HERP NEWS 247/2009
DURHAM NEWS (Oshawa, Ontario) 04 September
09 Snakes
are not meant to be kept as pets
To the editor:
I'm reading
about the Oshawa pet bylaw meeting set for Sept. 17. Now Debbie and Doug
Grills, who own D and D Exotics pet store, would like to see non-venomous
snakes such as boas and pythons permitted, as long as they are under three
metres when fully grown. That is a 10-foot snake, enough to strangle a baby,
for goodness sake.
What planet do
these people come from? In the southern states, just a few weeks ago, this is
exactly what happened when a snake got out of its cage and constricted a baby
to death who was sleeping in his crib. In Florida, people let their boas loose
in the Everglades when they were fed up with their so-called snake hobby and
dumped them, hoping the alligators would get them. Guess what; now they have
too many snakes and they are trying to catch them before they take over the
Everglades.
Remember the
snake in the apartment in Toronto a few years ago that they tried to find? I
remember riding my bike down the bike path in Oshawa and this person with no
shirt on carrying his huge snake around his neck. It was a long, fat python. I
hope that all snakes and lizards and tarantulas will be banned and these pet
"lovers" will come to their senses before we have an epidemic that we
cannot control, and it will be too late to do anything about it.
Snakes and
these so-called pets belong in the wild.
Herman van der
Veen
Hamilton
Township
http://newsdurhamregion.com/opinion/article/134936
NEW KERALA (India) 04 September 09 Cat
kills snake
Sheopur
(UNI): A man, who was vexed over a cat
domesticated by his family in this district's Manpur village, underwent a
change of heart after the feline saved his life by killing a snake.
Babulal Rathor
was, in fact, planning to get rid of the cat. On Wednesday night, while Rathor
and his family members were asleep at home, a roughly four-foot-long snake slid
under Rathor's cot and began attempting to climb onto it. The cat spotted the
reptile and fatally bit it.
The incident
came to light after Rathor woke in the morning. ''I no longer have any
complaint against the cat and it will live with us like a family member,'' he
said.
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-105536.html
THE INTELLIGENCER (Wheeling, W Virginia) 04
September 09 Croc Wrangler Tells Story of Capture (Ian Hicks)
Though quite
adept at catching snapping turtles, Elm Grove resident Jason Thorn never
thought he'd be called upon to snare an alligator.
It just goes
to show you never know when - or how - your skills will come in handy. On Aug.
27, Thorn found that out when he fished a 2 1/2-foot alligator out of Big
Wheeling Creek in Marshall County near the Shoemaker Mine bridge.
"Never in
a million years did I dream there would ever be an alligator in Big Wheeling
Creek," Thorn said.
Thorn was
visiting a friend when a concerned neighbor called after reporting the
alligator sighting to animal control. Thorn said the responding animal control
officer took a picture of the reptile and said he'd be back in the morning to
capture it.
"She was
sort of freaked out," Thorn said of his friend's neighbor. "I
thought, what's the chance of that alligator being there tomorrow?" While
he was doubtful of the alligator sighting at first, he headed down to the creek
to check things out. Sure enough, he spotted the gator from the bridge and
decided to take matters into his own hands. With "spotters" Cameron
Fisher and Jimmy Shepherd keeping watch from the bridge, Thorn descended the
creek bank with fishing net in hand. He said as he approached the alligator, it
hid beneath a large rock.
After flushing
the reptile out from under the rock, Thorn said it took him about 15 minutes
and three swipes with the net to corral the sharp-toothed animal. He added the
task wasn't too difficult because the alligator remained in shallow water,
although "he was sort of feisty at first." Animal control retrieved
the animal the next morning. Thorn credited his father, who taught him at an
early age the art of hunting snapping turtles, with enabling him to snare the
Big Wheeling Creek alligator. "Those things can take your arms off. Their
bite is lightning fast," he said of snapping turtles. "I figured if I
can handle a snapping turtle, I can handle this alligator."
Thorn said he
has no idea how the animal came to visit Marshall County, but he speculated it
was a pet that either escaped from its owner or was let loose after it grew too
large.
Marshall
County Animal Control Officer Jim Noice previously said he doesn't advise
residents to try capturing wild animals themselves. "We have the equipment
to take care of these things, and it can be very dangerous for the
public," Noice said.
http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/528029.html?nav=510
TAMPA TRIBUNE (Florida) 04 September 09 Wildlife
experts question python numbers in Everglades (Keith Morelli)
In the dense
woods, isolated swamps and steamy hammocks of the Florida Everglades, the
battle for supremacy rages on, at least according to dispatches from the front
by federal and state authorities.
Now those
dispatches that claim tens of thousands - perhaps even more than 100,000 of the
marauding Burmese python horde roam the area, have come into question by
wildlife experts who say there can't possibly be that many out there.
As the
invasion enters its fourth decade (the first python spotted there in 1979),
some are beginning to say the strength of the slithering snake infantry is way
overblown.
Wildlife
experts and proponents of the exotic pet industry scoff at some estimates that
there are more than 100,000 pythons there, even though that was the number used
by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in support of his bill to ban importation of pythons.
Some government biologists have said there could be as many as 140,000 pythons
in the Everglades and surrounding areas.
Whatever the
numbers, the gripping photos stick in people's memory; evidence that there is a
primal struggle for survival waged between the invaders and the natives, most
notable of which is the American alligator, whose bloodline has prowled the
4,300 square miles of the Everglades since prehistoric times. Both are vying
for the top prize: the first link of the food chain; the reptilian king of the
jungle.
Photos of an
alligator eating a thick squirming snake and a giant snake eating a 6-foot
alligator (both died as a result) are dramatic. So is the photo of the
Okeechobee animal hospital staff hoisting the body of a 17-foot, 200 pound
python they found and killed next to their clinic in July.
And as the
reptiles battle on, the estimates of the invaders' strength vary widely,
depending on who's doing the estimating.
Linda Friar,
spokeswoman for the Everglades National Park, admitted there may be as few as
5,000 pythons loose in the area. Or there may be as many as 140,000. She said
that some of the disparity stems from the area covered by estimates and who is
giving the estimates. The Everglades National Park is 2,400 square miles, while
the entire Everglades ecosystem encompasses 18,000 square miles.
"Most
folks tend to go to the high range," she said. "But, it all depends
on who you are talking to. It's just a best guess. There's no empirical data.
It's an elusive species, so we don't really know how many there are. We do know
that they've adapted to the habitat.
"We know
they are reproducing," she said. "We found nests and
hatchlings."
The first
python nest was found in 2006, she said. Python nests have between 40 and 100
hatchlings, she said, and "that makes us extremely concerned. It's
significant. Most exotic species don't tend to survive there. It's a relatively
harsh environment.
"We don't
know what the survival rate is," she said. "There are a number of
things that eat hatchlings, like wading birds, alligators and other
snakes."
As the fight
for survival continues, the high estimates of python numbers vex some wildlife
experts.
There can't be
hundreds - or even tens - of thousands of pythons, they say, or the snakes
would be crawling onto the decks of airboats and across hoods of cars cruising
Alligator Alley.
"I've heard
numbers of up to 200,000," said Vernon Yates, founder of Wildlife Rescue
and Rehabilitation in Seminole, "I'd like to know how they come up with
that stupid exaggeration.
"I
believe it's probably around 1,000," he said. "That would be more
realistic."
But the
squeamish public loves to picture the swamp awash in Burmese pythons. He said a
German television station recently came here and interviewed him about the
notion abroad that the Everglades is overrun with giant snapping, hissing
serpents from Southeast Asia.
"Let's
assume that there are 150,000 pythons there," he said. "I'd bet there
are not 150,000 alligators in the Everglades; not 150,000 deer in the
Everglades; I know there's not even near that in bears.
"But, you
can go to the Everglades, see alligators, see deer, see bear; hell, you can
even find panthers," he said. "I drive over Alligator Alley a lot.
Every time, I see five dead alligators at least."
But, he said,
not the first python, dead or alive.
Even a single
python loose in Florida is one too many, he said, but trapping them and then
killing them, which is what the trappers are required to do, goes too far, he
said.
"I think
it's a good idea to put a bounty on them, to go out and trap them," he
said. "I have a hard time saying every one collected has to die."
Yates, who
himself has trapped pythons in the Tampa Bay region, has doubts about the
snakes' chances of survival in the 'Glades' harsh environment.
"I don't
believe they are going to make it in the wild," he said. "They don't
reproduce that fast and young snakes are preyed upon by the myriad of birds and
other animals there that keep other snakes in check."
Joe Fauci,
owner of Southeast Reptile Exchange, said he's heard from various sources that
there could be as many 180,000 pythons in the Everglades. He seriously doubts
that.
"There
are not 180,000 water snakes in the Everglades," he said. "I don't
believe it."
He has no idea
why people would inflate figures, unless there is money or fame to be made
through it somehow.
"I want
to know how these guys can even make that estimate," he said. Pythons
could not survive in that environment, he said. His money is on the alligators
and birds of prey.
While ospreys
and eagles would munch on smaller pythons, the larger ones aren't safe either,
Fauci said.
"They
would get eaten too," he said. "If a 12-foot Burmese swims in front
of an 8-foot alligator he's going to get eaten up. Those alligators are going
to chew them up 99 percent of the time. It's a nice little meal."
National Park
Service biologists say that in October 2005, 22 pythons were killed by tractors
tilling up the soil in one section of the preserve.
In 2006, 122
pythons were documented in the Everglades and biologists estimated then that
there were more than 1,000. The increase was up considerably from the 11
pythons documented between 1995 and 2000.
Biologists say
that before 1995, they had found only one in the big swamp and that was in
1979.
In July, the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission authorized a handful of
herpetologists to go on hunting sprees. They were given a free hand to conduct
special operations missions into the wilds of the swamp to eliminate with
extreme prejudice the invading hordes.
The first day,
hunters found a 10-foot python and the second weekend, three python hatchlings.
Since then, hunting has been off. Only about a dozen have been captured
altogether, but the hunters say safaris will be more fruitful when the weather
cools and the snakes come out into the open to sun themselves.
Biologists
don't hold much hope for eliminating the species from the Everglades
altogether, according to a National Parks Service newsletter published in July.
But, they do
want to control the species, to keep the python problem from worsening. State and
federal biologists are trying to cut the python population of South Florida to
the "ecologically extinct level – that is, to numbers so low that the
species cannot play a significant role in ecosystem functioning," the
newsletter said.
"We'd
then be dealing with nuisance pythons here and there," the publication
said, "not pythons by the hundreds of thousands causing serious problems
in geographically widespread areas."
The damage an
invasive species like Burmese pythons can do to the Everglades is obvious, said
Friar of the National Park Service. Although the environment is harsh, the
ecosystem is delicate.
"We have
a large predator coming in that can disrupt the natural system of who eats
whom," she said. "There is competition for food sources. The more you
add to the competition, the more you throw out of balance a pretty fragile
system."
Looking to the
future, biologists are wondering what other exotic animals are coming into the
state as pets that someday may find their way into the wild and take root.
"Some
people just may not understand that it's not good to release these species into
wild," she said. "They think they're sending them home.
"But,
they don't' belong there."
Curbing The
Python Population
Biologists
with the National Park Service have these suggestions on how to curb the
growing population of the invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades:
•Establish
partnerships to carry out control efforts. Currently agencies involved in the
effort include the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
the U.S. Geological Survey, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission, the South Florida Water Management District, the University of
Florida and the Savannah River Ecology Lab.
•Concentrate
on research that can predict where pythons congregate, making capture more
efficient. Biologists are conducting necropsies on pythons found in the
Everglades to learn what the snakes are eating. Some pythons released a few
years ago, have implanted radio transmitters to signal where they roam.
