter and tighter circle until each had its big mouth clamped firmly down on the mid-section of the other one. They wouldn't give up, even though their backs were scarred with teeth marks. They would skulk away and then stalk back again. It was vicious. I never saw what happened, and I am not sure I wanted to.

Broad-heads are big enough to bite hard if picked up, but they are fast and quick and usually can escape, even from determined little boys. The same is true of a lightning-fast five-lined skink, though their jaws are not big enough to give much of a bite. They just skitter away when they hear you approaching - just like the little ones at Schultz's house darting into the rock crevices for safety.

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/08/close-encounters-gets-skink-things

TC PALM (Stuart, Florida) 30 August 09 How a 'bang stick' quickly clears the air (Ed Killer)

In the dead of the South Florida night, sound carries quite easily.

Paul Ambrosino of Stuart and Rick Bates of Jensen Beach learned that the night of Aug. 21.

The two men were on the water near Lake Okeechobee participating in the first week of Florida’s statewide alligator hunt. Their goal: To locate and harvest the second of Ambrosino’s two allotted alligators. Bates went along to assist because after all, alligator hunting is far from a solo affair.

A few days earlier, Ambrosino and Bates bagged a 7-plus footer. They were hunting the waters of Ambrosino’s assigned unit in the eastern portion of the lake’s Rim Canal near Port Mayaca.

This night, they were after a bull gator that could truly be called a trophy.

It’s no easy task stalking a lizard twice the size of any man. It requires stealth, nerves, good eyesight in the dark. It also requires a measure of strength and a sense of bravado in the face of fear.

In their 10-foot-long aluminum flat-bottomed duck hunting boat, the men set up in a thicket of vegetation along the edge of the canal. They waited for a good-sized gator they had shined with their spotlight. The giant reptile had sunk beneath the water after seeing that he was not the only apex predator in his canal.

With no lights on and no motor, they sat in the bushes. A strange sound traveled across the glassy water through the thick, muggy air. Not far from their ambush point, they could see something unusual taking place on top of the dike.

“To me it looked like a group of people were performing some kind of ritual,” Bates said. “They stood in a loosely formed circle and we could hear them chanting.”

From their distance, Bates could not tell exactly what was going on. Could it be a Santeria function? Or perhaps a Voodoo liturgy?

“I don’t know what they were saying, but something was being sacrificed,” he said. “It kind of made me feel like we were suddenly in a Carl Hiaasen novel.”

Suddenly, like a sinister submarine, the dark profile of the gator rose silently to break the surface of the water again. The hunters made their move. They cast a large snatch hook over top of the lizard. They reeled tight while the gator started to flee.

Like a harpooned whale, the gator powered its way away from the spot where the men had been hiding. In tow were two men and a boat.

The gator swam into bulrushes and scrambled through Kissimmee grass in an attempt to escape. Bates noticed it was towards the dike where the unknown ceremony was taking place.

They pulled tight on the gator and wrestled him into range for the bang stick. Theirs was a 3-foot long shaft fitted with a powerhead on the end. In the powerhead was loaded a cartridge from a .44 magnum handgun.

While Bates held the gator in position, Ambrosino pounded the back of its head below the surface of the water with the bang stick. The sound of the shot was muffled by the water, and it only made the gator mad.

After bringing the gator boatside again, Ambrosino hit it again below the waterline. The gator still was very lively. Bates and Ambrosino muscled the gator up the side of the boat until the head of the 11-footer was just over the side.

“I said, ‘This is going to be loud,’ ” said Bates to Ambrosino. Sure enough, when the powerhead met the gator a third and final time, the din of a .44 magnum loudly cracked through the warm, damp air of western Martin County — BANG!

Bates said immediately the night was silent again.

Apparently, the unmistakable report of a .44 in the night will abruptly end a mysterious ceremony.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/aug/30/how-a-bang-stick-quickly-clears-the-air/

NEWS-JOURNAL (Daytona Beach, Florida) 30 August 09 Antivenin delay complicates coral snake bite (Julie Murphy)

Antivenin for a coral snake bite had to be flown in from South Florida, making a New Smyrna Beach man and his family uneasy as he waited all of Saturday for treatment.

Michael "Shane" Miller, owner of Allphases Fence and Pavers, went to grab his surfboard when he saw the snake swimming in his pool and caught it about 9 a.m., his wife, Michelle Miller, said.

"He likes to catch snakes and he brought it into the house to show my son and I how to tell it's poisonous," she said. "There's that poem 'red on yellow will kill a fellow, red on black is a friend of Jack,' he was showing us and the snake bit his thumb."

Michelle Miller said her husband initially didn't take the bite seriously -- until his thumb started to swell. Then she drove him to Bert Fish Medical Center.

