HERP NEWS 265/2009
GLOBE
Vancouver: A $20-million project to restore the
environment of Burnaby Lake and make it deep enough to once again host
international rowing competitions has been stalled - by sleeping turtles.
The heavy
equipment and crews needed to dredge more than 250,000 cubic metres of mud from
the increasingly shallow Burnaby Lake are in place, but work hasn't started
because the municipality doesn't have a provincial permit to catch and move
Western Painted Turtles.
And it might
already be too late to find them because, as the weather cools, the turtles
start burrowing into the mud for the winter.
Burnaby Mayor
Derek Corrigan said he just learned the province hasn't issued a
turtle-catching permit to the city.
"It hit
us like a sledgehammer," he said yesterday.
"We were
ready to go ahead. We put out the tender, we had the dredging company ready to
get into the water." Mr. Corrigan
said the city has been planning the lake rejuvenation project for years,
because so much silt has collected in the water body that it is choking off
bird and fish habitat.
"We're
doing this because we love this lake," he said.
Restoring the
lake's recreational potential is also a big part of the plan.
Rowing
channels, which hosted numerous international competitions and were regarded as
one of the best venues in North America until the early 90s, have filled in
with so much silt that boats can hardly operate.
In a widely
publicized and popular project, Burnaby spent years raising funds, including
getting $10-million from the province, and putting plans in place.
Mr. Corrigan
said he is surprised by the dispute, because if the permit was going to be an
issue, the province should have sounded alarms years ago, when the dredging
plans were first drawn up.
"It's
shocking to us," Mr. Corrigan said.
"It
really does cause me to question the competence of the Ministry and the
approach they are taking."
Ecojustice, a non-profit environmental law foundation, has written to
Burnaby council on behalf of the Wilderness Committee, to object to the project
proceeding without proper permits.
"Burnaby
Lake supports the largest and only known viable population of Western Painted
Turtles in the entire Lower Mainland," wrote Judah Harrison, a staff
lawyer.
"It is
likely that if the proposed dredging goes ahead as scheduled, endangered and
red-listed Western Painted Turtles will be killed." He said legal action will be contemplated if
the project proceeds without the necessary permits.
Vanessa
Kilburn, an independent consulting biologist who is part of a
federal-provincial recovery team trying to save the Western Painted Turtle in
B.C., said it would be almost impossible for anyone to catch and move turtles
once they have burrowed into the mud to hibernate.
She said the
City of Burnaby has been trying for a week to catch and radio tag turtles, so
they could be located later.
"They are
using traps baited with sardines, but it is likely the turtles have stopped
feeding [because of the cool weather]," said Ms. Kilburn. "I think
they have started to go under [the mud]."
Burnaby Lake has been dredged several times in the past, including in
the 1950s and 1970s. But Ms. Kilburn said another disruption could be risky.
"The
Western Painted Turtle is in such dire straits, even a few deaths could be
devastating," she said. "I really think this project should be held
off until there is more information [on where the turtles are]." She said there are an estimated 100 of the
rare turtles in the lake - more than are found in all other turtle habitats in
the Lower Mainland combined.
Jennifer
McGuire, Regional Manager, Environmental Stewardship for the provincial
Ministry of Environment, said the permit was refused because "there was a
need for additional data to confirm the over wintering sites of the Western
Painted Turtle." She said it's now
up to the City of Burnaby to gather that data - but it is unlikely municipal
officials can do so this fall, because the turtles are already going into
hibernation.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-cleanup-that-moves-at-a-turtles-pace/article1296654/
Bijnor (UP): Wildlife authorities rescued a crocodile from
a paddy field in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor district.
The reptile
had sneaked into Nawada village on Tuesday morning, and was causing panic among
the villagers.
A team of
wildlife department captured the crocodile from the paddy field and it was
later released in the Ganga River.
'Today in the
morning we received an information that through the river water, a crocodile
has entered the paddy field of a farmer in Nawada village.
'Our team
immediately reached the spot and we managed to control the crocodile and now we
have released it in the Ganga River from a deserted area,' said C.P Mallik,
Forest Officer, Bijnor.
The state has
witnessed a number of incidents of wild animals straying into urban areas,
mainly owing to loss of habitat and extension of human settlements into forest
areas.
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-117087.html
WESH (Orlando, Florida) 22 September
09 Why
Do People Make Snakes Pets? Snake Lovers
Say Reptiles Not Vicious Nor Violent
Deltona,
Fla.: Snake owners say they love
reptiles.
The slithery
creatures have made local headlines lately after an 18-foot Burmese python was
found in the back yard of an Apopka home.
But why do
people make the potentially dangerous creatures as pets?
A group of
snake owners in Deltona said they just can't get enough of the reptiles.
They're
cold-blooded, sometimes poisonous, and depicted as evil, but Ron Doria, a
white-collar medical sales director, can't get enough of his snakes.
"They
have such a bad rap of being something so vicious and so violent. It's not like
that. It's just, it's false," Doria said.
Doria keeps
over 40 snakes in his Deltona home. He shares his passion with a friend, Brian
Radenberg, who owns over 100 snakes. Radenberg made the news when the city of
Deltona tried unsuccessfully last year to force him to get rid of his venomous
snakes.
There's also
Scott Quint, a software engineer who owns 35 snakes. Why do these men have such
a fascination with the animals?
For Quint,
it's the science.
"They're
beautiful animals. I think, evolutionally speaking, they're one of the most
unique animals," Quint said.
For Radenberg,
it's the way they feel.
"They
just kind of crawl around on you, and I don't know, they're comfortable,"
Radenberg said.
And for Doria,
who owns rattlesnakes, it's the thrill.
"I like
the risk, a little bit, of knowing we have something ... control something that
doesn't want to be controlled," Doria said.
The men said
because they have the proper caging, proper licenses, and the experience to
handle snakes, it mitigates any danger. They get frustrated by the negative
stereotypes assigned to snake owners.
"There's
still a belief that, if you keep snakes, you're somehow different. You're weird
or you're not like everybody else, and admittedly, there are plenty of people
who can give that appearance, but there also are plenty who do not," Quint
said.
While snake
owners may love their snakes, do their snakes love them back?
"They
won't show affection, of course, like a dog or a cat. They don't have a brain
large enough to do that, and everything is basically instinct for a
snake," Chaz Hanna said.
Hanna sells
snakes. He believes they're popular pets simply because they're fascinating to
watch and easy to care for.
For many
people, a learned fear of snakes makes the thought of owning one repulsive.
To help ensure
the safety of others, both Radenberg and Doria have posted warnings on the
entrances to their homes stating that venomous snakes live inside.
That way, if
emergency personnel such as firefighters or police ever have to enter, they'll
be forewarned.
http://www.wesh.com/news/21059138/detail.html
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS (Missouri) 22
September 09 Frog fungus hammering biodiversity of communities (Diana Lutz)
Sometimes to
see something properly, you have to stand farther back. This is true of Chuck
Close portraits where a patchwork of many small faces changes into one giant
face as you back away.
It may also be
true of the frogs of Central America, where the pattern of extinctions emerges
clearly only at a certain spatial scale.
Everyone knows
that frogs are in trouble and that some species have disappeared, but a recent
analysis of Central American frog surveys shows the situation is worse than had
been thought.