•Make it easy
for people to report the location of any pythons they encounter in the wild.
The park service already has a python hotline that the public can use to report
python sightings in parks. The number is (305) 242-7827 or (305) 815-2080.
•Establish
rapid response teams to deal with python problems. Such action can eliminate
new infestations before they can grow out of control.
•Develop
reliable ways to locate pythons, which move in densely vegetated or remote
areas and are well camouflaged. Some scientists suggest using dogs specially
trained to pick up trails of pythons from along roads or canal banks.
•Use traps
baited with attractants such as pheromones.
•Encourage
licensed hunters to shoot pythons on sight.
•Pay bounties
to people who capture or kill free-roaming pythons.
•Promote
responsible exotic pet ownership.
ST. AUGUSTINE RECORD (Florida) 04
September 09 Storms could force turtle hatchlings back to beaches (Lorraine
Thompson)
As storms move
through the area, seaweed along the beaches may soon play havoc on sea turtle
hatchlings that have traveled to the ocean, according to Tara Dodson, St. Johns
County habitat conservation coordinator.
"The high
winds and high tides may start to form a wrack line (of seaweed), resulting in
possible 'wash-backs' appearing on the beaches," she said.
Dodson
explained that the wash-backs are sea turtles that have already made their trip
out to sea and have found a layer of seaweed where they forage until they are
large enough to leave.
"Unfortunately,
large storm events will wash back these turtles," Dodson said. "This
is a real cause for concern because of possible impact by vehicles."
Dodson calls
on beachgoers to be observant and vigilant about the hatchlings.
"If
someone comes across a sea turtle, please call our pager number at 227-0023 and
be sure to enter the caller's area code and phone number so the turtles can be
picked up and brought to the closest rehab facility. Beach drivers should be
cautious to avoid the wrack line since there might be turtles stranded in the
seaweed," she said.
Beach ramp
gates will continue to be locked from 7:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily through the
turtle nesting season, which ends on Oct. 31 or until the last nest has
emerged, whichever is later. Beach lighting restrictions will remain in effect.
Repair or
construction of beach walkovers is also restricted until after Oct. 31.
County
officials have extended the beach toll season through September. Tolls will
continue to be collected on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 27.
Beach access
Monday through Thursday will be free to all vehicles. 2009 season pass holders
will have free access on those weekends. Others will pay $6 per day for
residents and $7 for nonresidents.
http://www.staugustine.com/stories/090409/news_1918173.shtml
BBC (London, UK) 04 September 09 Girls
'born with fear of spiders'
A new study in
the US suggests that women have a genetic aversion to dangerous animals, such
as spiders.
The research,
published in the New Scientist, says women are born with character
traits that were ingrained in our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
As child
protectors, they have to shun animals that threaten them or their young
off-spring, researchers said.
Previous
research suggested women were actually up to four times more likely to be
afraid of creatures like spiders.
The new
research was headed up by developmental psychologist, Dr David Rakison, from
Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, 10 baby girls, and 10 baby boys were
subjected to a number of pictures of spiders to gauge their reactions.
First the
babies were shown a picture of a spider with a fearful human face, followed by
images of a spider paired with a happy face - alongside an image of a flower
twinned with a fearful face.
The results
showed that the girls - some as young as 11 months old - looked longer at the
picture of the happy face with a spider than the boys, who looked at both
images for an equal time.
The
researchers concluded that the young girls were confused as to why someone
would be happy to be twinned with a spider, and were quick to associate
pictures of arachnids with fear.
The boys, it
seems, remained totally indifferent emotionally.
Mr Rakison
attributes this genetic predisposition to behavioural traits inherent in our
hunter-gatherer ancestors.
Men, he
purports, were the greater natural risk takers, the ones who took greater risks
were more successful when going out to hunt for food.
With women, in
their role as natural child protectors, it made sense for them to be more
cautious of animals such as snakes or spiders, Mr Rakison adds.
By contrast,
the research concludes that modern phobias such as the fear of hospitals - or
that of flying - show no differences between the sexes.
Previous
research has shown that almost 6% of people have a phobia of snakes, with
nearly 4% scared of spiders.
However, of
that percentage, four times are likely to be women than men.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8237691.stm
KHSL (Chico, California) 04 September
09 Snakes
on a Playground (Jerry Olenyn)
Construction
on the Meriam Park project in South Chico is causing some concern on the
playground of nearby Little Chico Creek Elementary School. The construction site contains a number of
snakes that are now being displaced by construction. Now it appears the snakes are making their
way onto the playground in greater numbers than in previous years.
Project
Manager Roderick Mummert told Action News "certainly now during the
construction process you're going to have some activity because they're going
to be shaken out."
The snakes
live in the grassy area from Bruce Road to the back of Little Chico Creek
Elementary, and have gradually slithered their way closer to the school. Mummert said "we've found three of them,
and showed them their new home, which is a little further away from the school,
and I think it'll all be good."
Because Little
Chico Creek's backyard terrain, snakes have always been an issue. Over the long haul, the Meriam Park project
will create a buffer from snakes to the school yard. Little Chico Creek Elementary School Principal
Suzanne Michelony said "over in the grassy area, way out there in the corner,
that's been our problem. There's going
to be a nice park there, so the problem will probably heal itself."
Although no
rattlesnakes have been found, Action News learned that they do inhabit areas
similar to that landscape. Park Ranger
Jessica Erdah tells me she wouldn't be surprised to find rattlers in that
area. Students have been told to keep
away from any snake they see and report it to the yard duty teacher
immediately.
http://www.khsltv.com/content/localnews/story/Snakes-on-a-Playground/6HOq5H50h0GNGolUcVplSw.cspx
VICTORIA ADVOCATE (Texas) 04 September 09 Girl on path to recovery after snake bite
(Leslie Wilber)
Her feet are
covered in bruises, and purple pen lines map the growth and recession of a
10-year-old girl's rattle snake bites.
"That's
how swollen it got," said Karolina Clifford, pointing to the outermost
lines on her puffy feet.
Karolina was
back at her family's Quail Creek home on Thursday, after being discharged from
Driscoll Children's Hospital the afternoon before.
Karolina thought
she stepped on a thorn while walking the family's Labrador, Sparticus, on
Saturday. She ran inside, where her aunt realized the injuries were likely
snake bites - a bite on each foot.
One neighbor,
a volunteer firefighter, marked the size of the bites and the time on
Karolina's feet, her mother, Julie Clifford said.
Another
neighbor stored the dead, foot-long rattler in his freezer, she said.
Bum feet
propped on the arm of a love seat, Karolina gives a child's stoic recount of
the ordeal.
"We're
lucky it didn't happen to one of the littler kids," Karolina said.
Karolina
seemed to be doing well after she got to DeTar Hospital North on Saturday
night.
But Sunday
morning, Karolina's entire leg began to swell, her mother said. The toes were
so bloated they no longer touched each other at the tips.
"Her feet
were so numb," Clifford said. "She couldn't feel her feet or move her
toes."
Karolina was
airlifted to Driscoll Children's Hospital on Sunday afternoon.
"It was
my first helicopter ride," Karolina said. The window-side view was
frightening when the helicopter banked, but her mother held her hand for the
whole trip.
As Karolina
recovered in Corpus Christi, neighbors cleared areas where snakes could hide
from the family yard and put out snake repellant, her father, Jimmy Clifford,
said.
"We are
so thankful to everybody," he said.
Karolina is
thankful to be home, where she can recuperate in peace, away from doctors'
hourly prods.
She offers
this intriguing tidbit: "If I get bit again, it won't be as bad because my
body is used to it."
After doctors
told Karolina this, her father gave this warning: "Don't become a snake
whisperer."
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2009/sep/03/lw_snake_bite_090409_64495/?news&local-news
SW VIRGINIA NEWS (Marion, Virginia) 04
September 09 Finally Some Good News: Snake handling and the issue of faith (Dr.
Mark Ross is the pastor of Marion Baptist Church)
There was a
lot of nervous laughter in the room. Some of it was mine. I was leading a
church discussion on religious practices in Appalachia. The topic of the night
was snake handling. The multitudes had not shown up; I think it was because of
the subject.
Just the
thought of snakes, much less the thought of handling them, gives most folks
cold chills. A number of people in the room alluded to Wendy Bagwell’s old
story of singing in a West Virginia church. Bagwell described how people had
begun to take snakes out of baskets and boxes while his group sang. Turning to
the pastor, Bagwell nervously asked where the church’s back door was. When the
pastor told him there was not a back door, Bagwell asked the pastor where he
would like one!
During the
night’s discussion, one person admitted what most of us were thinking. We did
not have enough faith to pick up snakes. The honest saint said, “Maybe, I could
become a snail handler instead of a snake handler.” However, I am not sure
handling snakes is a matter of faith. I am sure it is not a matter of
scripture.
“And these
signs will accompany those who believe: they will pick up snakes in their
hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them,” Mark 16:18.
Those words are in the Bible, but not originally. However, I am certain that
they were in Melinda Brown’s mind when a 4-foot long Timber rattler fatally bit
her forearm during a church service in Middlesboro, Ky. Refusing medical
treatment, she died in Middlesboro leaving five children with her husband, John
Wayne Brown Jr.
“Punkin,” as
his family and friends called John Wayne, had suffered 22 snakebites over his
34 years. Finally, three years after his wife Melinda’s death, Punkin Brown
picked up a massive yellow rattler while preaching in a church service in Sand
Mountain, Ala. As Brown attempted to return the snake to the box, it latched on
to the base of one of his fingers. Other ministers in the building held him up
as the dying evangelist lifted his arms and said, “Jesus, Jesus… God is still
God, God is still God, no matter what happens.” In a room filled with people
including a number of children, John Wayne Brown died on the floor where
moments before he had stood preaching what he considered was the truth. The
courts granted his parents partial custody of the five children. The
grandparents were also snake handlers.
It has been
just over 10 years since John Wayne Brown picked up his last snake. Yet, snake
handling continues in a variety of states, though outlawed in virtually all of
them. Snake handling began in the early 1900s in Cleveland, Tenn. While it
exists in pockets of the Deep South and places as far away as Canada, snake
handling remains primarily an Appalachian phenomenon. Since its beginnings,
more than 80 people have died from snakebites in religious services.
Snake handling
is not legal, biblical, or even wise. Yet, it continues. Why? Faith is so
nebulous, so impossible to get our hands around we are always looking for
evidence of it. Normally, we seek that evidence in charity, morality or
worship. However, some seek it in the deadly. More than once Jesus marveled in
the presence of faith. While the presence of faith moved him, rarely did the
magnitude of it. In fact, once he indicated that faith the size of a mustard
seed was enough, anything more was just overkill. Compared to a rattlesnake, a
mustard seed is just dull. It is like snail handling, not nearly as exciting as
snake handling but a whole lot safer.
DAILY IBERIAN (New Iberia, Louisiana) 04
September 09 Skinning gators (Holly
Leleux-Thubron)
Coteau
Holmes: Have you ever considered where
the alligator skins used to make that fine Gucci purse you just bought came
from?
There’s a good
chance it was from the Atchafalaya Basin, delivered by fishermen to and cured
at the American Tanning and Leather Factory in Coteau Holmes.
Chris Plotts
was born into the “skinning” business, he said. His grandfather, A.J. “Jake”
Plott began buying animal skins in 1923 from trappers and hunters in the
Georgia mountain town of Blairsville.
Over the
years, the company has processed alligator, crocodile, ostrich, python, lizard,
frog and cayman skins for manufacturers responsible for some of the finest
retail merchandise on the market, including lines like Gucci, Polo, DKNY and
Hermes.