An adult coral snake can carry enough venom to kill four to five adults, according to surviveoutdoors.com. The Web site additionally says the symptoms -- nausea, vomiting, sweating, lethargy, difficulty speaking or swallowing, drooping eyelids and possibly respiratory depression or arrest -- may not appear for 10 to 14 hours, and it says swelling is rare.

"What really makes me mad is that the company that makes the antivenin quit making it,' Michelle Miller said. "There is only a certain lot that (has not) expired. The Sanford Zoo thought they had some, but it was expired so it had to be flown in from Miami."

Three years ago, the drug-maker Wyeth discontinued production of coral snake antivenin because of low profitability.

Of the estimated 45,000 snakebites each year in the United States, only about 60 are coral snake bites, and about 75 percent of those occur in Florida.

"If it had been a little child, (lack of antivenin) could have been a matter of life or death," Michelle Miller said.

Fortunately for Shane Miller, the antivenin arrived shortly after 7 p.m.

"They had to do a skin test, and they will administer it at 8:30," Michelle Miller said. "Then they have to watch him for another day or so."

Dr. Daniel Miller, a neighbor of the Millers who is not related to the family, said he's seen "a bunch of coral snakes here in our neighborhood."

CroFab is the antivenin produced in the United States that is used to treat bites from the other five or six poisonous snakes found in Florida. Coral snake antivenin is being produced in Costa Rica and Mexico, and the Food and Drug Administration granted temporary importation in 2008 to stem the near-depletion of it.

"I guess this is a good lesson for kids to learn not to play with snakes," Michelle Miller said, adding she hopes her 13-year-old son has learned that lesson. "I guess it's also a good lesson for adults not to play with snakes."

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/EastVolusia/evlEAST04083009.htm

LANSING STATE JOURNAL (Michigan) 30 August 09 Zoo snake study under way

Lansing: Potter Park Zoo, MSU and CMU are teaming up for a second year to conduct a groundbreaking conservation study tracking the habits of two snake species native to Michigan.

Veterinary staff at Potter Park Zoo are participating in a collaborative effort to investigate the habitat requirements of Eastern fox snakes and Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes. Currently Eastern fox snakes in Michigan are listed as threatened. The Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake is a species of special concern but is under consideration to become a nationally threatened species.

"The habitat for both of these species of snakes is diminishing, and the research we are doing helps to determine what we can do to better protect them for future generations to come," said Dr. Tara Harrison, the zoo's veterinarian and animal curator.

The project includes researchers from MSU and CMU. The research is funded through grants from MSU, CMU, Potter Park Zoo Docent Association, and the Morris Animal Foundation. Potter Park Zoo is donating facilities for surgeries and housing for the animals.

The study entails capturing snakes and implanting them with tracking devices to monitor their movements in their natural habitat, as well as their overall health. By the end of this summer, 35 snakes will have been captured for the project including about 20 Eastern fox snakes and 15 Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes.

Student research assistants from MSU and CMU collect data sent back from the tracking devices and map out the movements of each animal. Snakes will be monitored regularly throughout the spring and summer, and periodically in the fall for the next two years.

Potter Park Zoo annually participates in studies involving the conservation of the Massasauga rattlesnakes. 2009 marks the second year the zoo has participated in research involving the Eastern fox snake.

Potter Park Zoo is located at 1301 S. Pennsylvania Ave. within Potter Park along the Red Cedar River in Lansing. The zoo is open daily year-round, summer hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the summer. For more information, call (517) 483-4221 or visit www.potterparkzoo.org.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20090830/INGHAM01/908300469/1218/INGHAM01

TRIBUNE-REVIEW (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 30 August 09 Coexisting with snakes isn't an easy task (Bob Frye)

Chris Currie's live-and-let-live policy was put to the test last summer.

He lives in Laurel Mountain Village, near the Laurel Summit east of Lauglintown, surrounded by Forbes State Forest at an elevation of more than 2,500 feet. That puts him squarely in timber rattlesnake country.

He'd seen snakes in his yard and driveway before — to the tune of one or two a summer for each of the past several years — but had never killed them. Instead, he always relocated them to other parts of the forest.

Then, little more than a year ago, a snake bit the family's dog, Zoe, a 13-year-old Siberian husky. She subsequently died.

"The dog had been with us a lot longer than the kids. She was the Charles Bronson of dogs. We never thought she'd die of natural causes," Currie said.

The loss was heartbreaking, he admitted. It was scary for another reason, too: Currie and his wife have 3-year-old twin sons who are increasingly interested in playing outside.

To protect them, the Curries have tried to snake-proof their yard. They removed all of the large rocks that might harbor snakes, applied a mothball-like chemical that is supposed to keep snakes away and quit feeding birds that could be attractive as prey.

But they haven't resorted to killing snakes.