Under pressure
from a fungal disease, the frogs in this biodiversity hot spot are undergoing
"a vast homogenization" that is leaving behind impoverished
communities that increasingly resemble one another.
"We're
witnessing the McDonaldization of the frog communities," says Kevin G.
Smith, Ph.D., associate director of the Tyson Research Center at Washington
University in St. Louis.
The analysis,
of data collected over many years by Karen R. Lips, Ph.D., an associate
professor of biology and director of the program in Sustainable Development and
Conservation Biology at the University of Maryland and research associate at
the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, was published online in the October
issue of Ecology Letters.
The analysis
of frog data was inspired in part by earlier work by Jonathan M. Chase, Ph.D.,
associate professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, director of the Tyson
Research Center and a co-author of the paper.
Chase found
that when predatory fish were introduced into artificial ponds at the research
center, not only did they reduce diversity within each pond, but they also made
the species composition of the ponds more similar.
In the
language of ecology, the predators decreased both alpha diversity, or the
diversity within each site, and beta diversity, the diversity among sites. The
pond study will be published in the November issue of Ecology Letters.
In the new
analysis, the role of the predatory fish was played by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd, a microscopic fungus that lives in water and moist soil that
sickens or kills frogs. Bd is called
a chytrid fungus from the Greek chytridium, meaning "little pot"
because small blisters filled with sperm-like, flagellated zoospores form in
the skin of infected frogs.
Smith thought
that the pathogen might be altering the frog communities in the same way the
predatory fish had altered the pond communities, causing them to lose both
alpha and beta diversity.
People had compared
the susceptibility of different species to the fungus but no one had looked for
changes in the less appreciated beta diversity.
The baseline
assumption of the analysis was that the pathogen was causing no change in beta
diversity, the result that would be expected if it hit all species equally as
it swept across the region.
Bd is an invasive species whose origin is not known.
The fungus is
devastating to frogs because it infects the skin, a much more important organ
in amphibians than in other vertebrates. Many frogs breathe and drink through
their skin and use it as we use our kidneys to maintain the proper
concentrations of ions such as sodium and potassium in their bloodstreams. As
frogs sicken, their skin peels or sloughs off.
Hoping to find
a data set appropriate for the kind of analysis he had in mind, Smith got in
touch with Lips, a scientist who has monitored amphibian declines in Central
America for many years.
"The
basis of this paper is her decades of work in this area," says Smith,
"and the astonishing data set they produced."
Lips had
species lists from six sites both before and after Bd appeared, and she was
able to obtain data from two more sites, for a total of eight.
At her study
sites, Lips and her graduate students had walked transects during the day and
also by night carrying flashlights, looking for frogs, salamanders and
reptiles, listening for their calls, and sifting the streams for tadpoles.
"We
already knew," Smith says, "that at each site we were losing roughly
half the species. Our analysis confirmed this. Before the fungus, an average 45
species were observed at each site; after the fungus, the average was only 23.
But the beta
diversity dropped even more precipitously than the alpha diversity because the
fungus preferentially attacked endemic species found only at one or a few
sites. Among the species in the study, 42 percent were found at only one site;
a disproportionate share of these species disappeared.
The loss of
rare species drove regional extinctions higher than expected. "Our
simulations showed that random local extinctions would have resulted in 41
regional extinctions across the eight sites," Smith says, "but
instead we observed 61 regional extinctions."
Regional
extinction may mean global extinction.
"The
regional extinctions strongly suggest these species are gone not just from the
region but from the planet," says Smith. "It's very difficult to
document an extinction, because you have to prove a negative. But if you see
that a species is gone not only from point A but also from points B, C and D
that gives you a much stronger case."
In
homogenizing the frog communities, the fungus erased chapters in evolutionary
history. Two rare families of frogs, the Aromobatidae
and the Hemiphractidae, disappeared from
the region.
Among the Hemiphractidae, also known as the
marsupial frogs, males capture eggs as the female lays them and deposit them in
pouches on the female's back. The female then totes the eggs around with her
until they hatch.
Homogenization
also knocked out ecological diversity. Before the invasion there was a good mix
of species in the region. Some species lived in streams, others on land, in
trees and underground. But the primarily aquatic fungus killed most of the
water-loving species.
"Now the
frog communities are typified by terrestrial species," says Smith,
"which has changed the whole way the system works ecologically."
"Our
results suggest that the slate of ecological history in these assemblages has
been partially erased and that the communities that remain consist primarily of
species that are resistant to the fungus."
Smith called
the fungus an "extinction filter." Not an equal-opportunity killer,
it preferentially removes the frogs that make each habitat unusual and
interesting. Maybe it should be called a boredom filter instead.
http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/14690.html
NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT (Mississippi) 22 September
09 Nine-foot
alligator caught in city limits (Julie Cooper)
Natchez: The 9-foot-10-inch surprise in Claude “Buck”
Pintard’s front yard Sunday was enough to get him praying.
“I was at home
with my granddaughter and grandson, and one of them wanted to go to Walmart, so
I said, ‘Let’s go,’” Pintard said. “We started down the hill, and it was an
alligator I’m looking at right in front of me.”
Pintard, who
lives on Laurel Hill Drive in The Hills subdivision, had been up and down his
driveway all day long, he said. But the two hours he stayed off the asphalt
strip were apparently long enough for his visitor to claim it as the perfect
napping spot.
“I backed up
the van and parked,” Pintard said. “I immediately said to the grand kids,
‘Someone is trying to put a fake alligator in my yard.’
“Then I saw
its back legs move and I said, ‘Nope, that’s the real thing.’”
Pintard called
his son, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and the Mississippi Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries.
With a firm
warning to stay away from the reptile, Pintard and family waited for
authorities to arrive. Even the cat kept his distance, daughter-in-law April
Pintard said.
By the time
the proper authorities with the proper equipment had arrived, approximately two
hours had passed and it was nearing 7 p.m., Pintard said.
“The trapper
had a loop and looped around (the alligator’s) neck,” Pintard said. “He pulled
on the rope and (the alligator) started raising hell and rolling and rolling
and rolling.”
Eventually the
trapper — Don Hynum of Port Gibson — was able to tie the animal’s mouth and
legs and move the animal into his pickup truck.
“He was a good,
big, mature male, probably 200-300 pounds,” Hynum said. “Why he was there? Who
knows. They just go walking.”
Hynum works
under a contract with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
When they receive calls about alligators in this area, they usually call him,
he said.
His work comes
in spurts, he said, but he’s already been to Adams County two or three times
this year.
“I may go a
month without a call, or a may get half a dozen in a week,” he said.
Since
alligators have been protected from hunting for years in Mississippi, the
population has grown a bit out of control, Hynum said.
“There are so
many of them,” he said. “If you have a body of water, odds are if you don’t
have one, you will have one.”
But Pintard’s
house isn’t near water, and sits on five acres of dry land. It’s not free of
wildlife though, he said.
“I have deer
and turkey,” Pintard said. “And I have a 6-foot rattlesnake I’ve been hunting
behind the house.”
With an
alligator out front and a snake out back, Pintard’s prayer was simple Sunday
night.
“I said,
‘Lord, you got me in the front and back. Please leave my sides alone.’”
The alligator
removed from Pintard’s yard was killed, Hynum said, but that’s not standard
procedure. Alligators under 8-feet long and in good health are usually released
to the wild.