Every
September, Plotts and his highly skilled crew descend on tiny Coteau Holmes
just in time for alligator season. The Plotts family purchased the plant in
2005 from Coteau Holmes natives Gilbert and Linda Blanchard.
There are a
few key differences in the market this year, he said.
“The problem
right now is not with the alligator business,” Plotts said. “It’s the global
economy. People just don’t have the disposable income they once did and those
that do have it are being more prudent with how they spend it.”
A decrease in
demand for luxury items such as those manufactured with alligator skins
harvested from the Basin are making it difficult for Plotts and his staff to
move the same amount of product.
In fact, he
said demand for alligator skins has decreased 70 percent from last year.
The
significant decrease is trickling down to alligator fishermen, said Noel
Kinler, alligator program manager with the state Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries.
“Typically, we
would have expected to issue 35,000 tags,” Kinler said. “This year we issued
24,000 and many of the people that came to get them have since decided not to
participate because of the prices the skins are fetching.”
Plotts agreed
the current prices paid to fishermen for alligators is “disgusting.”
“The price is
terrible,” he said. “They (manufacturers) just don’t need any skins right now
and the prices are reflecting that. However, I’m hopeful because the price is
so cheap that maybe they will will realize it’s a good investment.”
This season,
which started about a week ago in the Teche Area, the price paid to fishermen
for alligator skins are: $2 per foot for 5-footers, $4 per foot for 6-footers,
$7 per foot for 7-footers and $11 per foot for any skin larger than 8 feet.
Compared to
last year’s payouts, $34 per foot for the average 7 1/2-foot alligator, the
significant reduction in the amount the hunter is getting this year is obvious,
Kinler said.
“The hunter
just won’t be very profitable this year I’m afraid,” he said.
Though Plotts
said he looks forward to his crew’s annual monthlong migration to the Teche
Area, he said the rigors of the season are hard on him. In addition, this year,
with such low prices, dealing with fishermen has been tricky.
“We find
ourselves fighting with the fishermen a little,” he said. “They don’t always understand
where our heads are. It’s really just the difference between buyers and
sellers.”
This year,
Kinler expects the harvest during alligator season to be under 10,000 skins.
Ten thousand
skins is Plotts’ goal this year, he said, though he expects only to bring in
5,000 to 7,000 before the season closes at the end of the month.
http://www.iberianet.com/articles/2009/09/04/news/doc4aa13bbc1f988318838880.txt
WEST CHINA METROPOLIS DAILY (China) 04
September 09 Man caught with snake wrapped around belly
A policewoman
patrolling the railway station in Chengdu, Sichuan province, stopped a
suspicious looking pregnant woman on Monday, only to realize it was a man with
a snake wrapped around his belly.
"One look
at the person, and I knew there was something fishy. He was too strong and
hairy to be a woman," Xu Ke, the policewoman said.
The man
wrapped the snake around his stomach, pretending to be a pregnant woman, as he
did not possess a license to transport animals.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2009-09/04/content_8654878.htm
EVENING POST (Bristol, UK) 03 September 09 Runaway
snake reunited with owner after frightening 88-year-old
The owners of
a corn snake that frightened an 88-year-old woman when it slithered across her
kitchen has been reunited with their pet.
Margaret
Carlier from Filton Avenue says Twist and a female corn snake called Fanta both
escaped around six weeks ago from the home she shares with son Ben, 15.
Mrs Carlier
says Fanta was found four days later in the family's bath but that Twist was
gone until discovered by the elderly woman five weeks later.
The three foot
adult corn snake, with orange and red stripes, was rescued by the fire service
after the woman phoned them because she was, understandably, too nervous to
deal with it herself.
The crew
captured the reptile in a bag and deposited it at Reptile Zone in Filton.
Mrs Carlier,
49, said Fanta battered a hole through the vent over several weeks to allow
both snakes to escape.
After hearing
about the story in the Evening Post, Mrs Carlier went to Reptile Zone and
proved she was the owner of the snake and paid £30 for his release.
"He's a
very friendly snake, but clearly to a lady in her 80s Twist would have been a
pretty scary experience," Mrs Carlier, who works in Sainbury's pharmacy in
Filton, said.
"My son
and I have always loved snakes. I can have one on me and it doesn't bother me
one bit – I just find them very relaxing.
"Twist is
also going to be a dad very soon because Fanta has got 10 eggs and they are due
to hatch in about a month.
"How they
both got out is the real story. Fanta gradually knocked the vent over several
weeks to create a small hole less than 1cm wide and they were both able to
slither out. We know that was what happened because we had the vent in the
Vivarium tank taped up and there was no damage there before.
"When I
got back from work I went to go and let the snakes out and they were nowhere to
be seen and I discovered the hole.
"We found
Fanta four days later when a friend discovered her in the bath and screamed.
"We are
pretty sure she had been under the floorboards because she was covered in
cobwebs.
"Twist
was a rescue snake who had been badly treated by a previous owner and we are
lucky he was found when he was because he was close to snuffing it, to be
honest.
"He was
very thin but we are feeding him up on two mice twice a week is which is treble
his intake and he is looking much more healthy now."
NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS (Darwin,
Australia) 04 September 09 Snake bites man on nose (Rebekah
Cavanagh)
A man has told
of how a snake is stalking his Territory home after it slid into his bed and
bit him on the face while he slept.
Jeff Hosie got
the fright of his life when he woke to a snake latched on to his nose.
And he says
the snake returned the next night - only this time it crawled into bed with his
16-year-old son Nathan and bit him on the back of his leg.
"He's a
rogue snake - he's got us twice now," he said.
"He's
like a stalker snake.
"I can't
believe it is just crawling into our beds. They normally stay away."
The snake
drama began early Tuesday morning when Mr Hosie, 41, woke in excruciating pain
in his bed at the no-wall humpy-style tin shed he calls his home in Howard
Springs about 4.50am.
"It was
pretty freaky - I just woke up and felt pain so went to swipe my nose and there
was a snake hanging off it," he said.
"It sunk
its fangs in real good.
"I
flicked it off and quickly grabbed my phone and shone the light on the floor
and there was this snake slithering away.
"It
looked like a deadly one - it was black with a small head.
"I then
wiped my nose and realised I had blood all over me.
"I went
into panic mode and thought I was going to die.
"I almost
lost a mate to a snake bite a few years ago so I was a bit worried."
Mr Hosie's son
rushed him to Royal Darwin Hospital fearing the worst.
"I called
Triple and told them what happened and that we were on our way to the
hospital," he said.
"They
were asking me questions like 'are you having trouble breathing?' and they
wanted the ambulance to come out and meet us on the highway."
Mr Hosie, 41,
was monitored at the hospital for more than 24 hours before being given the
all-clear to return home on Wednesday where he thought the drama was all over.
But he could
not believe it when the sneaky snake returned that night and tried snuggling up
to his son under the sheets.
"Nathan
was in bed and yelled out 'snake'," he said. "He had felt it crawling
over his neck and grabbed a hold of it and just threw it.
"We
flicked the light on and the snake shot under the bed. I grabbed the broom to
try and get it but it got away."
And to add to
the almost unbelievable tale he says when they got home after another dash to
the hospital and they dozed off again he woke several hours later when
something entered his bed and bit him on the leg.
Despite
turning his bed linen upside down, he said he could not find the nibbling
offender.
But two red
marks side-by-side on the back of his leg - almost identical to his son's snake
bite - indicated it may have been the sly reptile striking again.
But the
Hosie's are prepared if the stalking snake returns.
"I don't
know if it's going to come back but we'll be ready - we've got shovels and
brooms out beside our beds just in case," he said.
"He's a
real bugger and if we see him again we are going to pin him and drill
him."
NT snake
wrangler Chris Peberdy said the slithery culprit is likely to be a non-venomous
slatey- grey species.
"The
slatey-greys are a naturally aggressive snake and are common in Darwin's rural
area," he said. "Thankfully they are not venomous but they do have a
lot of fight in them and will strike as a defence mechanism."
He urged
people to just call the snake catcher hotline - 1800 453 210 - if they find a
snake on their property rather than risk being bitten while interfering with
it.
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/09/04/81671_ntnews.html
DIE WELT (Berlin, Germany) 04 September
09 Mann
findet Froschteile in eiskalter Pepsi-Dose
Eine
ekelerregende Entdeckung hat die US-Lebensmittelbehörde FDA alarmiert: Ein Mann
aus Florida fand in seiner Pepsi-Dose Leichenteile eines Frosches. Fred DeNegri
aus Ormondo Beach hatte zuvor im Fernsehen berichtet, dass er seine Pepsi in
einem ganz normalen Lebensmittelladen gekauft habe. Doch nach dem ersten
Schluck verging ihm der Appetit.
Verfaulte
Schweinsköpfe bei Händler entdeckt Schönes Wetter, ein leckeres Barbecue im
Garten – und dazu eine eiskalte Pepsi. Doch Fred DeNegri aus Florida verging
schon bald der Hunger. Er öffnete seine eiskalte Dose Pepsi, nahm einen großen
Schluck und begann gleich darauf zu würgen, berichtet seine Ehefrau Amy dem
US-Sender CCN.
Nach dem
ersten Schock über den Geschmack schüttelte DeNegri die Dose und schüttete das
Getränk über einem Pappteller aus – bis etwas Glibberiges herausrutschte, dass
aussah wie eine „pinkfarbene Nudel“, gefolgt von etwas „Dunklem“, erzählt Amy
DeNegri weiter. Sie sei fast umgefallen, als ihr etwas „entgegengeblubbert“
sei.
„Es war
eklig“, sagte die 54-Jährige dem Sender weiter. Das Paar machte Fotos von dem
unbekannten Objekt aus der Dose und informiert die US-Lebensmittelbehörde FDA
aus Angst, es könnte sich um etwas Giftiges handeln. Eine Probe der Pepsi und
der unbekannten Substanz gingen ans Labor. Und dort sind die Experten zu einem
überraschenden Ergebnis gekommen: Das, was da in der Dose drin steckte, war ein
Frosch. „Wir haben es untersucht, es war wirklich ein Frosch“, teilte ein
FDA-Sprecher mit. Dem Sprecher zufolge fehlten der Amphibie allerdings die
Organe aus Brust- und Bauchhöhle.
Eine zweite
Dose aus dem 36er-Pack der Diätcola, die DeNegri in einem ganz normalen
Supermarkt gekauft hatte, wurde sicherheitshalber gleich mit untersucht. Der
Inhalt sei einwandfrei gewesen, heißt es weiter in dem Untersuchungsbericht,
den die FDA dem Paar aus Florida zuschickte. Auch die Abfüllanlage des
Unternehmens in Orlando wurde inspiziert. Dabei seien keine Beanstandungen
festgestellt worden. Es sei bislang noch nicht festzustellen gewesen, wie und
wann der Frosch in die Pespi gelangen konnte, berichtete CCN im Internet.
Auch Pepsi
kann sich den Vorfall nicht erklären und versucht nun, den Fall nach Berichten
von US-Medien herunterzuspielen: Durch die Schnelligkeit der Produktion und die
Kontrollen sei es eigentlich unmöglich, versicherte ein Sprecher gleich
mehreren Zeitungen. In der Anlage würden schließlich mehr als 1000 Dosen pro
Minute produziert.
http://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article4461693/Mann-findet-Froschteile-in-eiskalter-Pepsi-Dose.html
SWINDON ADVERTISER (UK) 03
September 09 Young mountaineers find snake in their rucksack (Emma Streatfield)
Two
nine-year-old mountaineers got more than they bargained for on a fundraising
climb in the French Alps.
Herbie Cole
and Sol Doran, both from Wootton Bassett, found a viper had come down the
mountain with them in Herbie’s rucksack.