"Coexisting with them is a perpetual thing," Currie said. "Killing one is not going to change things. It's not like you're going to send the rest of them a message, B-movie style.

"They're just doing what they do."

Unfortunately, attitudes toward Pennsylvania's rattlesnakes have not always been so enlightened.

Proof of that can be found in the handful of rattlesnake roundups still held across Pennsylvania, one of the few states that still allows them. They've changed over time — from places where snakes were brought to be killed in the days of bounties to more educational events today — but their crowds still exhibit a mixture of fascination and loathing.

Even the timber rattlesnake's Latin name — crotalus horridus horridus — speaks to its villainous reputation.

Rattlesnakes have suffered as a result.

A study being done by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has revealed that timber rattlesnakes are, in places at least, struggling to hang on.

Over the past several years, researchers visited 591 historical snake "basking" sites and 344 new ones. Nearly three out of every four — rocky, southwestern-facing slopes, generally at 1,662 feet elevation, where snakes congregate to soak up sun and digest food — exist on public land.

On average, they contained six rattlers each, though one had 63. The snakes have been fairly large — up to 54 inches — with the more typical snake stretching 40-41 inches.

Yet, thanks to development, roads and other things that bring snakes close to people, "66 percent of all the sites we examined were found to be of low quality or had had their snakes extirpated," said Chris Urban, chief of the natural diversity section for the commission.

Snakes are especially struggling in certain parts of the state, like the southwest region.

"As far as populations, the northcentral region looks pretty good. It might actually be one of the strongholds for timber rattlesnakes in the Northeast," Urban said.

"The periphery of their range is another story."

State foresters have been trying to help by improving snake habitat along the Laurel and Chestnut ridges by cutting trees around traditional basking sites to remove some of the sun-blocking canopy, said Ed Callahan, district forester for Forbes State Forest. The agency has a pamphlet it hands out to commercial loggers who may encounter snakes, and it's trying to educate the public about snakes, too, he said.

All of that seems to have snakes on a bit of a rebound locally, he said.

But there's work still to be done.

"If people aren't real familiar with the outdoors, they're always asking, do we have bears and snakes," Callahan said.

"I think most people are OK with them. They do make you pay attention for the rest of the day if you see one crossing the trail. But they are neat creatures."

Even Currie agrees. His personal loss hasn't convinced him to wage war on rattlesnakes.

"It just seems to make sense to try to coexist. That doesn't always work. I'm proof of that," he said. "But it hasn't changed my MO."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/s_640538.html

NEW INDIAN EXPRESS (Chennai, India) 29 August 09 11 monitor lizards seized from hotels

Dharmapuri: The Dharmapuri forest department officials have recovered eleven monitor lizards from the kitchens of two restaurants here on Thursday.

According to the forest ranger L Mahilan, a team of officials led by forester Sivasubramaniyam had intercepted two highway restaurants near Sogathur crossroad.

They reportedly found 11 monitor lizards that were kept in cages for cooking purpose.

The team secured restaurant in-charge K Venkatesan (35) and S Kanniyappan (38), besides recovering the reptiles.

The duo has been booked under the Wild Animals Protection Act, As the monitor lizards come under schedule 1 of the Act.

They were produced before the Judicial Magistrate Court for criminal action. Magistrate Rajamanickam remanded them in judicial custody for 15 days. The rescued reptiles were let out into Thoppur forest, he added.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=11+monitor+lizards+seized+from+hotels&artid=AG5Af7Qeg9M=&SectionID=vBlkz7JCFvA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==&SEO=

DURHAM NEWS (Oshawa, Ontario) 29 August 09 Oshawa to wrap its teeth around exotic pet bylaw - Snakes, lizards, tarantulas expected to be controversial topic at Sept. 17 pet bylaw meeting (Jillian Follert)

Oshawa: Pet store owners and exotic animal enthusiasts who are pushing for changes to the City's pet bylaw finally have a date to mark on their calendars.

A public meeting to gather feedback on proposed changes to the bylaw is slated for Thursday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. The location has yet to be confirmed.

Oshawa's Responsible Pet Owners Bylaw was created in 1996 and is about to undergo its first major review.

City staff are proposing a name change -- to the Animal Control Bylaw -- and a list of new powers and regulations. The part that is likely to be the most contentious is the list of prohibited pets.

Some local pet store owners say the existing bylaw bans pets that should be allowed and allows pets that should be banned.

Debbie and Doug Grills own the D and D Exotics pet store in south Oshawa, and would like to see non-venomous snakes such as boas and pythons permitted as long as they're under three metres when fully grown. They also think the City should give the green light to emperor scorpions and "new world" tarantulas -- those from Central, South or North America -- because the small amount of venom they produce is used for digestion, not harming prey or people.

On the flip side, the Grills say the rules on some pets should be stricter. As it stands now, any lizard is OK in Oshawa, as long is it's not a gila monster or beaded lizard, which are venomous.