But the
alligator in Pintard’s yard was large and had a previous injury — it had been
shot, some time ago, in the snout. As a result, the animal wasn’t breathing
properly.
Unfortunately,
many alligator-people encounters end with gunfire, Hynum said, mainly because
people don’t know what else to do.
“A lot of
people don’t realize this (trapping) service is available,” Hynum said. “A lot
of folks just shoot them. Utilizing this service would save a lot of
(alligators).”
Anyone who
spots an alligator on their property and wants it removed can call the
Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries district office at
601-835-3050. They will likely then contact a trapper like Hynum.
http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/news/2009/sep/22/nine-foot-alligator-caught-city-limits/
ST PETERSBURG TIMES (Florida) 22
September 09 10-foot python found in Largo preserve (Eileen Schulte)
Largo: Around 7:30 Tuesday morning, John Rivard was
walking in the Largo Central Park Nature Preserve when he saw something big
floating in a stormwater treatment pond.
It turned out
to be a dead 10-foot python.
"I was a
little surprised,'' he said. "It was not something I expected to see out
there.''
The pond is
next to a boardwalk where children and families hike and not far from a picnic
shelter, a driving range and a country club.
Rivard, 49, a
Clearwater real estate investor, found a branch, fished out the python and
started taking photos.
Officials from
the Largo Recreation Parks and Arts Department got to the scene at 8:30 a.m.
and measured the snake, said Michael DePappa, assistant parks superintendant.
He said it's
the first python found in the preserve in the four years he has been at his
job. He doesn't know if it had been living in the preserve or whether someone
dropped it off.
"It could
have possibly been a house pet,'' DePappa said.
It had no
puncture wounds or other signs of trauma, so how it died is a mystery.
City workers
buried the python in an empty lot.
"It was
pretty stinky and smelly,'' said DePappa.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/article1038242.ece
SOUTH FLORIDA
Fort
Lauderdale: Pet Burmese pythons would be
banned in Florida under a bill drafted by a state senator who says the state
should shut off the source of "dangerous reptiles" that have
colonized the Everglades.
State Sen.
Eleanor Sobel said she decided to introduce the bill because the Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Commission was moving too slowly to deal with the
problem, using python hunts that generate publicity but capture too few snakes
to make a difference.
"We need
to stop it at the source," she said. "These reptiles are not meant to
be pets."
In addition to
Burmese pythons, the bill would ban the ownership or sale of reticulated
pythons, African rock pythons, amethystine or scrub pythons, anacondas and Nile
monitor lizards.
The proposal
would go far beyond current law, which allows anyone to own one so long as the
snake is registered and implanted with a microchip. The bill would grandfather
in current owners, allowing them to keep their snakes, to prevent the mass
dumping of pythons.
Over the past
few years, Burmese pythons have established a breeding population in Everglades
National Park, where they consume wading birds, raccoons and other native
wildlife. Authorities are also concerned about the recent discovery of African
rock pythons in western Miami-Dade County and are investigating whether this
species, the largest snake in African, has established itself there.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/sfl-python-ban-092209,0,2911123.story
FLORIDA TODAY (Melbourne) 22 September 09 Invaders send homegrown lizards packing -
Non-natives bully green anole, other effects unknown (Jim Waymer)
They dazzle
with orange flashing throat flaps, rapid-fire pushups and wily chameleon ways.
Most
important, they gobble up bugs.
But Florida's
leap in lizards, mostly foreign, also annoys. Unwanted backyard guests nibble
at hibiscus and, once inside homes, evade capture for months.
Even the brown
anole, by far the state's most prolific lizard, doesn't belong here. Of
Florida's 60 lizards, the brown anole is among 42 invaders and believed
responsible for drastic declines in the native green anole and possibly other
species.
Many invasive
lizards hopped on cargo ships back when trade with Cuba was common. And most
are here to stay, spreading in scope and posing unknown long-term effects on
the food web.
"Every
year we document one or two more species," said Kevin Enge, a scientist
with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "The key is to
prevent stuff from getting established in the first place."
But in many
cases, capturing or killing so many rapidly reproducing lizards is logistically
impossible, biologists say. Florida already has at least 35 established
breeding populations of nonnative lizards, ones that have been here 10 years or
longer.
They are just
beginning to probe the cumulative consequences of so many lizard invasions.
The green
anole is among Florida's most common native lizards, while the brown was the
first invasive anole recorded in Florida, arriving in the Keys from Cuba in
1887.
As a result,
residents spot far fewer green anoles these days.
Biologists say
the larger brown anole bullies the hometown anole at ground level, so green
anoles now hide higher up in trees, where brown ones can't pester them and
people can't see them.
"In
people's yards, there's no question that green anoles are at lower densities
than they used to be," Enge said.
Both species
eat the other's young, but brown anoles more so, scientists say.
"They're
more robust. They're kind of a chunkier lizard," said Todd Campbell, a
biologist at the University of Tampa who's studied how the two anoles compete
on Brevard's spoil islands.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090922/NEWS01/909220322/1086/rss07
AMERICAN-STATESMAN (Austin,
Texas) 22 September 09 At toads' last stand, reserves hop to it -
Zoo-raised Houston toads reinforce waning numbers at Bastrop State Park.
(Nathan Adkisson)
Bastrop State
Park: One voice begins, high and shrill.
After 14 seconds, as the first fades, another voice joins in, then another and
another. Eventually, a chorus of more than 100 lovelorn voices has formed.
Up until the
1980s, this was not an uncommon occurrence in Bastrop County. It's a sound
heard only in Texas — the mating trill of the endangered Houston toad.
Fewer than 300
adult Houston toads remain, researchers say. Rapid urban development has
eliminated most of their habitat, and Bastrop State Park has become their final
stronghold.
To combat the
losses, 140 Houston toads were released into the park shortly after 6 p.m.
Monday. Researchers released an additional 220 toads in Austin County.
Scientists and park officials hope the toads will survive to breed and restore
some of the lost population.
"At this
point, it's triage," said Michael Forstner, a biologist at Texas State
University-San Marcos. "The population is still declining."
The toads were
released at the same shallow pond where researchers collected them as eggs six
months ago. Texas State researchers took the eggs to the Houston Zoo, where
they hatched and reached maturity.
The toads grow
up to 3.5 inches long and vary in color from light brown to gray or purplish
gray, sometimes with green patches. Their pale undersides often have small,
dark spots. Males have a dark throat, which appears bluish when distended.
After
breeding, female toads lay strings of up to 6,000 eggs that hatch into tadpoles
before they metamorphose into toadlets. The first two months are the most
dangerous in a toad's life. Young toads are food for insects, fish, snakes,
birds and raccoons. The toads need standing water to breed, making them
vulnerable to drought. In the wild, each egg has less than a 1 percent chance
of surviving.
Named after
the city where they were first discovered, Houston toads have lived in the
forest and woodlands of eastern Texas for more than a million years but have
largely disappeared amid rapid development, Forstner said. The toads were found
in fewer and fewer counties, until the only Houston toads left in Houston were
at the zoo.
Houston toads
will remain on state and federal endangered species lists until they have three
self-sustaining populations that can interact with one another.
Houston is too
developed for the toads to have a good chance of survival there, Forstner said.