The boys
successfully trekked up the Pointe d’Angolon last Saturday and Sunday to raise
money for their school library.
Situated above
the town and ski resort of Morzine, it stands 2,065 metres high.
Sol, of Church
Street, said: “It was very tiring, but the view at the top was absolutely
amazing. In the distance we could see Mont Blanc and the whole of the valley.”
Friends Herbie
and Sol did the climb to increase the number of books at Noremarsh Junior
School, in Wootton Bassett, which they return to today.
They came up
with the idea for the climb after successfully reaching the summit of the Col
de Coux, which sits on the French-Swiss border at 1,920m above sea level, in
May 2008 when they were aged eight.
This time they
faced a gruelling two-day climb with an overnight camp out on the mountain,
where the temperature plummeted from 35 degrees during the day time to -5
celsius at night.
Sol’s father
Rob, 41, a keen climber, accompanied them on the trek.
He said: “It’s
really good to have children that aren’t moaning and whining and determined to
do it – they were just so determined to get to the top.”
It was Rob who
discovered the snake after they set their bags down at the chalet on their
return.
He said he
believed vipers were quite venomous in Europe.
“It would have
made me quite ill and the kids very ill,” he said.
Herbie, of
Downs View, said he believed the snake might have got in his bag on his way up
the mountain – and was in his rucksack for most of the weekend.
But he said he
had not been aware of his slippery companion.
Sol said: “We
found there was a huge snake coming out of Herbie’s bag – we think it might
have got into Herbie’s bag when we were at the water place refilling our camel
packs.
“It was really
aggressive actually and it was about a metre long and brown and black.”
The boys’
efforts have so far raised nearly £1,000, which has come mainly from Wootton
Bassett pub the Five Bells, which is owned by Herbie’s parents.
To donate to
the boys’ campaign visit www.secretchalets.com/climb09.htm or visit the Five
Bells pub, in Wood Street, Wootton Bassett.
Herbie and Sol
are now planning an even bigger climb up another mountain in the same range,
which is 2,750m high.Herbie’s father Simon, 40, said: “I’m so proud of them –
it’s quite a feat.”
AUSTIN DAILY HERALD (Texas) 03
September 09 Snakes in a bucket? Nearly 30 fox snakes hatched in backyard set
free at nature center (Mike Rose)
Rachel Kruger
wasn’t expecting a bucket full of snakes in her backyard when her two boys
brought home a bunch of eggs about a month and a half ago.
But that’s
exactly what she got roughly five days ago when the eggs started hatching.
On Tuesday,
she had nearly 30 fox snakes slithering around in the backyard — prompting a
neighbor to call for an animal control officer, who eventually took the snakes
to the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center.
“I’m very glad
(the center took the snakes),” Kruger said. “I didn’t think they’d hatch.”
She said her
sons Michael, 11, and Ryan, 5, found a few clumps of eggs about two blocks from
her 909 12th Ave. S.E. home.
Thinking that
the eggs had been damaged and that whatever lay inside killed, Kruger and her
kids put them in a backyard bucket.
When snakes
began hatching, Kruger kept her kids away, for fear that they might be
venomous.
She said it took
a few days of research to identify them as fox snakes, which are non-venomous
but known for mimicking rattlesnakes with their tail vibrations.
Knowing the
backyard reptiles were safe, Kruger let Michael and Ryan touch the snakes,
which ranged from eight inches to a foot in length.
“The kids
played with them for a day,” she said, adding that the family may have kept a
few snakes but not the whole bunch.
Then, Austin
animal control officer James Dugan arrived to corral the snakes and transport
them to the nature center.
Ryan LeVeque,
an intern at the center, said there was some discussion between Larry Dolphin,
the center’s director, and the state Department of Natural Resources before
they were released.
Dolphin was
concerned about how the snakes would interact with other local species — and
rightfully so, given that Dolphin had never seen a fox snake at the center in
his 20 plus years there.
Specifically,
the center was concerned that the snakes might be overly predatory toward small
mammals, like mice and rats —their primary food source.
However, there
are fox snakes in other parts of Austin and Minnesota, and Dolphin and the DNR
agreed to release the snakes into what would be a relatively natural
environment, LeVeque said.
The reptiles
slithered off into the center’s grounds around 2 p.m. Tuesday, LeVeque said.
And the snakes
seem to be right at home — LeVeque said he’s been out to look for them a few
times since Tuesday afternoon, but the snakes dispersed quickly and blend in
well.
“We definitely
have the right habitat for them here,” LeVeque said. “They were adapting
quickly and adjusting well.”
http://www.austindailyherald.com/news/2009/sep/03/snakes-bucket/
NEWS CHIEF (Winter Haven, Florida) 03 September
09 Snake
slithers out of new school printer (Brenda Eggert Brader)
Four
Corners: Snakes in merchandise sounds
like something from urban legend. But Tuesday morning, there was no legend to
the story about a snake that crawled out of a brand-new school printer.
The incident
happened in the office of Principal Ed Frier at the Ridgeview Global Studies
Academy charter school in Four Corners.
Frier
purchased the printer from a local office supply store for his office for the
new school year. The school technology specialist hooked up the printer to the
principal's office computer Monday, but no one used the printer that day.
Tuesday
morning, in the process of printing teacher contracts, Frier found that a baby
snake had gone through the rollers and the mechanism. It was bisected - half in
and half out - coming through the printer on the paper.
"I was
actually printing up teacher contracts," Frier said. "I turned around
to look at the printer because it is in another part of the office and saw all
the paper crumpled up and then I saw the snake, cut in half and the blood
trail. I opened up the back of the printer and the rest of the snake was in the
back and more blood.
"I had
just gotten it (printer) yesterday," Frier said. "It (the snake) was
in the box, I believe, when I got the printer. I think it was a corn snake. It
was still moving but it wasn't going to bother me. This is my 42nd year in
education and so I guess I have to add this to the list of things in my career.
I have to say it was interesting.
"I can
now tell my teachers that I believe in blood contracts," Frier chuckled as
he recited the incident.
"Oh yes,
there was blood all over them (the contracts)," said Dr. Beth R. Ricks,
assistant principal who took a picture of the printer with snake with her
digital phone.
"The
principal came out of his office and said come see what's coming out of my
printer," Ricks said. "We were just in disbelief. Before going into
the office we people were thinking it was something coming from another room
where some picture came through or something."
"It was a
stripped snake is all I can tell you," said Jean Chalmers, guidance
counselor who didn't want to get really close to the reptile.
Everyone at
the school agrees this was not a student prank. The office products store told
the principal it could have come from their warehouse. No one knows for sure,
but they do know it ruined the printer. A new printer will be delivered from
the store to the school today.
GEELONG ADVERTISER (Australia)
03 September 09 Lizards taken in daylight theft from Serendip (Carl Dickens)
Thieves stole
two precious lizards from Lara's Serendip Sanctuary in broad daylight
yesterday.
Sanctuary
ranger Michael Smith said thieves cut a door-sized hole in a wire enclosure to
steal two female eastern bearded dragons between 10am and 2pm.
He said the
lizards, named Brimbell and Alinta, were worth between $500 and $600 each, but
couldn't tell if they'd been stolen for their monetary value or simply for
their beauty.
"Anyone
who was wanting to sell them or keep them would be doing it illegally, they'd
need to have a licence to show where they got them from," he said.
What are your
thoughts on this story? Tell us using the feedback form below
Mr Smith said
staff were shocked and disheartened by the daylight theft, particularly given
its occurrence on a busy day at the sanctuary.
"It's
incredibly disappointing, these animals are here to be displayed for the
public's enjoyment and education, so it's a shame that these people have taken
it upon themselves thinking they're more deserving than the community to access
this wildlife," he said.
"It's
quite a brazen act really, that they'd do it with a fair few people
around."
Mr Smith said
staff were especially worried about one of the lizards, which he described as a
"flighty stresshead" that only responded to the care of a particular
volunteer ranger.
He said
Brimbell was distinct by missing half of her outside toe on her right hind
foot.
Lara police Senior
Constable Carol Murphy said police would be making inquiries.
Anyone with
information on the lizards' theft should contact Lara police on 5282 1241.
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/09/03/99961_news.html
STAR-TRIBUNE (Casper, Wyoming) 03 September
09 Snakes
on the range (Samuel J. Baldwin)
Flipping over
rocks and dead trees around Glendo Reservoir on Tuesday, Zack Walker came up
empty-handed. Snakes are out there, but they can be hard to find.
Walker works
for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as a herpetologist -- an expert on
reptiles and amphibians. For the last week, Walker has been combing the
prairies and foothills of eastern Wyoming chasing down snakes for the Wyoming
Hunting & Fishing Heritage Expo next week.
Rock after rock,
hill after hill, and not a snake in sight.
"The
snakes here are definitely shy, and very secretive," Walker said.
After about
five hours of searching, Walker and his team called it a day.
The snakes
will be on display in terrariums and used in demonstrations to teach people
about hiking safety and facts about Wyoming's native snakes.
Assuming that
Walker ever finds a snake.
With any luck,
the booth at the expo will feature a variety of snakes, including a prairie
rattlesnake, pale milk snake, several kinds of garter snakes and a bull snake.
The expo will
be a chance for Game and Fish to teach people the reality of Wyoming snakes and
help them identify which species are dangerous.
"Most
people don't ask questions. They figure, 'A good snake is a dead snake,'"
Walker said.
Even among the
largest snakes in Wyoming, not all of them are dangerous. The bull snake is the
largest snake in Wyoming. They're often confused with the prairie rattler, but
they are not poisonous. They have similar coloring, and the bull snake will
slap their tail in an imitation of a rattlesnake.
"You
really just want to look for a rattle -- or get away from it regardless,"
Walker said.
If it does
turn out to be a rattlesnake, it's not as big a problem as most people think.
There are only
two poisonous snakes in Wyoming: the prairie rattlesnake and their more
poisonous cousin, the midget faded rattlesnake.
Midget faded
rattlesnakes only live around Flaming Gorge and are in danger of being driven
out of the state entirely.
Prairie rattle
snakes are much more common and live in about two-thirds of the state. They're
found almost everywhere in Wyoming east of the continental divide at elevations
under 8,000 feet, in rocky outcroppings and short grass prairie. They’re
usually pale brown with darker rectangular patches on their back.
But the
easiest way to identify any rattlesnake is by the rattle on its tail.
Rattlesnakes
can control how much venom they release when they bite. They only strike when
threatened, and if you're not pestering them too much, they usually don't
deliver enough venom to seriously injure a human.
"Unless
you're really pestering the snake -- hitting it with a stick or something --
they're only going to slap at you," Walker said.
These quick
warning bites will come with a small amount of venom, but a snake would much
rather save its juice for something it can eat.
On Tuesday,
Walker's day wasn't completely wasted. He found several horned lizards
(commonly known as horny toads), and the largest of them will be on display at the
expo.
With several
of Wyoming's reptile species on the brink of being driven out of the state,
Walker said it's important for people to understand how to live with snakes.
"For
example, the bull snake is a rodent specialist," Walker said. Without
snakes, an important link the food chain would be missing.
Snakes control
insect and rodent populations, and provide food for raptors like hawks.
There's also a
myth that bull snakes keep the rattlers at bay. Walker said they probably don't
eat big rattlesnakes, but they might eat a smaller one opportunistically.
"There's
also just not a lot known about them," Walker said. "Bigger
populations give us more opportunity to study them."
Worst-case
scenario
There are only
two poisonous snakes in Wyoming: the prairie rattlesnake and the midget faded
rattlesnake. The midget faded rattlesnake is by far the more poisonous of the
two, but there aren't very many of them in the state, and they only live in the
Flaming Gorge area.