The Grills think lizards should be limited to those that are two metres or less when fully grown, to weed out species like water monitor lizards.

"Ajax and Port Perry recently changed their pet bylaws, and it's confusing for people," Ms. Grills said. "We need uniform rules for all of Durham Region. We don't want the City to allow anything that's going to pose a threat to people, we just want to have what other municipalities can have. Councillor Brian Nicholson chairs council's finance and administration committee, which is overseeing the process. He said any time animal issues are on the table, it's controversial.

"People have strong opinions on both sides," he said. "It comes down to what is appropriate in an urban setting. For example, a six-foot long monitor lizard or a tarantula might not be a good idea. It's not about how you handle these animals, it's now your neighbors will react if they escape. During the bylaw review process, Oshawa council will also be dealing with the issue of feral cat colonies. That issue will likely be the subject of a separate public meeting some time this fall.

http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/134414

ARIZONA DAILY STAR (Tucson) 29 August 09 Veterinarian splits conjoined rattlers (Brian J. Pedersen)

A veterinarian at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum was successfully able to separate a pair of conjoined rattlesnakes, an official said Friday.

"They both appear to be stable," Craig Ivanyi, the museum's associate executive director for living collections, said of the western diamondbacks, who were born connected at the neck. "We continue to be optimistic."

The rattlers were found two weeks ago at a north-side construction site and brought to the museum.

Experts determined the snakes needed to be separated in order to survive. Keeping them attached, Ivanyi said, would have caused one of the two to become highly stressed due to the other becoming dominant.

If left in the wild, Ivanyi said, the snakes would likely have not been able to feed properly and would have been picked off by predators.

The surgery was performed Thursday by Dr. Jim Jarchow, a veterinarian the museum consults with on issues related to reptiles and amphibians, Ivanyi said.

http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/306839

WOFL (Orlando, Florida) 28 August 09 Details emerge in python strangling case (Elizabeth Alvarez)

Marion County, Fla.: FOX 35 has obtained a picture taken from inside the rural Sumter County home two months before a 2 year old living in the house was strangled by a pet python.

A worker with the Department of Children and Families took the photograph while investigating an allegation that Charles Darnell and Jaren Hare were using and selling drugs in front of Hare's daughter, Shaiunna.

The couple now faces murder charges after officials said they failed to properly secure their 8 1/2-foot pet python which escaped its aquarium and suffocated the girl in July.

In one photograph, you see a hole which was punched through a door, which the DCF worker said was made by Darnell, who became upset when the investigator arrived.

Also in the photograph, you see a store-bought aquarium sitting on top of an entertainment center, which appears secure.

"And in the corner, what you see is the aquarium in which the snake escaped from that night, which we believe is something that he had built," said DCF Spokesperson Carrie Hoeppner, who added that the reptile did not appear to pose a threat at the time.

The only thing DCF was able to determine was that both Darnell and Hare admitted using marijuana. DCF records show the couple later tested positive during a drug screening.

So why was Shaiunna allowed to stay in the home?

"Using drugs alone is not child abuse. We have to be able to demonstrate that that use of drugs is impairing your ability to care for the child, is actually inflicting abuse to the child," said Hoeppner. "The difficulty for us was that in the end we weren't able to demonstrate that their use for marijuana was directly linked to child abuse."

DCF said it offered a number of support services to the family. In the report, Jaren Hare tells DCF that she is the actual owner of the python.

And as far as the baby Hare recently gave birth to, DCF has taken custody of the infant. Though Hare tested positive for marijuana, the baby was clean.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/marion_alachua/082709_Details_emerge_in_python_strangling_case

SUNCOAST NEWS (Pasco, Florida) 28 August 09 Pasco man faces charges of illegally owning, selling pythons (Lisa A. Davis)

New Port Richey: Twelve pythons listed for sale on the Internet this week have been seized from a New Port Richey home by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and one man faces charges in the case.

A commission investigator received a tip Monday that the snakes were for sale on Craiglist.com, went undercover and offered to buy the snakes, according to commission spokesman Gary Morse.

Instead, he seized eight Burmese pythons and four reticulated pythons, including two adults measuring about 9 feet long.

The snakes were taken to Weebee's Pet World in New Port Richey for safekeeping and will be displayed to the media later this morning.

Bradley Scott Dean, 19, of 3632 Haven Drive, New Port Richey, was cited by commission investigators on second-degree misdemeanor charges of possession of reptiles of concern without a permit, failure to present a valid wildlife dealer's license and failure to microchip the snakes. He could face additional charges because commission officials say he didn't maintain records regarding his source of acquisition.

Authorities are still investigating whether others were involved and how Dean got the snakes.