And Bastrop State Park is home to just one population, so scientists are
encouraging area landowners to be toad-friendly.
In 2007, the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department approved $167,488 for a Landowner Incentive
Program grant that provides money for landowners to improve Houston toad
habitat on their properties. The state contributed $72,088; the remainder of
the money came from private donations, the Environmental Defense Fund and the
Houston Zoo.
Bob Long's
family, which owns the Round Bottom Ranch in Bastrop County, was awarded money
through the program in compensation for restricting where their cattle roam
during the toad's breeding season, from January to June.
"I'm not
overly concerned about the toads, but I'm doing my part as a
conservationist," Long said.
http://www.statesman.com/services/content/news/stories/local/2009/09/22/0922toads.html?cxtype=ynews_rss
Durant: A giant snake is on the loose in eastern
Hillsborough County, but wildlife officials say they are not going after it.
They say so
many people have dumped pet snakes, they don’t have the resources to go after
them all.
Carol St.
Pierre discovered the 10-foot boa constrictor next her to home in Durant.
"We're
seen snakes out here, but that was the biggest one I have ever seen," she
said. "I think it's in the woods across the street," St. Pierre said.
Even though it
has been a while since she saw the snake, she says she is still shaken up. News
reports about potentially dangerous Burmese pythons showing up in the Tampa Bay
area have made her feel even more uncomfortable about her close encounter with
the scaly beast.
St. Pierre was
walking across her yard, and thought she saw a pile of dirt. Then it hit her.
The pile of dirt was alive, reptilian, and very big. As she ran into to her
house the snake began slithering away. But before it disappeared into the dense
underbrush, she snapped half a dozen photos of it.
After seeing
the pictures, wildlife officials say it is a common boa, a pet that escaped, or
was dumped.
Officials say
they are usually not a threat to people, but pets can be another story.
"The main
staple of their diet is small mammals," said Breanne Stripina with the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "So any small mammals
would be venerable, that would include small pets like dogs and cats."
Even though
boas generally don't look for trouble, just knowing that the snake might come
back gives St. Pierre the willies. Her husband says he isn't even fazed at all.
"If you
don't go playing around with them, they usually leave you alone," he said.
If you have a
snake, or other exotic pet you don't want any more, you can hand it over to the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission during one of its amnesty
days -- no questions asked.
They are held
at different locations around the state several times a year.
(http://www.myfwc.com/WILDLIFEHABITATS/Nonnative_AmnestyDayEvents.htm)
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/polk/Too_many_snakes_to_catch_them
TC
Palm Beach
County: A Pahokee man is under
investigation in the killing of an alligator, according to a Martin County
Sheriff’s Office report.
Tobie Tyrone
Moore, 28, was charged by deputies with armed trespassing Friday. The Florida
Wildlife Commission was investigating the shooting death of an alligator, whose
partial remains were found in the area where Moore was spotted, the Sheriff’s
Office said.
An employee at
Tru-Cane Sugar in the 25800 block of Southwest Kanner Highway told deputies he
spotted Moore and a second man at a canal on the property about 5 p.m. Friday.
The employee told the men they weren’t allowed on the property, which is when
they left, the affidavit states. The men said they were fishing, but the employee
said he spotted no fishing equipment. After they left, the employee spotted a
severed alligator tail and a rifle near the area he spotted the two men. He
called the Sheriff’s Office and provided a description of their car, the
affidavit states.
A deputy
stopped Moore and the other man on U.S. 441 in Palm Beach County. Moore told
deputies he handled the rifle at the scene, but denied shooting an alligator.
Moore picked up the rifle because he wanted to use it for rabbit hunting,
according to the affidavit.
Deputies said
they also found wet blood in the trunk of Moore’s car and a couple of magazine
shells in the back seat.
Investigators
for the Florida Wildlife Commission could not be reached for comment Monday.
Federal
officials are considering whether to add protections for the gopher tortoise
that environmentalists say are long overdue but that builders industry experts
warn could be catastrophic for Florida's economy.
The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service announced this month that an environmental group's
petition to list the gopher tortoise as "threatened" under the
Endangered Species Act deserves more detailed review. It's a first step in a
year-long process that could result in significant new hurdles for developers
who want to build on land that includes tortoise boroughs, which are dwindling
in number across Florida.
"Absolutely,
I'm for it," said Drew Martin, of the Sierra Club's Loxahatchee Group.
"The building industry needs to focus on areas where there are already
buildings, rather than going out and clearing vacant land."
Gopher
tortoises, which grow to be about the size of basketballs and can live 50 years
or longer, live in an area that runs from Louisiana to South Carolina and
includes all of Florida - especially central Florida. Their cuteness has been a
curse, as people frequently swiped them as pets until the state outlawed it.
Today, the tortoises are most threatened by the development, which eats up land
where the tortoises dig their tunnel-like boroughs.
Scientists say
their numbers are in steep decline. But developers say the state, which already
classifies gopher tortoises as "threatened," has enough safeguards in
place to ensure a rebound.
Under state
rules, a builder who wants to develop land with even a handful of tortoise
boroughs must apply for permit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission and hire an approved firm to dig out and move the tortoises to a
safe location. State wildlife officials touted the effectiveness of the current
system in a letter to the federal agency. The 2007 state listing and relocation
requirements replaced old rules that allowed tortoises to be buried alive.
"The
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has an extensive gopher
tortoise management plan which provides great protection of the species,"
said Edie Ousley, spokeswoman for the Florida Home Builders Association.
The 12-month
review now underway could lead U.S. Fish and Wildlife to draw one of three
conclusions: that available science shows no need for federal listing, that
Florida can manage gopher tortoises under its existing program, or that the
species deserves listing and protection under federal law.
The last
option "could be catastrophic for the state of Florida," said Doug
Rillstone, a top land use and environmental attorney with Broad and Cassel.
That's because
tortoise relocation under state rules could also require landowners to obtain
either an biological opinion from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - a process
that Rillstone said takes at least 6 months - or an "incidental take"
permit.
"Our
experience is, that's not a permit that takes months to get," said
Rillstone. "That's a permit that could take years to get."
Opponents warn
that the change could effect more than just home building.
"We're
concerned that listing the gopher tortoise under the Endangered Species Act
could negatively impact agriculture, infrastructure, resources extraction and
land development," said Ousley.
Dehradun: Thousands of devotees thronging different
ghats on the bank of holy Ganga at Haridwar are in the grip of fear following
the sighting of crocodiles twice within a period of 24 hours.
According to
Rajaji National Park authorities, two crocodiles were found at Birla Ghat and
Chandi Ghat respectively on Saturday and yesterday. A 5.6 ft. long crocodile
was found at Shamshanghat near Chandighat bridge yesterday afternoon. The
crocodile had come out from the waters and was resting on the riverbank. Some
people who live on the banks spotted the crocodile and alerted Rajaji National
Park authorities who rushed to the spot and with the help of local people
caught the crocodile. It was later relased into the Rawasan river.
On Saturday, a
crocodile was caught at Birla Ghat when some devotees were taking a dip in the
river. It was also caught and later released in Rawasan river by forest
officials. Though the officials were not clear whether the crocodiles sighted
on Saturday and Sunday were same or two different.