The prairie
rattlesnake is more common and much less poisonous. In the Casper area, they
are commonly seen around the Miracle Mile and Pathfinder Reservoir.
The most
important thing to do if you're in rattlesnake country is to stay alert and
move away from snakes if you see or hear them.
If you are bit
by a rattlesnake, get to a hospital as soon as possible.
"Time is
tissue," said Zack Walker, Wyoming Game and Fish Herpetologist.
If you're bit,
try not to panic or run -- raising your heartbeat will accelerate the venom's
progress.
If it's going
to take more than 40 minutes to get to a hospital, put a loose bandage above
the bite. If it's too tight, you risk cutting off circulation and damaging the
tissue more than the venom on its own, so make you can fit at least two to
three fingers under the bandage.
Do not cut
around the bite, or put ice on it.
Do not shock
the area. There are some electric shock kits for snake bites. The only thing
those kits have been proven to do is sting like crazy.
Do not try to
suck out the venom; this is ineffective and risks spreading the venom to
another person.
Snake bite
kits with venom extractors, like the ones sold at most outdoor retailers,
haven't been proven to help, Walker said. "But they haven't been proven
not to work either."
Deaths from
rattlesnake bites are rare, and when they occur, it's usually because the
person was severely allergic to snakes.
If you start
to have an allergic reaction -- throat closing, extremely heavy swelling --
taking an antihistamine will reduce the symptoms.
http://www.trib.com/articles/2009/09/03/features/open_spaces/688d2c8bff5d80f887257625006e8583.txt
BRISBANE TIMES (Australia) 03 September
09 Excess
Luggage: Japanese man accused of smuggling WA's rare reptiles (Aja Styles)
A 34-year-old
Japanese man has been arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle 14 native
reptiles out of Australia through Perth International Airport.
In a
long-running Customs and Border Protection investigation, the man was stopped
before boarding a flight to Singapore on Tuesday after the reptiles were x-ray
detected inside the man's luggage.
Customs
Officers claim they found 14 shingleback skinks concealed in socks and small
pet carriers.
Two of the
shinglebacks have been identified as the Rottnest Island shingleback, which is
specially protected as a threatened species in WA and only found on Rottnest
Island.
Customs and
Border Protection investigators have charged the man with attempting to export
native species without a permit and doing so in a manner that subjects the
animals to cruel treatment.
Customs and
Border Protection National Manager Investigations, Richard Janeczko, said
wildlife smuggling was a serious crime.
"Customs
and Border Protection continues to prevent, investigate and prosecute wildlife
smuggling attempts into and out of Australia in a bid to end this cruel
practice," Mr Janeczko said.
Under the
state’s Wildlife Conservation Act the maximum penalty for taking specially
protected fauna is $10,000.
He also faces
a maximum penalty of $110,000 and/or 10 years jail if found guilty of breaching
the national environment law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999.
The man was
refused bail when he appeared in Perth Magistrate's Court yesterday.
The lizards
are currently being cared for by the Western Australian Department of
Environment and Conservation.
THE CITIZEN (Orangeville, Ontario) 03 September
09 Milk
snakes, rattlesnakes hard to tell apart (Dan Pelton)
In southern
Onario, there are few beasts around that can truly be seen as dangerous to
humans. Occasionally, somebody stumbles on one of them: the Massasauga
rattlesnake.
Often though,
things are not the way them seem.
In Grey County,
OPP were recently called to a Grey Highlands residence after a metre-long
snake, believed to be a venomous Massasauga rattlesnake, showed up in the
bathroom.
Turns out, the
snake had crawled out between the insulation and wood studs in the bathroom which
was being renovated, at the rural home near Eugenia.
The attending
officer, after consulting with the OPP communications centre, concluded it was
actually an Eastern Milk snake.
While milk
snakes can bite, they are not venomous. Their large size, however, combined
with a tendency to vibrate their tails when threatened, often leads people to
mistake them for rattlesnakes.
This, combined
with its sometimes aggressive behaviour and tendency to show up in and around
inhabited buildings, makes it prone to be killed by humans.
It is
understandable that someone who has encountered such a reptile would decide
it's better safe than sorry and kill the snake. But there can be consequences
to doing this.
The Eastern
Milk Snake is a "specially protected species" in schedules of the
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997. This Act prohibits hunting or
trapping of this species, and it cannot be kept in captivity unless special
permission is obtained from the Ministry of Natural Resources for the purposes
of research or conservation management.
The same is
true for the Massasauga Rattlesnake. Yet, since it is the only venomous snake
left in Ontario (the Timber Rattlesnake being no longer present in the
province), a confrontation with it could put one into a kill-or-be-killed
scenario that wouldn't happen with a milk snake.
It should be
taken into account that Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake venom is generally
regarded as less dangerous to humans because they inject less venom than larger
rattlers.
However, all venomous
snakebites should be considered dangerous and medical attention sought.
Fortunately,
in the Grey Highlands case, the snake's true identity was confirmed and it was
allowed to go about its business of eating mice and moles.
When it comes
to obtaining its dietary staples, the milk snake differs from the rattler
insofar as the latter rarely enters buildings, whereas a milk snake will. In
fact, that's how it got its name.
It was once
believed that milk snakes, which were actually on the prowl for small rodents,
would enter a barn with the intent of suckling milk from the cows. Such
contentions have long since been proven false.
Here are a few
pointers in differentiating Eastern Milk Snakes from Massasauga Rattlesnakes:
The milk snake
is more likely to be encountered at night when it is hunting, since during the
day it is secretive and usually hides under objects. If surprised or
threatened, it will take an aggressive posture: It raises its head in the air,
vibrates its tail and may attempt to bite.
It has
sometimes been mistaken for a rattlesnake, as the vibrating tail can make a
buzzing sound in dry leaves.
It seems to be
bent on emulating the behaviour of the tough kid on the block in the hope that
its enemies will back off.
Like the
eastern fox and black rat snake, Eastern Milk snakes will often vibrate the end
of their tail against leaves, simulating the sound made by a rattlesnake.
Unlike the
Massasauga rattlesnake, the milk snake has a thinner body and much more tapered
tail. It usually measures 50 to 90 centimetres long, is grey to brown with
reddish, brown or black-bordered markings on the back and the sides and has a
light neck collar.
The
rattlesnake has a much thicker body and broader head than the milk snake.
Its back is
usually light grey to light brown, with one row of large dark brown spots
running down the center, and rows of small spots to either side.
These spots
join together on the head to create stripes, and on the tail to create rings.
The Massasauga can also be black or nearly so (melanistic) in some geographic
locations. Specific features that indicate that it is a poisonous snake include
the presence of a triangular shaped head, rattle segments at the tip of the
tail, vertical pupils, and heat sensing pits just between the eyes and the
nostrils.
The Massasauga
Rattlesnake is found from Iowa and Missouri east to Pennsylvania and New York,
and north to southern Ontario. In Ontario, Massasaugas are found on the Bruce
Peninsula and the eastern side of Georgian Bay, with small, isolated
populations at Wainfleet Bog in the Niagara peninsula, and Ojibway Prairie in
Windsor.
The Eastern
Milk Snake's range is much broader, including the eastern U.S. and Mexico,as
well as southeastern Canada.
http://www.citizen.on.ca/news/2009/0903/regional_news/016.html
THE TIMES (London, UK) 03 September 09 Hundreds
of rare sand lizards to be released - Pairs of breeding sand lizards were a
common sight a centurty ago (Valerie Elliott)
Hundreds of
sand lizards are to be released into the wild as part of an attempt to ensure
the survival of threatened reptile and amphibian species in Britain.
Lacerta agilis was once a common sight in dunes and
on heathland. Males were particularly distinctive, with their striking green
flanks. Over the past 100 years, however, the species disappeared in many
counties including Kent, Devon, Cornwall, Cheshire and in mid Wales as
development destroyed habitats. Declines of more than 90 per cent were also
seen in Dorset, Surrey and Merseyside.
Conservationists
estimate that there are now fewer than 300 locations in the country where they
are still thriving. These remaining colonies are mostly found on small
fragmented areas of heath or dune in isolated areas or surrounded by woodland.
In an attempt
to restore Britain’s rarest lizard, the species is to be reintroduced at five
sites in Surrey, Dorset and mid Wales. The first release of 80 baby lizards,
which have been reared in hatcheries, is to take place today at a National
Trust nature reserve in Witley, Surrey. During the next two weeks 320 more
lizards are also to be introduced on Trust land in Surrey, at Puddletown and
Coombe Heath reserve, near Wool, both in Dorset, and at Ynyslas Nature reserve,
part of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve, north of Aberystwyth.
Native frogs,
toads, newts and snakes have also suffered decline due to intensive farming
practices and afforestation. A spokesman for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
(ARC) said: “These lizards needed channels of sand to lay eggs and without them
could not survive. The problem was really down to ignorance, and people were
not aware how best to manage these habitats and allow development on dunes and
heathland.”
Nick Moulton,
who is co-ordinating the releases for ARC, said: “It is great to see them going
back, now safely protected where they belong.”
The baby
lizards were bred in captivity at locations including Chester and Marwell zoos.
The breeders have had to minimise contact with the animals to prevent them
becoming too tame, which would leave them at risk of being eaten by their main
predator, the smooth snake, another threatened species. Plans are also under
way for a release of smooth snakes at various locations next spring.
ARC, which was
formed by a merger of the charities Froglife and the Herpetological
Conservation Trust, has a three-year partnership to release threatened species
with Natural England, the Government’s wildlife advisers.
Tom Tew, chief
scientist at Natural Englang, said: “Reptiles and amphibians are coming under
pressure from an increasing number of factors including habitat loss and
disease. This important re-introduction programme is an example of the action
that must be taken to reverse the decline in England’s biodiversity and to
conserve the habitats that our unique wildlife relies on.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6819121.ece
NBC (San Diego, California) 03 September
09 New
Babies Hatch for Endangered Iguanas (R. Stickney)
They may not
be getting the attention of the new panda cub but the lizards hatching at the
San Diego Zoo this week are considered an important achievement by zoo staff.
Two of four
eggs Grand Cayman blue iguana hatchlings that arrived Tuesday are one of the
most endangered lizard species in the world. Just a few years ago, there were
only about 20 left in the wild. They were driven to the brink of extinction due
to habitat destruction and the dogs and cats brought to the island by humans.
The zoo is one
of 13 locations around the world working to breed the lizard off the island. The
San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research has four breeding adults
which they have been breeding for three years.
“Breeding
these guys is amazing,” research coordinator Jeff Lemmhe said. “We just
produced four of the most endangered lizards in the world. It’s awesome.”
The lizards
can grow to be more than 4 feet long, weigh more than 20 pounds and live as
long as humans. They develop blue coloring as they mature.
With captive
breeding programs, the number of blue iguanas on the island has increased to
more than 250. This week's hatchlings will stay in the U.S. to ensure the
population survives off the island.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/New-Babies-Hatch-for-Endangered-Iguanas-56933457.html
HERALD-TRIBUNE (Sarasota, Florida) 03 September
09 Trapper
to face charges in faked python capture
Manatee
County: Local snake handler Justin
Matthews will face "a number of charges" stemming from a staged
capture of a python in an East Manatee culvert on July 25, a state official
said Wednesday.
The Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission plans to wrap up and release full
details of an investigation into Matthews' actions this week, said commission
spokesman Gary Morse.
The inquiry
began after officials received a tip that Matthews actually owned the 15-foot
python he had seemed to capture.
Matthews,
owner of Matthews Wildlife Rescue, admitted at an August press conference that
he planted the python in the storm drain and duped regional media outlets to
create awareness about the danger of releasing snakes into the wild.
Morse
previously said Matthews could be charged with a misdemeanor for not having the
snake microchipped, but likely would not face other charges.