In December 2007, commission investigator Steve DeLacure received a complaint about Dean and his girlfriend, Izabela Bethany Borczyk, possibly selling sugar gliders illegally over the Internet without the required permit, for which he issued them a warning.

"This is an example of good investigative work in protecting and preventing reptiles of concern from having a negative impact on the future of Florida's natural resources," Col. Julie Jones, director of the commission's Division of Law Enforcement said in a news release.

In July, a pet Burmese python escaped from its cage in Sumter County and smothered a 2-year-old girl. The incident shed new light on a bill Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida introduced this year to ban such exotic snakes. The commission lists Burmese pythons and reticulated pythons as reptiles of concern. Licenses are required to own and sell them.

According to the commission, once they reach 2 inches in diameter, they must be microchipped to identify their owners.

http://suncoastpasco.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/28/pasco-man-faces-charges-illegally-owning-selling-p/news/

LYNN NEWS (UK) 28 August 09 Lovestruck tortoises await egg hatching

It seems that love is in the air for tortoises this year.

After the recently-reported later-life pairing of two Gaywood tortoises – resulting in seven eggs – the coupling of two Hunstanton tortoises has produced ten.

The expectant parents are Oscar (age unknown), and his mate, Derby (40-plus), who are owned by Derrick and Jean Hutson, of Elizabeth Close.

Derby is their long-term pet, bought more than 40 years ago as a wedding anniversary gift for Mr Hutson from his wife.

He said: "We were married 61 years ago on Derby Day."

They gave Oscar a home three years ago after telephoning Radio Norfolk presenter Roy Waller and asking him to broadcast an appeal for a companion for their lonely female.

The attraction between the two was instant – in Oscar's case at least.

Although Oscar is naturally smaller than the object of his affections, Mr Hutson said: "He is very lively and follows her all over the place. He pesters her really."

Mr Hutson (82), and his wife (79), realised there might be tiny tortoises on the way after he accidentally broke an egg while mowing the lawn.

"I knew what it was because Derby has laid the odd one before. I then noticed her digging round the garden," he said.

The couple were able to save ten eggs out of 13 laid by Derby. They are now being kept in an incubator and it is hoped the babies will hatch during October.

http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/Lovestruck-tortoises-await-egg-hatching.5582567.jp

GULF DAILY NEWS (Bahrain) 28 August 09 Dead turtle 'not rare Olive Ridley'

A dead turtle found washed off the shore in Askar on Wednesday was a Green species and not an Olive Ridley, the Bahrain Centre for Studies and Research (BCSR) said yesterday.

It was found by Fahad Al Aish, 20, and Humood Al Muhanna, 19, who believed that it was an Olive Ridley after reading in the GDN two days before about the first one found in Bahrain.

BCSR fisheries studies head and programme co-ordinator Dr Ebrahim Abdulqader said Green turtles were usually found dead on Bahrain's shores because of shrimp trawl nets.

The first turtle was spotted by BCSR marine experts northwest of Fast Al Dibal.

The turtle's shell - 63cm long and 65cm wide - was proof of its existence in Bahrain territorial waters.

It was spotted by researchers who were surveying sea turtles in Bahrain and the reasons behind their death.

The study found that 122 turtles died last year.

It revealed that shrimp trawl nets were responsible for more than half of turtle deaths.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=258461

WESTERN GAZETTE (Somerset, UK) 28 August 09 Snake sneaks into Chard home

A woman who discovered a snake in her Chard home has hit out at irresponsible pet owners, who she believes were responsible for her uninvited visitor.

Lesley Coles found the three-foot baby python in a reusable shopping bag in a cupboard after her dog started barking when she went to pick up the bag. She thinks the snake slithered into her flat in Coles Place through a hole near the electricity meter.

Mrs Coles, aged 63, said: "I was really shaken up when I found it, and only got back to normal after about a week. I was going to bed and having nightmares about snakes for a few days.

"I think people should take greater responsibility. You can walk into any pet shop and buy a baby snake, but I don't think people realise how much they grow.

"There has been a story in the news recently about people using them as weapons as well. There should be restrictions on owning them, or perhaps a licence should be required. But, in the meantime, anyone who does have a snake as a pet should take much greater care to inform the RSPCA if they do escape."

Although some snakes do require a licence to keep under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act, an RSPCA spokesman said pythons are not covered.

The spokesman said: "In this instance it is hard to know how the snake came to be where it was found, as it could either have escaped or made its way there after being abandoned. Either way, what was a shocking encounter for the lady concerned was good news for the snake, as exotic animals do not do well without specialist care and attention. By finding it, she saved its life.

"Sadly, every year the RSPCA encounters a significant number of dead and dying exotic pets which have been abandoned and are unable to survive in the wild without the specialist heat, lighting and diet they require."