The sighting
of crocodiles within 24 hours, has created panic among the pilgrims. Thousands
of pilgrims take bath in the Ganga everyday.
The
authorities are also taking the issue seriously as world famous Maha Kumbh Mela
would be held early next year at Haridwar when millions of devotees from across
the world would throng the holy city to have dip in the sacred waters. The mela
authorities are taking measures to ensure that the crocodiles dodnot pose any
danger to the lives of the pilgrims.
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-116055.html
MACOMB JOURNAL (Illinois) 21 September
09 Local
woman has unique snake tale (Jodi Pospeschil)
Macomb,
Ill.: When Jane Dorethy of rural Macomb
aided an ill friend in getting to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota she didn’t
realize she’d been the one receiving the attention of medical personnel.
About one week
ago, Dorethy took her friend, Dorothy Bierman, to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,
Minn. recently for medical treatment. The two women were staying in a hotel
when Bierman became sick and Dorethy prepared to call 911.
As events
unfolded, Dorethy said a man began pounding on the door of their room and she
went to the peep hole to see what the racket was for.
Dorethy
stepped into the darkness of the hallway and felt something strike her foot.
She later learned that the man had seen a three-foot rat snake slither under
her first floor hotel room door and was trying to alert those inside.
“It left three
pin holes,” Dorethy said of the snake’s strike. “It didn’t have time to stick
its fangs in because I was hopping around too fast.”
Hotel staff
had already seen the snake and alerted 911. Medical rescue workers began
arriving at the hotel and Dorethy deferred them to her friend.
“I didn’t get
ill from the bite,” she said. “It just bled a little.”
The snake was
captured in the room and later taken to the hospital, where it was put down.
“The snake
isn’t native to that area,” Dorethy said. “The police surmise it may have been
brought in as a pet and got away or was released.”
http://www.macombjournal.com/news/x2023998599/Local-woman-has-unique-snake-tale
BURNABY
Vanessa Kilburn
is concerned that the city's plan to dredge Burnaby Lake will decimate the
population of painted turtles that call the lake home.
As the City of
Burnaby is poised to start a $14-million dredging project in Burnaby Lake
Wednesday, biologists are sounding the alarm over the fate of the endangered
Western painted turtle.
Vanessa
Kilburn is an independent biologist working with a government-mandated recovery
team to get the Western painted turtles back to a point where they can survive
on their own. She wants the city to put the dredging on hold until the city's
environmental biologists can pinpoint where the turtles will be hibernating.
"Until we
know that, there's no way you can dredge that lake without the possibility of
killing a lot of turtles," she said. "We asked that they wait till
they have more data, and that would be December."
At 15 degrees
Celsius, the turtles shut down and bury themselves in the mud, sometimes in
groups and usually at the bottom of the lake. The turtles typically begin
hibernating in mid-October but settle in November or December, depending on
water temperatures. Kilburn said they may be settling while dredging is going
on or may find their hibernation spots are already destroyed. Kilburn said no
one knows for sure where the turtles will settle to hibernate this year.
"(The
dredging) is a major threat, and we are really concerned about it. The biggest
issue is the timing," she said.
The Western
painted turtle is protected under the Species at Risk Act, and, according to
Ecojustice lawyer Lara Tessaro, it is a criminal offence to kill, harm or
harass an endangered or threatened species.
"If
scientists are saying this dredging project could either harm or harass or
disturb the Western painted turtle ... that would be a very significant issue
under the Species At Risk Act," Tessaro said.
According to
the government's species-at-risk registry, there are six known sites with these
turtles on the Pacific Coast, and in 2005 surveys, the Western painted turtle
was found at only one of the known sites - Burnaby Lake.
Kilburn said
more recent surveys show there are up to 10 sites, but the numbers of turtles
are low. Kilburn said there are about 100 Western painted turtles in Burnaby
Lake.
"Literally,
this is the biggest population in the Lower Mainland that anyone knows
about," she said.
In fact, the
recovery team was hoping to hatch turtle eggs from Burnaby Lake in a breeding
facility and release them to help rebuild populations in other areas where
numbers are low.
When asked why
the issue was coming up last minute, just days before the dredging is set to
start, Kilburn said it had slipped under everyone's radar.
"We
assumed the painted turtles had been addressed," she said.
And, according
to the city's engineering director, it has. Lambert Chu outlined measures to
protect the turtle, including how city-hired environmental biologists are
conducting a telemetry study, which means they tag the turtles and track them
with a radio receiver to see where they are in the lake.
Chu said areas
where the turtles are hibernating will not be dredged between Oct. 31 and May
1.
"Also,
during dredging in warmer times, when the turtles are active, these zones will
be surveyed for turtles prior to any dredging occurring in these areas,"
Chu said. "By the time the turtles are hibernating, the results of the
telemetry study will be available to indicate the areas that must be avoided
during the hibernation period. This is a requirement that is stipulated in our
Water Act approval."
http://www2.canada.com/burnabynow/news/story.html?id=3851413c-6e94-4ea4-b8fc-ef9db7171fb3
THE TELEGRAPH (London, UK) 18 September 09 Britain's toads get new protection from the
Department for Transport (David Millward)
Global warming
has led to a change in their breeding and migrating patterns and this has
forced the Department for Transport into a rethink on the rules which governing
temporary road signs.
As the law
stands councils can only put up "migratory toad crossing" signs
between February and May.
But under the
changes announced by the DfT these signs will go up in January giving the toad
– officially a "biodiversity priority species" – an extra month's
protection.
It is
estimated that there are around eight million toads in Britain, rather fewer
than there were just after the war.
The European
Common Toad is found throughout the country, while the Natterjack is found in
north west and southern England, according to John Wilkinson, research officer
with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.
"Because
of changes in our climate they are breeding and migrating earlier in the
year," Mr Wilkinson added.
Britain's toad
population is under threat. "Toad mortality is very high on the roads.
Once you used to see a flood of the creatures, now it is down to a trickle.
"They have
also suffered because of a loss of habitat, a loss of woodland and the
increased use of pesticides."
Earlier this
year Froglife, a conservation charity, used Google Earth to map 700 toad
crossings in Britain, in an attempt to cut amphibian mortality.
The changes to
the sign regulations puzzled Edmund King, the AA's president.
"I
suppose Mr Toad will have to be more vigilant for longer to make sure he
doesn't squash little toads hopping across the road," he said.
"To be
honest I have always wondered what drivers are supposed to do if they see
amphibians in the road in front of them."
Meanwhile the
new regulations will allow councils to put up pictorial signs warning
non-English speaking lorry and coach drivers that roads are too narrow to cope
with their vehicles.
Until now
councils, who had been HGV plagued by drivers relying on satnav systems, needed
permission from the DfT to erect the warning signs.
CBC (Manitoba) 16 September 09 Snakes
invade Manitoba housing complex
A
government-owned and run rural Manitoba housing complex has turned into a scene
from a horror show after garter snakes began infesting the building, residents said
Wednesday.
People living
at the Inwood Manor Manitoba Housing apartments in Inwood, about 150 kilometres
north of Winnipeg, said snakes have been slithering in through any crack in the
building they can find.
"They're
always hanging out at the door, when somebody opens it they sneak in,"
said resident Tom Miller. http://www.projectwonderful.com/out.php?go=34955582&_r=
The apartment
block is located about six kilometres from a major Manitoba tourist attraction,
the Narcisse Snake Dens.