WEST BRITON (Cornwall, UK) 03 September 09 Alison's
delight at reunion with her corn snake Casper
Snake fan
Alison Bennetts, from Camborne, was overjoyed when she took little Casper home
for the first time.
He was only a
few months old and needed special care and attention, so she put him in a warm
tank, with a lid and a few slits for ventilation.
But her joy
quickly turned to despair, when the little chap, a young corn snake, vanished.
"He
managed to squeeze through the vents," said Alison. "We were gutted.
He was our first snake and we had waited so long to get him."
Alison and her
husband set up traps around the home to try to catch Casper, but without
success. A week or so later they began to give up hope of ever seeing him
again.
Meanwhile,
just across the road, another family – who are not quite so keen on snakes –
found this little pink and white reptile in their living room.
Terrified,
they put a tub on top of it to stop it escaping and phoned Paradise Park, at
Hayle, for advice.
Park keeper
Adam Pollard, who is a reptile enthusiast, popped over to Camborne, identified
the snake as a harmless but rare snowcorn snake, and took it home to look
after.
He said:
"Corn snakes are harmless to people, and often kept as pets, but the pink
stripes are designed to indicate 'I'm poisonous, keep away'."
Adam looked
after the snake for three weeks and it looked as though he was going to have to
keep him.
Then a chance
conversation between Alison's daughter and a friend led to a phone call to
Paradise Park and a happy reunion.
"It's
great to have him back," said Alison. "We've now got eight snakes,
but we've learned our lesson and they're all in secure containers."
MIAMI HERALD (Florida) 03 September 09 Wildlife
officials search for 7-foot python in Weston (Laura Figueroa)
Day Two and
still no python sightings for a group of state wildlife officials trying to
wrangle the creature.
Officers with
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were out in Weston
Tuesday and Wednesday mornings trying once more to track down a seven-foot
python, but to no avail.
The python was
spotted last week along a water-pumping station near State Road 84 and
Bonaventure Boulevard, but efforts to locate it have been unsuccessful, said
Jorge Pino, commission spokesman.
Armed with
large sticks, FWC officers have been traveling up and down a canal area near
the Bonaventure Golf Course, poking into the water, trying to lure the massive
snake.
``We could not
locate anything,'' Pino said. ``At this point, we're not sure if this is
something that could have been mistaken for a python.''
There's been
an open bounty on the slithery creatures since July, when the state created a
program allowing hunters with licenses to kill pythons.
With the
ability to grow up to 26 feet and weigh more than 200 pounds, Burmese pythons
are known to kill and eat anything in their path, from rats to goats. In July,
a 2-year-old Central Florida girl was strangled to death by a pet python that
escaped from its cage.
Florida
wildlife officials have long struggled with taming the invasive species after
large numbers of pet pythons were set loose in 1992 following Hurricane Andrew,
which tore through South Florida homes and pet shops.
State
regulations require python owners to insert a microchip in the animal so they
can be tracked. There have also been discussions among state officials and the
governor's office to possibly ban the possession of pythons and other
non-native snakes as pets.
Pino asks that
if anyone spots the python to call the commission's South Florida regional
office at 561-625-5122.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/1215197.html
L'ARENA (Verona, Italy) 03 September 09 Un pitone di un metro e mezzo sulla riva -
Intervengono le fiamme gialle e lo catturano
Bardolino: Un pitone albino lungo
circa un metro e mezzo è stato trovato lungo il lago di Garda da alcuni
passanti che hanno subito lanciato l’allarme. È successo questa mattina presto
a Bardolino, dove è intervenuta una motovedetta della Guardia di Finanza che ha
catturato il rettile e lo ha portato negli uffici del Comune a disposizione del
veterinario. I pochi passanti e turisti che nelle prime ore di questa mattina
camminavano sulla riva del lago hanno notato il grosso rettile e, spaventati,
hanno agitato le braccia per attirare l’attenzione dell’equipaggio di una
motovedetta della Guardia di Finanza in servizio di controllo che stava
passando in quel momento. I finanzieri sono subito intervenuti e hanno
catturato il pitone albino, che si pensa sia stato abbandonato dal suo
proprietario il quale, viste le dimensioni raggiunte dal rettile, potrebbe aver
deciso di disfarsene.
SÜDTIROL ONLINE (Lauben, Italy) 03 September
09 Gardasee:
Albino-Python sorgt für Panik
(AFP) Eine Albino-Python hat Touristen am Gardasee
am Donnerstag kurzzeitig in Panik versetzt.
Zwei Beamte,
die an den Ufern des Sees patrouillierten, hätten in der Früh Schreie gehört
und kurz darauf die Schlange eingefangen, teilte die Polizei mit.
Das 1,5 Meter
lange Tier wurde zunächst ins Rathaus der nächstgelegenen Stadt Bardolino
gebracht und soll später einem Zoo übergeben werden, der sich auf exotische
Tiere spezialisiert hat.
Ob die
Schlange bei ihrem Besitzer ausgebüxt ist oder dieser sie freiließ, blieb
zunächst unklar.
http://www.stol.it/Artikel/Chronik/Gardasee-Albino-Python-sorgt-fuer-Panik
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL (Saint John, New Brunswick) 02
September 09 Snakes aren't so bad: expert; Wildlife Reptile zoo among the
attractions at this year's Atlantic National Exhibition (Hilary Paige
Smith)
Do they bite?
Are they venomous? Are they going to kill me? Are they slimy?
These are the
questions Lyndsey Hargraves hears the most.
Hargraves is a
wildlife educator with Little Ray's Reptile Zoo, an Ottawa- based zoo that has
more than 700 reptiles in its exotic arsenal. She, along with her fellow
wildlife educator Geoff Battrum, has been travelling the East Coast with the
Atlantic National Exhibition for the past three weeks, sharing their quarters with
some wild travel mates. Nine snakes, of all shapes and sizes, have been
crossing the coast with the pair in their "big snake" themed tour.
"We like
to hit as many stops as we can along the way to expose more and more people to
these animals. Exhibitions like this are a great place to do it, just because
so many people are here anyway and they really want to see something different
and cool," said Hargraves, who has a degree in zoology from the University
of Guelph.
Dozens of
people were sitting in the shade of the tent, watching the interactive,
educational show on Tuesday afternoon.
Hargraves and
Battrum hold up each snake, give the audience a brief biography and show them
off by coiling them around their arms and draping them around their shoulders.
They also call for audience members to come forward to sport a snake. Hargraves
said the adults are often more frightened than the children they accompany when
the snakes slither out.
"We're
really working hard to be like, 'You know, they're not the crazy, vicious
animals that everybody thinks they are. They're really not so bad,' " the
wildlife educator said.
The biggest
snake touring with Little Ray's Reptile show is Moishi, a 180- pound,
4.5-metre-long, African rock python. The pair brought Moishi out following a
show to meet four-year-old Aidan and his mother, Genevieve LeBlanc. Battrum
brought the snake out from its trailer, with another handler helping to carry
her slithering, grey and beige mass.
Genevieve is
originally from Saint John and a current resident of Edmonton, Alta She was in
town with relatives and the family visited the exhibition on its opening day.
Aidan, a fan of snakes, was given the opportunity to pet Moishi.
Eyes wide with
excitement under his intricate face paint, Aidan stepped bravely forward and
ran his hand along the snake's back, smiling nervously.
His mother
said he was having a great time at the exhibition, riding the rides and eating
cotton candy. The snake was a definite highlight.
"The
ferris wheel," she said laughing about one of the most memorable moments
of the day. "(His) face, it was just complete shock and he was squeezing
the death out of me."
Aidan hid
shyly behind his mother, only nodding his approval of the fairgrounds.
Moishi the
python will be making another appearance at today's Little Ray's Reptile shows,
which take place four times daily at Exhibition Park until the ANE's close on
Friday. Admission to the repile show is $2. Admission to the ANE grounds is
free.
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/779087
WTVT (Tampa Bay, Florida) 02 September
09 A
slow return to health for crushed tortoise
Lakeland: To someone, it was probably just a bump in
the night as they drove down the road. But when it was brought to Polk County
veterinarian Dr. Theresa Merkle, she saw the half dead tortoise as a life worth
saving.
"They
have a right to survive," Merkle told FOX 13. "They deserve to
have a good life."
Now because of
Merkle, the tortoise, known as an African Spur Thigh, will.
It hasn't been
easy. Merkle has been doctoring and nurturing the tort for more than two years.
Things finally seems to be looking up.
Right after
the tortoise was run over, it was semi-conscious and struggling to breathe. But
the biggest problem was its shell. It was cracked and broken, and a chunk of it
was crushed, jammed into the animal's backbone.
After Merkle
and her staff stabilized the tortoise, she put in a feeding tube, which stayed
in until the animal could eat on its own -- nine months later.
She tried to
repair the shell by using different techniques, including screws and wire to
position the shell fragment so it could mend. But the results weren't so good
-- every day was a challenge.
Back in the
spring, she tried something that sounded kind of far out: she used the same
kind of fiberglass and epoxy a body shop would use to repair a banged up car.
It worked, and though it is not a permanent fix or a perfect one, it seems to
be the most workable idea so far.
Merkle says
the fiberglass will eventually sluff off and have to be replaced. In the
meantime, the tortoise seems happy to munch on grass and soak up the Florida
sun.
"I am
hoping she is going to live a normal life span (for her species). One hundred
fifty to two hundred years," Merkle said.
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/polk/A_slow_return_to_health_for_c
DAILY TRIBUNE (Columbia, Missouri) 02
September 09 Gator’s owner cedes custody fight - Plea planned; reptile is harmless,
man says. (Janese Heavin)
The Columbia
man whose pet alligator was confiscated this summer plans to give up his fight
to keep the animal.
Aaron
Sebacher, 26, said he will plead guilty tomorrow to harboring exotic and
dangerous animals and will sign the alligator over to the Central Missouri
Humane Society, which in turn will release it to a St. Louis sanctuary.
The Columbia
animal shelter has been caring for the gator since Columbia Animal Control
officers seized it from a bathtub at Sebacher’s former apartment off Nikki Way.
Sebacher said he was in the process of moving and had already disassembled the
alligator’s 8-by-5-foot tank. His landlord, Bernadine Ford, was checking the
apartment for damage when she found the creature and reported it to the city,
he said.
Sebacher has
appeared in court several times trying to keep the alligator and a pet boa
constrictor also seized from his apartment. He argues that he provided a good
home for the animals and that his landlord knew about them because he listed
his pets when he signed his lease.
Ford declined
to comment this morning.
Sebacher’s
fight came to a halt yesterday when he overslept and missed a 9 a.m. court
appearance. He now is wanted on two warrants, each with a $1,500 cash-only
bond. The bond will be waived if he changes his plea to guilty; however, he
would still owe fines for harboring exotic and dangerous animals.
Sebacher
doesn’t consider either animal dangerous. He said he bought Sharptooth, the
alligator, three years ago from what was then Noah’s Pets & More. The gator
mostly stayed in its tank, although Sebacher would sometimes take it for walks
in the apartment on a leash.
“It would lift
its head and let you pet it and come up to you and smile,” he said.
Likewise, he
said, the boa constrictor was so passive it refused to eat live food. Sebacher
said he’d have to buy frozen mice and warm them up for the snake.
“It’s a docile
snake, a snake for lazy people,” he said. “It would lay around and do
absolutely nothing.”
It’s not
illegal to own nonpoisonous snakes and reptiles in Columbia, but city
ordinances are vague when defining what makes an animal dangerous.