Pythons can grow to 15 feet long and kill their prey by crushing.

http://www.thisisdorset.co.uk/westerngazette/news/Snake-sneaks-Chard-home/article-1293860-detail/article.html

WTVT (Tampa Bay, Florida) 28 August 09 To save dogs, woman spends thousands - Antivenin for pets no longer available (Tanya Arja)

Odessa: It's been a rough couple of days for an Odessa woman and her three dogs.

Sunday night, the dogs were out playing in the backyard. Vicki Stahler said they looked like they were hunting for lizards. But within a few minutes, the dogs started acting funny.

"They started barking and running back and forth here. So I went through the pool cage and walked over here and that's when I heard it, the rattle."

An 8-inch pygmy rattlesnake was sitting coiled up. It had just bitten all three dogs.

"I started checking their faces and I saw blood on her face," Stahler recalled.

First she checked Angel, her 11-year-old female. Bailey and Aspen had puncture marks too.

Vicki grabbed her butterfly net to trap the snake. Then she got her shovel out and killed it.

She rushed all of the canine victims to the vet, where she got another shock. They had no animal antivenin.

Dr. Neil Shaw from Florida Veterinary Specialists told FOX 13 there's a big shortage.

"There's a significant shortage of antivenin right now for pets," he explained. "There is a human antivenin that is available. The challenge is, it's extremely, extremely expensive."

He's not kidding -- each vial is about $2,000. So when Vicki saw her vet bill, she was stunned.

"When I looked down I was like, 'Ah, does that say $6,000?' She said, 'Yeah.'"

But what could she do -- pay the money, or let her dogs die?

Vicki didn't think twice. And now Bailey, Angel, and Aspen are doing well.

But she's letting other pet owners know it will be an expensive trip to the vet.

Dr. Shaw says they've seen a lot of snakebites in pets lately. Florida Veterinary Services is caring for two dogs right now with bites.

From now until October is breeding season for snakes. Plus, with the rain we've been getting, the snakes are coming out.

The animal antivenin cost about $860, which is not cheap in itself. But the human version is more than twice as expensive.

Vets have been told the World Health Organization decided to stop making the animal antivenin because they need to make more human antivenin.

There is a rattlesnake vaccine for dogs. But Dr. Shaw said Florida snakes were not used to make the vaccine, so he says it's useless to animals here.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/hillsborough/antivenin_for_dogs_082809

NEWSPOST (Ghaziabad, India) 27 August 09 Lake Eyre lady lizards snub ‘harassing’ males by flaunting their orange undies!

Lake Eyre female lizards snub harassing mates by displaying bright orange colour, a new study has found.

Lead researcher Devi Stuart-Fox from University of Melbourne revealed that dragon lizards found in northern South Australia developed bright orange patches on their throats and bellies when they were reproductively active.

“If they wish to avoid sex with harassing males, they flip on to their backs and prevent the males from being able to copulate with them,” the Courier Mail quoted Stuart-Fox as saying.

“In most animals, it is the males that have the showy colours, which they use to intimidate rivals or attract mates,” Stuart-Fox added.

While lying on back is likely to make these lizards an easy prey, birds did not appear to attack them, preferring those still upright.

Stuart-Fox said this was likely because birds rarely came across flipped over, orange lizards and did not recognise them as potential prey. (ANI)

http://www.newspostonline.com/science/lake-eyre-lady-lizards-lake-eyre-lady-lizards-snub-harassing-males-by-flaunting-their-orange-undies-2009082767375

BBC (London, UK) 27 August 09 Poachers threaten spider tortoise (Matt Walker)

Poachers are threatening the survival of the northern Madagascar spider tortoise, which only lives along a narrow strip of the island's coast.

The animal has disappeared from swathes of its habitat, taken by collectors to supply the exotic pet trade.

Wild numbers of the tortoise may have already fallen by 90%, say scientists who have just surveyed its population.

The problem continues to worsen due to political instability in the country, which makes it easier for smugglers.

The Madagascar spider tortoise is one of the smaller species of tortoise, and is distinguished by the intricate spider web patterning on the shells of adults. Hence its scientific name Pyxis arachnoides.

It occurs as three distinct subspecies, each of which has a slightly different shell shape and lives in a different part of the coastal spiny forests within southwest Madagascar.

However, the tortoise's appearance is also its downfall.

A new survey suggests that the northern Madagascar spiny tortoise (P. a. brygooi) is now extinct across 50% of its former historical range, with huge numbers being collected to supply the international trade in exotic pets.

Trade in the species is banned, but thousands of the animals are still being smuggled out of the country illegally, says Ryan Walker, a senior wildlife biologist at Nautilus Ecology based in Greetham, Rutland, UK.

Walker, who is also a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, conducted a survey in March covering all the whole range where the tortoise was once thought to live.