During the fall
season, thousands of garter snakes make their way to the dens to hibernate over
the winter.
Resident Ann
O'Malley said she first discovered she had a problem around suppertime Tuesday.
"I was
going to the stove to get some more supper and I just about stepped on
one."
O'Malley said
one of her neighbours pulled one of the snakes out of a toaster. They've also
been discovered in people's beds and laundry.
O'Malley said
the snakes are scaring people and they're wondering about possible health
risks.
They say the
snakes smell and urinate inside the building.
The problem
has existed for a few years, but Manitoba Housing has refused to fix the
problem, O'Malley said.
"Nothing
is being done to stop them — but you can see for yourself the blood here from people
killing them," O'Malley said. "Nobody wants them in their apartment.
If they're out there — that's good. I don't want them in here."
Family
Services and Housing Minister Gord Mackintosh said he would be looking into the
residents' complaints.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/09/16/160909-snakes-narcisse.html?ref=rss
WINNIPEG FREE PRESS (Manitoba) 16
September 09 Snakes invade Manitoba seniors' home
Inwood: The annual fall frenzy of slithering
red-sided garters is driving some seniors’ home residents here snakey.
"I had
one in my kitchen last night when I was trying to make my supper," said
Inwood Manor resident Ann O’Malley.
She’s
complained to the administration of the 55-plus building, her MLA and her MP,
but hasn’t gotten anywhere.
"Nothing
has been done," said the retired bartender, who moved into the 20-unit
independent living facility in May.
Inwood is
close to the world famous red sided garter snake dens, which attract thousands
of tourists - and snakes - each year.
During the
spring mating and the fall pre-denning periods, more than 50,000 snakes
congregate at the Narcisse dens near Inwood. The limestone dens underground
provide a cozy home to the snakes during harsh Manitoba winters.
But the
snakes, which emit a smelly spray, can be a nuisance to their human neighbours.
O’Malley said
the nooks, cracks and crannies in the Inwood Manor and under its crawlspace
need to better sealed.
She said the
snake scare Tuesday haunted her for the rest of the night. "In bed, every
time the blanket touched my leg, I thought ‘Snake!’"
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Snakes-invade-Manitoba-seniors-home-59535857.html
THE GAZETTE (Gaithersburg, Maryland) 16 September
09 Runaway
snake, owner reunited - Boa constrictor escaped from owner's Gaithersburg
apartment July 24 (Meghan Tierney)
After more
than a month on the run, a pet snake that escaped from its owner's Gaithersburg
apartment is back home.
A friend
pet-sitting for Evie Crocker while she was on vacation noticed that the snake,
a 3- to 4-foot Columbian red-tailed boa constrictor, had gotten out of its cage
July 24. It exited the apartment, in Rosewood Condominiums on Streamside Drive,
through a door left cracked open for a cat, and neighbors snapped pictures as
it slithered out on a vacation of its own.
Crocker put up
flyers around the neighborhood when she got back, and the reported sightings
started coming in. Someone called Sept. 5 to say they spotted the boa, a female
named Eothen, crossing Emory Grove Road in Gaithersburg, and watched the snake
until Crocker came to capture it with a sleeping bag.
Two days
earlier someone reported seeing the snake on their porch.
Crocker said
the snake did not have any signs of injury.
Columbian
red-tailed boas are found in Central and South America and on average grow 6
feet to 9 feet long, according to the Oakland Zoo's Web site. They are not
venomous.
Crocker
advertised a $200 reward, but Eothen's spotters said they didn't want the
money.
"They
were really nice," she said.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/09162009/montnew211926_32547.shtml
THE GUARDIAN (Gombe, Nigeria) 16 September 09 Waiting
for life ...or (Auwal Ahmad)
Gombe: His face was swollen, and he was so weak he
could only sit up if assisted. That is how Adamu Inuwa has been since the past
one week that he arrived from neighbouring Taraba State.
Weak as he is,
he could not help but manage to turn expectantly, towards the medical orderly
who, on Thursday, entered their ward at the Kaltungo General Hospital Snake Bite
Treatment Centre in Gombe State.
When anyone
walked in, his hopes rose as he prayed for whoever it was would come in with
the anti-snake venom on which his life and that of so many others depended.
A farmer, he
was busy at work one morning when he was bitten by a carpet viper , known
locally as gobe da nisa and
subsequently rushed to the Kaltungo General Hospital Snake Bite Treatment
Centre, Gombe.
That was
almost two weeks ago and since then, he has been hoping that the much-needed
help would come.
His next-bed
neighibour in the centre, Mallam Isa from Adamawa State has all but resigned
himself to fate.
He was bitten
by a puff adder, locally called kububuwa.
If the drug
does not reach him in time, he knows what that means.
"I am a
poor man and I have no one to help me but my wife and God," he said.
His prayer
too, is that help would reach them soon.
But for Isa,
Inuwa and other victims of snake bite waiting at the centre, time may be
running out.
Nine out of
about 300 patients admitted in August this year for treatment of snake bite at
the Centre have died, primarily because there were no drugs to treat them .
According to
sources this was due to lack of anti-snake venom in the hospital.
The Kaltungo
Snake Bite Treatment Centre, which was initially established by Gombe State
Government was taken over by the Federal Government in 1999 and transformed
into a centre for the treatment of snake-bite victims for the eight northern
states, with proposals to turn it in future , into a National Centre for
Diseases Control.
Speaking to The
Guardian at the Centre, the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Abubakar Saidu Balla
confirmed that nine patients died out of about 300 patients admitted in August.
He added that
from January to date, the centre had received over 1,600 patients from Adamawa,
Borno, Bauchi, Jigawa, Gombe, Taraba, Plateau, Nassarawa and Abuja, out of
which about 30 died.
Dr. Saidu
Balla explained that the high death-rate recorded was as a result of non-
availability of the anti-snake venom which was usually administered free since
most of the victims were peasant farmers or cattle breeders who could not
afford to pay the cost of about N30,000 .
He however
said that one dose of the anti snake venom produced by a team of Nigerian and
British scientists in Liverpool, England, at 45 dollars or about N8,250.00, was
enough to treat the patients because of it's high efficacy.
According to
him: ''For now we have no option than to ask the patients to buy the four vials
of Fav afrique vaccine which is the only one available in the open market.
He added that
"the anti snake venom we use is Echitab-G or Echitab plus, because it is a
special anti-snake venom.
But four vials
of Fav Afrique vaccine to treat a patient would cost about N28,000 at N7,000
for a vial. Also, about 20 patients absconded from their hospital bed as they
could not afford to buy the drug.".
He commended
the efforts of the Gombe State and Kaltungo Local Governments and the member
representing Kaltungo/Shongom Federal Constituency, Alhaji Adamu Gora Kalba for
donating some anti venom to the center which according to him is only given to
those in critical situation.
He also
described the eight-bed unit as grossly inadequate because sometimes, there are
between 50 to 60 patients with most of them compelled to sleep on the floor.
Some patients
who spoke to The Guardian including Inuwa, Malam Sallau Abu from Karim
Lamido in Taraba State , Usman from Bayo in Borno State, Isa and Haruna from
Adamawa State expressed concern over the scarcity of the anti-snake venom.