“It’s a
judgment call on the behalf of our animal control officers,” said Gerry Worley,
director of environmental health at the Columbia/Boone County Department of
Health and Human Services. “A small alligator six inches long, it would be a
weak argument to suggest it’s a dangerous animal. But when it grows to a size
where it’s capable of taking an arm off, there’s a compelling argument it is.”
The same
guidelines apply to pet shops in the city.
“If a pet shop
had an 8-foot alligator, they would be covered by this ordinance,” Worley said.
“If they had a poisonous reptile, they would be covered by this. When it is a
six- or 12-inch boa or nonvenomous snake, we don’t assume they meet the
definition. But when it grows big enough, it is.”
City residents
who own snakes that have grown into the more dangerous category shouldn’t
worry, though, as long as the pet doesn’t cause problems.
“We don’t go
looking at people’s home for these animals,” Worley said. “We probably won’t
knock on your door unless there’s a problem or complaint.”
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/sep/02/gators-owner-cedes-custody-fight/
NASHVILLE LEADER (Tennessee) 02 September
09 Caution
advised after rattlesnake found on Murfreesboro campus (John Balch)
Murfreesboro
school officials are cautioning students and staff members to be mindful of
their surroundings after a timber rattlesnake was found stretched out in front
of the elementary building one night last week.
“We truly are
the home of the rattlers,” said elementary Principal Tanya Wilcher, “and we
need to be careful.”
Wilcher and
her daughter, Loren, were in the elementary building last Tuesday evening when
they were alerted by a passerby that the snake, which measured over three feet
long, was at the front door of the building. Wilcher
had been teaching a college course that night and had let her students out not
long before the snake was discovered by Debbie Howard as she walked with her
two grandchildren.
“If Debbie
hadn’t let us know what was going on we would have be-bopped right out on top
of the thing,” Wilcher said.
Superintendent
Curtis Turner Jr. was called to the scene to assist and after the big snake
became agitated it tried to get away and tucked itself behind the bicycle rack
in front of the elementary building. Turner just happened to have a rake and
shovel in the back of his truck when he arrived.
Turner, who
along with many Rattler alumni remembers the modern day Rattler Stadium being
located on a “snake den,” told The Nashville Leader the snake’s disposition was
clear by the loud “buzzing” he emitted from his rattling tail and he had no
choice but to dispatch the reptile.
“I certainly
did not want to kill the snake,” Turner said, acknowledging that killing
rattlesnakes in Arkansas is against the law. “But it was something I had to do
for the safety of our kids.”
Wilcher said
Turner got on campus early the next morning and went on “snake patrol” around
all the buildings. No snakes of any kind were located, but Turner said he plans
on keeping the rake and shovel in his truck just in case.
Words soon
spread in town that Turner had buried the snake on campus in secret ceremony.
When asked
about the secret burial, Turner dispelled the rumor with a laugh, but added,
“There is a bit of truth to that. Let’s just say that rattlesnake’s memory will
live on here at Murfreesboro Schools.”
According to
the Arkansas Snake Guide, timber rattlers, also known as canebrake and
velvet-tails, are active between April and October and often prowls at night
during hot weather and breeds in fall or early spring.
One Internet
article about Arkansas’s snakes said that over the course of the summer timber
rattlers, described as “sit-and-wait predators,” will develop a hunting “loop”
that the snake will make up to five times during the course of the season,
returning to “an exact hunting spot repeatedly.”
Another
article suggests that timber rattlers get their name from their ability to
climb up to 20 feet into trees.
Last week’s
reptile encounter was certainly not the first on the Murfreesboro campus. Back
in the days of the old high school, small snakes would sometime enter the
building and get themselves stuck in the sticky material used to re-do the
classroom and hallway floors.
“We’re called
the Rattlers for a reason,’ Turner said. “Everyone just needs to be really
careful on campus.”
http://www.nashvilleleader.com/articles/2009/09/02/news/01news.txt
WMUR (Manchester, New Hampshire) 02
September 09 Pocketed Python Returned To Owner - Exotic Snake Worth $15,000
Plaistow,
N.H.: In a different sort of
cold-blooded crime, an exotic ball python worth an estimated $15,000 was back
with its rightful owner after being swiped from a New Hampshire pet store.
Police said
Joshua Rogoff, 28, stole the python from New England Reptile Distributors on
Aug. 23. Police said he took the snake by stuffing it into his pants pocket.
According to
investigators, Rogoff then sold the python to CV Exotics in East Hampstead,
N.H.
The 10-inch
black and white snake is a designer pet, the result of years of careful
breeding by handlers.
"It's one
of only four in the world," said Ryan Caron, the store's general manager.
Caron reported
the python stolen on Sunday night after reviewing hours of security footage.
"It’s so
rare that it goes beyond the dollar amount for us," Caron said.
Rogoff, of
Plaistow, was charged with a single count of felony theft.
http://www.wmur.com/news/20689101/detail.html
GUARDIAN WEEKLY (London, UK) 02 September
09 Snake
charmers continue to defy government
Raktim Das,
36, is known to many as the 'Snake Man of India'. He is the founder of the
Bedia Federation of India, the only organisation of snake charmers in the
country, where the profession has been banned since 1972. Despite the ban it is
estimated that some 200,000 snake-charmers remain in India. Das, who organised
a public demonstration in Kolkata in February defying the law, says the only
way the Bedian tribes can hope to survive is if the government removes snakes
from the list of endangered wildlife
I was going to
a workshop in the afternoon and as my motorbike climbed a steep bridge, my
mobile phone rang. I stopped the bike and took the call. The man at the end of
the line, calling from Mukundapur village, a few miles from Kolkata, was
frantic.
The villagers
had caught a huge Russell's viper and had speared it to the ground by its tail.
Nobody wanted to go near it, which is unsurprising as the Russell's viper is
one of the most dangerous snakes in the world. The man wanted me to go to the
village and kill the snake.
I smiled as I
heard this. If he wanted the snake to be killed, then I was the wrong choice to
do it. My life's mission is to save snakes, especially in a country like India
where thousands of tonnes of wheat and rice crop are destroyed annually by mice.
Snakes love mice and the more snakes we have near our homes and granaries, the
safer the crop will be. It is important here to break the myths that snakes
attack without provocation. They never do that. So if there is a snake moving
around near your premises, there is no cause for alarm. Just do not step on it.
However, as I
told the man on the end of the line to stay calm, I revved my bike and rushed
towards the village. What I saw was pathetic. Here was a lovely snake – speared
to the ground and writhing in agony – and people were throwing stones at it. In
no time it would be dead.
I warned the
crowd to stay away and moved near the viper. It was writhing in the ground
trying to set itself free from the spear. As I moved towards it from behind and
made a dash for its head, I momentarily lost my focus. It took a split second
for the viper to strike at my right wrist.
It was like
fire scorching my right hand. But I held onto the snake with my left hand and
it was soon overpowered. The villagers wanted to set it alight but despite the
fact that the venom was spreading and I would soon lose consciousness, I
bandaged the reptile where it had been injured. Then I set it free near the
banks of a river. It slithered away to safety.
I do not
remember much of what happened later. I had to travel 10 miles on my motorbike
again and I ended up spending 12 days in the intensive care unit of the local
hospital. My friends had given me up for dead but I recovered after 10
anti-venom shots. Nobody from the Wildlife Department of India even bothered to
send me a get-well card.
Not that it
matters, but fact is I end up doing the government's job though it is the same
government which has lodged a case against me for defying the Wildlife
Protection Act [which outlawed snake charming in 1972] and promoting the cause
of the banned snake-charmers.
My first foray
into the world of snake-charmers came when I visited the remote village of
Bishnupur in the eastern Indian province of West Bengal as a teenager. I was
amazed to find a community where children grew up among snakes, their fathers
practised snake-charming as a profession and dealt with reptiles all the time.
The kids treated snakes as playthings and I was told that knowledge about
snakes was passed down the generations. Snakes were nothing to be scared of
here; they were the bread and butter of around 800,000 snake-charmers in India
at that time.
All wildlife
animals are forbidden to be part of any trade, including circuses.
snake-charmers are perpetually on the run in India. Thousands of them are in
jail without having hurt even a fly.
There no
official records but there are at least 600,000 snake bite cases annually and
it is only the snake-charmers who know the remedy and first-aid therapy. Most
of the time, city doctors have no clue.
Two years ago
I rallied the snake-charmers and founded the India Bedia Association. Bedia,
for those who do not know, is a tribe in India, famous for being
snake-charmers. On February 7 this year, the Association mobilised a huge
gathering in the middle of Kolkata city to publicise its demands but the
government has, to date, not reacted. The law is creating criminals. In order
to earn some money, snake-charmers have to fashion pendants and magic cures
which they sell in the villages.
I have just
returned from a tour of Europe on the invitation of the government of Cyprus
and I must say the level of awareness abroad is immense and it is sad that in
India, where snakes were present in almost every rural household, reptiles are
killed indiscriminately or sold for tuppence to those dealing in snake venom.
The Association demands that snakes be taken out of the Wildlife List. They are
present in households throughout rural India and live close to humans. How can
they treated on a par with tigers?
An uneducated,
poor snake-charmer is forced to part with a snake for as low as £1 by the the
elite drug manufacturing companies who produce anti-venom. In turn, the same
snake spills venom worth £150 for every 10g which is the maximum one discharge
can produce in 15 days. If a snake-charmer has two snakes, he ought to be
earning at £300 a month. That same snake can discharge venom every 15 days for
seven years at least. In the black market, the value goes up to around £1,500
per 10g. The loss to the snake-charmer is huge but there is nothing he can do
about it.
The
snake-charmers, who can be roughly divided into 64 sects in India, have one
language, the Maangta ( literally: to beg) which does not have a script. Their
ancestors served as spies for the rajahs and no script evolved. This language
was used only among the tribes as information moved from one secret agent to
another. It is interesting that in modern India, the Bedians are perhaps the
only tribe who are divided into so many groups but have one common language.
India has over
270 types of snake, of which around 60 are poisonous. But there is a tendency
to kill snakes once they are seen. That does not make sense. I have saved
around 500 snakes in the last two years alone. A snake will never bite unless
it is provoked. Also, various films made both in India and Hollywood only help
to consolidate the myth about these animals, all of which is bunkum. Everybody
is out to make a fast buck from snakes, but it is the snake-charmer who is
suffering.
Raktim Das was
interviewed by Anthony Dias, a freelance journalist based in Kolkata
http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=1232&catID=4
VIRGINIAN-PILOT (Hampton Roads, Virginia) 02
September 09 Five snake bites prompt warning in Beach (Aaron Applegate)
Virginia Beach: Sometimes the obvious bears repeating, even
when the subject is poisonous reptiles.
Five people in
the Beach this summer have suffered snake bites requiring a trip to the
hospital, officials said. The locations vary - Blackwater, Sandbridge, the
amphitheater, Kempsville and First Landing State Park - but the cause is almost
always the same: snake fascination.
"People
want to be like Steve Irwin and pick up the snake," said Bruce Nedelka,
emergency medical services division chief, referring to the late TV personality
called "The Crocodile Hunter."
On Tuesday,
the city released its "Snake Bite Prevention Safety Tips."
Tip No. 1,
"If you see a snake, walk away from it."
"You
would think it would be obvious," Animal Control Officer Wayne Gilbert said,
"but sometimes people see something that's a little strange, and they want
to go up and touch it."
Gilbert said
he's noticed two kinds of people when called to remove a snake from a kitchen
or under a house. The first group completely avoids the slithery things.
"The
others are so engrossed that they're with me the whole time," he said.
"They ask
me if they can hold the snake tongs. They want to touch the snake to see what
it feels like."
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/09/five-snake-bites-prompt-warning-beach-officials
CNN (Atlanta, Georgia) 02 September
09 FDA
says residue is frog or toad; how did it get in Pepsi can? (Emanuella
Grinberg)
The
"disgusting" blob in Fred DeNegri's Diet Pepsi can was probably a
frog or toad, the Food and Drug Administration said.