Together with biologists from the Open University in the UK, the IUCN specialist group and the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar, Walker searched 60 sites in detail for wild spider tortoises, recording their occurrence and population density.

He presented the results this month to the Turtle Survival Alliance Meeting in St Louis, US and is also submitting them to the journal Herpetologica.

"The most striking aspect of the survey was that huge areas of suitable habitat were completely devoid of tortoises. A sure sign that the collectors had been in to collect them for either local consumption as food or collection for black market to supply the pet trade," says Walker.

He estimates that two million wild northern spider tortoises remain.

"That sounds quite a lot. But 35% occur in a very small area of forest and are susceptible to being wiped out pretty quickly by collectors."

"The remaining animals are in very isolated and fragmented populations with very low numbers of tortoises, which are unlikely to recover into healthy populations," Walker says.

"As an educated and conservative guess I would say that the global population of northern tortoises have probably decreased by greater than 90% since human induced pressure has been placed on the animals."

Some local communities hunt the tortoise for food. But the greatest threat comes from organised gangs visiting the area and collecting spider tortoises for illegal export.

A single spider tortoise can reach US$1000 each on the pet and exotic reptile market, prices that drive the unsustainable trade.

The northern subspecies is probably facing greater threats than the other two subspecies from poaching, by local populations as a food source and also by gangs for export to support the illegal pet trade in the animal.

The other two subspecies don't tend to end up as readily on the pet market and the tribes further south won't eat them, however they are suffering from an alarming rate of habitat destruction, says Walker.

He also says the threat to the tortoises from poaching is currently greater due to the current political turmoil in Madagascar brought about by the political coup in January.

Disorganisation at government level has meant that it is easier to get endangered species out of the country with false paperwork or blank permits that are easier to get hold of, he explains.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8224000/8224143.stm

BERNAMA (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) 27 August 09 Turtle Eggs Seized, Four Nabbed

Sandakan: The Sandakan Marine Operations Force arrested four foreign nationals, including three women, and seized 1,250 turtle eggs from a boat off the Mile 7 Beach here on Wednesday.

Its commanding officer, ASP Muhammad Sallam Spawi said the eggs were believed to be taken from islands off Sabah near the Philippine border.

Those arrested aged between 12 and 61 were arrested under the Immigration Act 1959/1963 and the Wildlife Conservation Act 1997, he said in a statement today.

Muhammad Sallam said turtle eggs were sold illegally here between RM1.20 and RM2 each.

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=436145

HUTCHINSON NEWS (Kansas) 27 August 09 14-foot snake escapes from zoo in GB

Gret Bend (AP): When a motorist called Great Bend police to report a "really big snake" stretched from one side of a city street to the other, officers called Mike Cargill, director of the Great Bend Zoo.

Imagine Cargill's surprise about 1 a.m. Tuesday when he discovered that the snake was a 14-foot reticulated python that was supposed to be safely sleeping in his zoo.

When the sun came up Tuesday, Cargill discovered that a mower had left a hole in the fence around the python exhibit, just large enough for the python to squeeze through. The zoo's perimeter fence, which was meant to stop mammals, was no challenge for the snake.

Cargill said the python likely stretched itself across the blacktop road to warm up in the 65-degree temperatures.

That is where it was when the driver stopped, luckily in time, and 911 was called.

Cargill was able to recapture the wandering reptile and move it and another python to a secure site.

http://www.hutchnews.com/Localregional/snake2009-08-26T22-02-32

WA TODAY (Brisbane, Australia) 27 August 09 Masked motorcyclist drops alligator-eating snake (Chris Thomson)

A masked motorcyclist has returned a member of an alligator-eating snake species to WA wildlife authorities.

Department of Environment and Conservation investigator Rick Dawson said the man concealed the 1.8 metre albino Burmese python, and a 1 metre Borneo short-tailed python, inside a bag he brought to the Armadale Reptile Centre on Tuesday morning.

"He arrived on a motorcycle and kept his helmet on while handing over the bag and a note to staff," Mr Dawson said.

"By the time they realised what was inside the bag, the man had fled.

"The note explained that in light of recent events and media publicity on the issue, he thought it was best to surrender the snakes, which were being kept illegally."

DEC wildlife officers are investigating the incident and have taken the snakes into care.

"The anonymous person's action is commendable, as we would much rather people handed in these exotic snakes than turn them loose in the wild," Mr Dawson said.

"The albino Burmese python in particular is considered an extreme establishment risk to Australia, and in the American state of Florida where they are rife they have been known to eat alligators and attack people.

"There is only one secure facility that is licensed to keep these pythons in Western Australia, in order to minimise the risk of this species gaining a foothold in our environment."

The pythons are each worth up to $10,000 on the black market.

The maximum penalty for illegally importing banned wildlife to WA is $4,000.