Mallam Isa
whose daughter was bitten by a cobra locally called gamsheka was afraid that
she might die because they had no money to buy the drugs and there was none in
the hospital.
He told The
Guardian the money he used for transportation to the hospital was raised by
his neighbors.
"Where
will I get N6,000 or N7,000 to buy a vial of the drug?.
I have nobody,
except my wife and the only option left for me is to take her home and wait for
God's time''.
Mallam Haruna
said his family was able to raise N13,000 for two vials of the medicine,
explaining that he needed four to complete the treatment which will cost
between N26,000 and N29,000 in the open market.
''I have taken
the two vials since two days ago and there is no money left for me to complete
the remaining two. I am waiting for God's intervention''.
When
contacted, the Gombe State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Muhammad Isa Umar said
he was aware of the problem and that the state government had placed order for
anti-snake venom worth N4million which are expected in the country in four
weeks .
Dr. Umar
however explained that the state government had intimated the Federal Ministry
of Health on the matter and appealed to the other eight northern state
governments whose indigenes patronize the hospital to assist in its funding.
Similarly, the
Chairman, Kaltungo Local Government, Mr. Shehu Kanar said following ,the
increasing number of deaths at the centre, his council had just secured
approval for the purchase of N2 million anti- snake venom in addition to the
N1.7 million drugs earlier supplied.
Kanar said
there were plans by his council to construct a 24 bed ward at the centre to
reduce the congestion usually experienced during heavy rainfall, harvest of
crops and clearing of farmlands when snake- bites were most common.
POST-BULLETIN (Rochester Minnesota) 16
September 09 Woman in Rochester hotel bitten by snake (Janice Gregorson)
Was it a
python?
Possibly a
rattlesnake?
Rochester
firefighters weren't sure, but soon discovered they were dealing with a snake
that slithered into the first-floor room at a local motel Tuesday night and bit
a 67-year-old woman on the foot.
Fire Capt.
Greg Neumann said they were called to the Super 8 at 1230 S. Broadway about 9
p.m. on a report of someone being ill.
"We had a
whole bunch of things happening all at once,'' Neumann said, explaining they
had a call about someone being ill, then a report of a woman bitten by a snake,
possibly a python.
Meanwhile, he
said, the snake-bite victim was worried about a female relative and wanted her
to go to the hospital.
Neumann said
that right before firefighters arrived, the snake apparently slithered under
the doorway of the woman's room and bit her on the foot. Neumann said she was
more concerned about her relative and rode with her in the ambulance to Saint
Marys Hospital.
Firefighters
and police caught and killed the snake, wrapped it in a towel and took it to
the hospital. Neumann said hospital staff asked that the snake be brought in
for identification, since no one knew what type of snake it was and there was
speculation it could have been a python or rattlesnake.
Neumann said
it was identified as a bull snake. He said it was 2 to 3 feet long. Bull snakes
are found in this region, but aren't poisonous; however, they are often
misidentified as rattlesnakes because of their coloring and because they
vibrate their tails.
An assistant
manager at Super 8, who declined to be identified, said the front desk person
called 911 after getting a report the woman had been bitten. She said another
guest of the hotel had been trying to capture the snake, which was in the
hallway, when it slid into the woman's room.
"We
called the ambulance and got her looked at,'' the assistant manager said. She
said the woman, who is from Illinois, is doing fine.
The hotel
official said the initial call to 911 was for the woman bitten by the snake,
"but her relative was the one needing more care than she did. She was
getting ready to call for help for the relative when this all happened."
The assistant
manager also said the front desk person on duty Tuesday night was told by
either police or a firefighter that the snake had to have been brought into the
building and couldn't have gotten in through a door or other entry point.
Police Capt.
Brian Winters said no police report was written, since it was not a criminal
matter.
Neumann said
the woman and her relative were here for medical appointments at Mayo Clinic.
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=416426
POWELL TRIBUNE (Wyoming) 15 September 09 Rattlesnake
victim comes around (Gib Mathers)
It was a
horrifying situation,” said Shelley McPherson, 45, of Powell, “absolutely
horrifying.”
On the morning
of Saturday, Sept. 5, McPherson was playing fetch with a dog and cat at Deaver
Reservoir when she was bitten in the left foot by a rattlesnake.
It was a typical
Saturday for McPherson; she visits the reservoir often. But that
run-of-the-mill morning was shattered in an instant.
McPherson was
walking back up the trail, calling the dog and cat. She didn’t see the rattler
until too late.
“It felt like
someone hit my foot with a hammer,” McPherson said.
She turned
around, but the venomous reptile was gone.
From there,
recollections are a bit fuzzy.
She shouted to
an out-of-state camper her situation, then loaded the cat and dog in her car.
By then,
McPherson was starting to stagger.
She got in her
car and drove away.
McPherson
veered off the highway, and Park County Sheriff’s Deputy Andy McGill was there.
McGill loaded
McPherson into his unit and began transporting her to Powell Valley Hospital.
An ambulance crew met him near Lane 5.
Trooper Allen
Cooper of the Wyoming Highway Patrol notified McPherson’s son, Jared, of the
situation, McPherson said.
“They did a
fantastic job,” she said.
Powell
Hospital is like a blur.
“I remember
lying there,” she said.
McPherson had
an allergic reaction to the snake’s venom and to the antivenin. She doesn’t
know the exact time frame, but she was transported by life-flight to St.
Vincent’s Healthcare in Billings. There, she spent two days in the intensive
care unit and another two days in the hospital before being released.
Then followed
a week of bed rest with lots of suffering.
“It’s amazing
how much pain can come from that poison,” McPherson said.
Her toes are
still black, gray and bruised. Her leg is freakishly swollen.
“I am
walking,” but she said most of her time the foot is propped on a pillow.
Everyone was
kind and helpful, from the camper who she believes called the police, to Powell
and Billings hospital personnel, to her friends, family, boss, coworkers and
clergyman.
McPherson
moved here from Puyallup, Wash., one and a half years ago and said she is
thankful for the tight-knit community of Powell.
“If I would
have been out there by myself, I wouldn’t be talking to you today,” she said.
McPherson said
she was told it will require six to eight weeks to recover fully.
Now she uses a
stick to whack weeds in case a rattlesnake is lurking, hidden. On Monday, her
first day at work since the incident, she feared a rattlesnake was beneath her
car.
“I’m paranoid,
to say the least,” McPherson said. But she believes she eventually will
overcome her fears and spend more time out of doors again.
“You can’t
live in fear, but you have to live in awareness,” McPherson said.
Now, McPherson
does not take life for granted.
“It’s going to
be OK,” McPherson said.
http://powelltribune.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2620&Itemid=2
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY (Tucson,
Arizona) 15 September 09 Press Release:
Rattlesnake Roundups Leading to Demise of Eastern Diamondback (Contact:
Tierra Curry, Center for Biological Diversity, (928) 522-3681; Dr. Bruce
Means, Coastal Plains Institute and Land Conservancy, (850) 681-6208)
Flagstaff,
Ariz: A newly published study shows that
“rattlesnake roundups” have depleted populations of eastern diamondback
rattlesnakes in the southeastern United States. This once-common species is
being pushed toward extinction by hunting pressure, habitat loss, and road
mortality. The snake hasn’t been seen in Louisiana since 1980, and is now
uncommon throughout its range in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and
the Carolinas.