Amy DeNegri
took pictures of the can in question right after her husband gagged on its
contents.
DeNegri was
grilling in his backyard tiki bar in Ormond Beach, Florida, when he popped open
a can of Diet Pepsi, took a big gulp and started gagging, his wife, Amy, said.
He emptied out
the can down a sink but something heavy remained inside. He shook the can until
something resembling "pink linguini" slid out, followed by "dark
stuff," Amy DeNegri said.
But the heavy
object inside the can never came out, she said.
"It was
disgusting," said Amy DeNegri, 54. "And now, what started out as a
normal afternoon in our tiki bar has blown up into this crazy thing."
The DeNegris
took pictures before calling poison control and the FDA, which showed up the
next day to examine the can in question and collect it for lab testing.
The couple
received a copy of the completed report last week from the Food and Drug
Administration Office of Regulatory Affairs, which concluded the foreign matter
appeared to be a frog or a toad.
"The
animal was lacking internal organs normally found in the abdominal and thoracic
cavity," the report notes.
A second,
closed can from the same 36-pack of Diet Pepsi from Sam's Club, was also
submitted for testing, according to Amy DeNegri. No abnormalities were
detected, the report states.
The FDA also
conducted an investigation at the local Pepsi bottling plant in Orlando from
August 4 to 11 and "did not find any adverse conditions or association to
this problem," spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey said.
"We have
not determined when or how the contamination occurred," DeLancey said in
an e-mail.
Pepsi says the
FDA results "affirmed" the company's confidence "in the quality
of our products and the integrity of our manufacturing system," according
to spokesman Jeff Dahncke.
"The
speed of our production lines and the rigor of our quality control systems make
it virtually impossible for this type of thing to happen in a production
environment. In fact, there never has been even a single instance when a claim of
this nature has been traced back to a manufacturing issue," Dahncke said
in an e-mail.
"The FDA
conducted a thorough inspection of our Orlando facility and found no cause for
concern. In this case, the FDA simply was unable to determine when or how the specimen
entered the package."
When asked if
Pepsi believed it was not responsible for the animal getting into the can,
Dahncke said, "We have addressed the facts of the investigation and stated
our position. It's not appropriate for us to comment beyond that."
But the
DeNegris say they're hopping mad over Pepsi's handling of the matter.
Amy DeNegri
said she hasn't heard from Pepsi since the day after the incident occurred,
when she spoke with someone over the phone. At first, the woman was apologetic,
but DeNegri says her attitude changed after she told her that the FDA was
coming to take the can for testing.
"She
asked for my pictures, I sent them and never heard back," she said.
The retired
school staffer says she and her husband are seeking legal advice to examine
their options.
"I want
to see Pepsi fess up to it and compensate my husband for the negative publicity
they have caused," she said. "I'm easy, but they're the ones that are
making it hard."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/02/frog.pepsi.can/
BBC (London, UK) 02 September 09 Nest-making
frogs found in India (Jyotsna Singh)
A scientist in
India says he has found three rare species of frogs that make nests in which to
lay their eggs.
Dr SD Biju of
Delhi University says the frogs make nests after laying eggs to protect them
from heat and predators.
The discovery
was made in the rainforests of the Western Ghats mountain range in the southern
Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka.
It comes after
20 years of intensive research carried out in Wayanad in Kerala and Coorg in
Karnataka.
The tiny
frogs, which measure up to 12cm (about five inches) in length, roll leaves from
top to bottom to make a cocoon and produce a sticky substance to close the ends
to secure the eggs.
"These
are extremely rare frogs, the only ones of their kind found in Asia," Dr
Biju told the BBC.
He said the
frogs differed from leaf-nesting frogs found in America and Africa as they make
their nests after the females have laid the eggs.
The American
and African species build the nest in the process of laying eggs, and both male
and female frogs build it together.
Dr Biju says
the species are seriously threatened by coffee and other plantations due to
which they are losing their habitat in the forest.
"Eight
years ago when I visited the area it was easy to spot them breeding during the
night. But there has been a dramatic change and it's now extremely rare to spot
them," he says.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8233923.stm
SUN SENTINEL (Sarasota, Florida) 02 September 09 Snake hunters in Weston stop for now but
aren't giving up (Lisa J. Huriash)
Weston: The python hunt ended at 2 p.m. today, but
officials aren't giving up yet.
They'll be
back again at 8 a.m. Thursday with snake-catcher sticks, trying to find the
reptile that has been spotted near homes.
For much of
the day today, three Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers
focused their efforts on the Bonaventure golf course.
The area is
connected by pipes to a lake at a nearby water-pumping station. The snake has
been spotted three times near the station at the corner of State Road 84 and
Bonaventure Boulevard.
Today at the
Bonaventure course, one of the officers used a golf cart to move around faster.
"This
could be a long process," said Ron Bergeron, a Weston resident and member
of the wildlife commission. The snake even "could be on the other side of
the highway. It's very possible because there's pipes under the road."
Bergeron said
when the search resumes Thursday, officers will continue searching the golf
course, and return to the drainage district site. He said it could take several
days to catch the python, which is believed to be at least 7 feet long.
"I think
we have a good chance unless it's moved to the north" where there is a
large conservation area, Bergeron said today.
The hunt began
Tuesday after he got a call about python sightings. Maintenance crews at the
water-pumping station had spotted the snake three workday mornings, Thursday,
Friday and Monday, according to Bergeron.
Bergeron
brought the two officers to the lake. They hope to catch the snake alive and
bring it to the Wildlife Care Center in Fort Lauderdale, where it would be
searched for an identifying chip and eventually killed.
"He could
be anywhere," said Officer Bill Carpenter on Tuesday as he walked along
the banks, poking brush with his stick. "He could be camouflaged in this
stuff."
"If he's
a Burmese python, he's going to have an attitude," Carpenter said. The
non-native snakes, which he called "reptiles of concern," generally troll
the Everglades to strangle and eat their prey, smaller creatures such as
raccoons, rabbits, birds and small alligators.
"Once
they get past 6 feet long, they could take down anything," said Matt Hopp,
Carpenter's fellow officer.
Bergeron said
he doesn't want to create alarm, but nearby residents should be
"aware." He said if a python is spotted, the finder should call
561-625-5122 and stay away from it.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/weston/sfl-python-on-loose-bn090109,0,5513324.story
NEWS AND STAR (Carlisle, UK) 02 September 09
Missing snake found safe and well in
Carlisle kitchen (Thom Kennedy)
A snake which
went missing from a family home in Carlisle has turned up safe and well,
sleeping on top of a bag of dog biscuits.
Sidney the
snake vanished from his tank in early August, leading to his owners, the Macnab
family, of Scalegate Road in Upperby, to launching a search to recover him.
After three
weeks of hunting for the missing python, the family had begun to lose hope of
ever seeing Sidney again, despite buying another snake to try to entice him
back.
But on Monday
one of Sidney’s discarded skins was found in a cutlery drawer, leading the
family to recover their missing pet.
Owner Murray
Macnab said: “One of the kids found a skin he had just shed in the back of the
cutlery drawer when they went to make a cup of tea. We had a look in the
cupboard below that, and found him curled up on top of a bag of dog biscuits.
“We are
absolutely chuffed to bits. Because of the weather we have had, I didn’t fancy
his chances. The best I was hoping for at this stage was getting a knock on the
door and somebody telling us they had found his body.”
It is possible
that despite the search for Sidney going around Cumbria in newspapers and on
radio, the plucky python had gone no further than crawling into a skirting
board with a slight gap in the family home.
Sidney’s
return wasn’t the only surprise for the Macnabs – he is also twice as wide and
a foot longer than when he went missing.
There’s no
chance of a bizarre mix-up though – a unique mark on the green and brown ball
python’s back proves that the returning snake is definitely the same one which
went missing.
“I was stunned
by how much he had grown,” said Mr Macnab.
“We got Pedro
the other snake to lure him back, and he is tiny compared to Sidney.
“We were
concerned about putting them in a tank together as we weren’t sure whether
Sidney has had anything to eat these last few weeks.”
EUREKALERT (Washington, DC) 02 September 09 Why solitary reptiles lay eggs in communal
nests (Contact: Kevin Stacey, kstacey@press.uchicago.edu, 773-834-0386,
University of Chicago Press Journals)
Reptiles are
not known to be the most social of creatures. But when it comes to laying eggs,
female reptiles can be remarkably communal, often laying their eggs in the
nests of other females. New research in the September issue of The Quarterly
Review of Biology suggests that this curiously out-of-character behavior is
far more common in reptiles than was previously thought.
Dr. J. Sean
Doody (The Australian National University) and colleagues, Drs. Steve Freedberg
and J. Scott Keogh, performed an exhaustive review of literature on reptile
egg-laying. They found that communal nesting has been reported in 255 lizard
species as well as many species of snakes and alligators. The behavior was also
documented in 136 amphibian species.
"[O]ur
analysis indicates that communal egg-laying is much more common than generally
recognized," the authors write.
Despite its
prevalence, why reptiles share nests remains a mystery. The phenomenon is
easier to explain in birds, many species of which also share nests. Baby birds
generally require plenty of parental care after they are born. By nesting
together, adult birds can share the burden of feeding and protecting the
young—giving a plausible advantage to communal nesting.
Reptiles, on
the other hand, generally abandon their eggs before they hatch, so sharing
parental duties cannot be the reason reptiles share nests. Many researchers
have written off communal nesting in reptiles as a by-product of habitat. In
many reptile habitats, good nesting spots are scarce. It is possible,
therefore, that females share nests because there is simply nowhere else to
nest. As such, communal nesting would have no real evolutionary value on its
own; it would be something that simply occurs out of necessity.
But Doody and
his colleagues doubt the by-product hypothesis. They cite numerous reports of
reptiles nesting communally even when good nesting sites are abundant. Doody
believes shared nesting may provide an evolutionary advantage to reptiles after
all—despite their lack of parental care.
Building a
nest can be hard work for reptiles. Some female lizards, for example, may spend
days digging a hole deep enough to deposit eggs. During those days, she is not
doing other important things such as finding food. She is also more vulnerable
to predators. Females can avoid these costs by simply laying eggs in a nest
that someone else has gone to the trouble to build.
But sharing
nests can also have a downside. When the eggs hatch, babies are immediately
forced to compete with each other for resources. In addition, closely packed
egg groups have an increased risk of disease transmission.
Using a
mathematical model, Doody and his colleagues show that if the benefits to the
mother outweigh the costs to the offspring, communal nesting makes evolutionary
sense for reptiles. But when the costs of nesting together outweigh the
benefits, we should expect to see solitary nests. This would explain why many
reptile species display both solitary and communal nesting strategies.
More study
needs to be done to confirm the model, Doody says, but it is a starting point
for explaining why communal nesting is so common in otherwise solitary
reptiles.
###
J. Sean Doody,
"Communal Egg-laying In Reptiles And Amphibians: Evolutionary Patterns And
Hypotheses." The Quarterly Review of Biology 84:3 (September 2009)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-09/uocp-wsr090209.php
DAILY NATION (Nairobi, Kenya) 02 September 09 Villagers
kill python after it swallows calf
A 10-foot long
python was Wednesday killed by villagers after it swallowed a calf grazing in a
forest in Kakamega Central District.
During the
incident, the Mahiakalo village residents opened up the snake’s guts and
removed the dead calf.
Kenya Wildlife
Service deputy warden Zipporah Mideva said pythons were common in that area and
warned villagers against grazing their animals in the forest.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/652050/-/7m9yb3/-/index.html