Anyone caught illegally importing animals also faces Federal fines up to $100,000 and/or a maximum 10-year jail sentence.

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/masked-motorcyclist-drops-alligatoreating-snake-20090827-f0jr.html

GOLD COAST BULLETIN (Molendinar, Australia) 27 August 09 Accused a closet snake fan: court (Renee Redmond)

A Hope Island man could be bitten with a $100,000 fine after police allegedly discovered an illegal snake living in his wardrobe.

Officers allegedly found drugs, cash, weapons and a South American python at the home of 21-year-old Christopher James Cairns during a police raid at 6.30am yesterday.

Mr Cairns appeared in Southport Magistrates Court today on eight weapons and drugs charges, plus possession of an illegal snake.

Solicitor Bill Potts said despite the serious nature of possessing firearms and drugs, the snake was potentially the most serious charge.

Mr Potts said the reptile is considered to be an imported pest in Australia and the maximum penalty was a $100,000 fine.

Mr Cairns was granted bail on the condition a $20,000 surety and daily reporting to police.

The matter has been set down for a committal hearing on March 11.

http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/08/27/130511_gold-coast-news.html

PTI (New Delhi, India) 27 August 09 Python rescued and released in jungle

Cooch Behar (WB): A 15-ft python was rescued today after it was found trapped in a bush on the bank of Kaljani river the district.

Locals saw the python lying trapped this morning and informed the forest department officials.

The forest division personnel rescued the python and brought it to the forest office. Later, the reptile was released in Patlakhawa forest, Cooch Behar ADFO S K Baroi said.

A large crowd of curious people gathered there to see the python.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/251427_Python-rescued-and-released-in-jungle

WTOL (Toledo, Ohio) 27 August 09 Coming face-to-face with a rock python, not so fun, Oregon man says (Nick Dutton)

Oregon, OH: An local man got quite a surprise Thursday when he found an 8.5 ft. rock python in his garage. It happened around 7 a.m. in the 3200 block of Eastmoreland.

Mark Erdman it was crazy when he walked into his garage to get his gloves to take out the trash. When he walked over to where he keeps his gloves, he found the big snake coiled up on a speaker.

"I just scared the heck out of me, you know. I was like whoa what's this? Did a double check like is someone playing a joke on me? Is it rubber snake? No, it was real," says Erdman.

The snake eventually moved behind his tools.

Erdman says the police even thought twice about catching it. He says at first they were kind of leery because they weren't sure, but then they came in and got the snake out.

Justin Dixon's mom woke him up saying police found a snake.

Dixon says his snake disappeared three weeks ago, after he left his snake in the front yard. He "just figured it died somewhere."

In the course of three weeks, the snake slithered through three people's yards, eventually making the Erdman's garage home.

For folks going into their garages, Mark says just be careful. You never know what could be slithering around.

http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=11001997

EL DIARIO DE YUCATÁN (Mérida, Mexico) 27 August 09 Lo ataca una mamba verde - Rescatistas salvan a un hombre de la mordida de una serpiente venenosa

Funcionarios del Departamento de Rescates de Miami-Dade describieron cómo le salvaron la vida a un hombre de 44 años que fue mordido por una serpiente venenosa, de acuerdo con “El Nuevo Herald”.

La víctima, un trabajador de Comcast llamado Pablo Vyskocil de la ciudad de Hollywood, estaba instalando líneas de cable alrededor de un edificio de apartamentos en Hollywood. Vyskocil fue mordido en el brazo por una serpiente venenosa de la especie mamba verde y hubo que administrarle siete inyecciones antiveneno.

Vyskocil dijo que en cuestión de minutos se le durmieron el brazo y la mano. Dos horas más tarde, todo el lado derecho de su cuerpo estaba paralizado. “Estaba calmado, aunque pensaba que iba a morir, pero estaba en calma”, comentó.

El capitán Ernie Jillson, jefe del Equipo de Respuesta Antiveneno del condado de Miami-Dade, se trasladó a la sala de emergencia donde fue ingresado Vyskocil y le mostró varias fotos de serpientes para tratar de identificar cuál era la que lo mordió. La víctima identificó inmediatamente a la mamba verde. Vyskocil recibió siete inyecciones del antídoto contra la picada de mamba verde a lo largo de los dos días siguientes.

El antídoto consiste en una sustancia amarilla hecha de los anticuerpos que generan los caballos a las toxinas de las mambas, víboras y cobras. Una mordida de este tipo de reptil puede inocularle a la víctima un veneno neurotóxico extremadamente potente que ataca de forma directa el sistema nervioso. De igual modo, el veneno contiene cardiotoxinas que atacan el corazón. Con frecuencia la mordida resulta fatal a los humanos ya que paraliza los riñones y el corazón. Las muertes, sin embargo, son escasas, pues las inyecciones antivenenosas están disponibles.

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