“Rattlesnake
roundups are an abomination,” said Tierra Curry, biologist at the Center for
Biological Diversity. “The eastern diamondback rattlesnake needs to be
protected from these wasteful hunts before it’s pushed to the brink of
extinction.”
“Rattlesnake
roundups” are annual contests in which hunters bring in as many snakes as they
can catch in a year to be milked for venom, butchered, and then sold for meat
and skin. The peer-reviewed study, “Effects of Rattlesnake Roundups on the
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake,” by Dr. Bruce Means, published in the most
recent issue of Herpetological Conservation and Biology, analyzed the
number and size of snakes turned in at the killing contests and found that both
the total number of snakes and the size of individual snakes have declined over
a 50-year time span.
“This study
clearly shows that roundups are negatively impacting eastern rattlesnake
populations, despite common claims to the contrary. State wildlife agencies
should ban the taking of venomous snakes or at the very least regulate their
taking by developing bag limits and seasonal harvest guidelines,” said study
author Means, who is executive director of the Coastal Plains Institute and
Land Conservancy.
In response to
dwindling rattlesnake populations, public pressure, and environmental concerns,
the town of Fitzgerald, Georgia replaced its rattlesnake roundup with a wild
chicken festival, which organizers report has been an enormous success.
“Rattlesnake roundups should be replaced with festivals celebrating wildlife
and offering educational programs on the importance of saving native species,”
stated Means.
“Indiscriminate
hunting of most other wildlife has been banned for decades and there’s no
reason that free-for-alls should be allowed for rattlesnakes,” said Curry.
“Rattlesnakes are an important part of the web of life that help control rodent
populations.”
The study was
published in the August 2009 issue of Herpetological Conservation and
Biology.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2009/rattlesnake-09-15-2009.html
NORTHERN TERRITORY NEWS (Darwin,
Australia) 13 September 09 Gold toad primed to woo women (Nick
Calacouras)
Ladies, watch
out - because this golden toad is looking for love.
Pilot Andy
Lawlor found this gold-coloured toad in his Palmerston back yard on Tuesday
night.
"Normally,
they are a dull grey or an olive green," he said.
"This one
would almost be beautiful, if it wasn't an ugly, disgusting cane toad."
Mr Lawlor has
been living in the Territory for two years and is plagued with the dreaded cane
toads a couple of times a week.
But he has now
spotted two gold-coloured toads in the past week.
"It
certainly does look different from normal toads."
But reptile
expert Greg Brown said our Goldilocks was a "pretty toad" - but just
a normal male looking for love.
He said the
gold-coloured skin gives him the Midas touch with the ladies.
"Reproductive
males take on that characteristic golden-yellow colour and develop black
patches on their thumbs," he said.
"As
temperatures and humidity climb up, more and more males will start to look like
that, and will start calling for females."
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/09/13/84171_ntnews.html
N-TV (Berlin, Germany) 13 September 09 Vögel stehen auf Masse - Auffällige
Salamander überleben
Nordamerikanische
Blauhäher handeln nach dem Motto: Was der Vogel nicht kennt, frisst er auch
nicht. Aus einer Gruppe von Salamandern picken sich die Räuber gerne diejenigen
Individuen heraus, die eine besonders häufig vorkommende Zeichnung haben - und
ignorieren anders gefärbte Beutetiere der gleichen Art, selbst wenn diese
deutlicher zu sehen sind.
Benjamin
Fitzpatrick von der University of Tennessee in Knoxville glaubt, dass die
jeweils seltenere Variante von den Vögeln schlichtweg übersehen wird, weil
diese sich bei der Beutejagd auf bekannte Muster verlassen. Weil so die jeweils
rare Salamander-Version (Plethodon
cinereus) häufiger überlebt, bieten beide Farbvarianten zu bestimmten
Zeiten einen Vorteil, erklären die Forscher im Journal "
Erklärung
für unterschiedliche Streifen
Biologen
rätselten bisher darüber, warum Rotrücken-Waldsalamander in zwei verschiedenen
Streifenvarianten vorkommen. Manche Individuen dieser in nordamerikanischen
Wäldern lebenden Art tragen einen rotbraunen Streifen auf dem Rücken, während
die übrigen Exemplare einheitlich dunkel- bis schwarzbraun gefärbt sind. Nun
bietet die Theorie von den konservativen Essgewohnheiten der Vögel eine
Erklärung.
Haben die
Vögel die Wahl zwischen Individuen mit oder ohne roten Streifen auf der Haut,
wählen sie immer diejenigen Amphibien, die in der Überzahl sind. In
Experimenten ließen die Forscher eine Gruppe von Blauhähern unter anderem Jagd
auf täuschend echt nachgemachte Waldsalamander aus Stärkepaste mit einer
Erdnuss darin machen. Sechs Tage lang hatten die Jäger die Wahl zwischen
Amphibien mit oder ohne Streifen.
Jagd auf
Ungestreiftes
Waren die
gestreiften Salamander in der Überzahl, ignorierten die Vögel die einheitlich
gefärbten Individuen eher. Fanden sich dagegen mehr ungestreifte Amphibien im
Unterholz, machten die Vögel eher Jagd auf diese Tiere. Ein ähnliches Bild
zeigte sich den Forschern, als sie das gleiche Experiment mit einer nahe
verwandten Salamanderart wiederholten, die ebenfalls in zwei verschiedenen
Varianten vorkommt.
http://www.n-tv.de/wissen/weltall/Auffaellige-Salamander-ueberleben-article501204.html
BUFFALO NEWS (New York) 12 September 09 Rattlesnake
smuggler ‘bitten’ on all fronts
Lockport: A Waterdown, Ont., man who has been
prosecuted on both sides of the border for smuggling rare rattlesnakes drew a
$5,000 fine and a three-year conditional discharge here Friday from Niagara
County Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza.
Emanuele
Tesoro, 42, had pleaded guilty here to illegal commercialization of wildlife.
In Canada, he drew $6,000 in fines and 90 days in jail for smuggling, and in U.
S. District Court in Buffalo, he is to be ordered to forfeit his family van,
which he used to drive the snakes across the border.
Tesoro was
arrested Oct. 15 at Fashion Outlets mall in the Town of Niagara by an
undercover Department of Environmental Conservation officer who had set up what
Tesoro thought was a trade: 33 Eastern Massasauga rattlers from Tesoro for
$1,100 and five timber rattlesnakes from the DEC man.
Assistant
Public Defender A. Joseph Catalano said Tesoro owes $12,000 on the van, lost
his job as an Ontario prison guard and will be kicked out of the Canadian Armed
Forces reserve.
Tesoro said,
“My house is for sale and my marriage is on the rocks.”
Catalano said,
“He’s lost a great deal.”
“For a
rattlesnake?” Sperrazza replied.
http://www.buffalonews.com/437/story/792940.html
SÜDWEST PRESSE (Ulm, Germany) 10 September 09 Die Falle für Schildkröten schnappt zu
Ehingen: Gestern gegen 11 Uhr sonnten sich die beiden
neuerdings im Groggensee heimischen Wasserschildkröten (wir berichteten) noch
auf einem bewachsenen Fontänensockel. Um 14.30 Uhr war dann der Ausflug für
eine von ihnen vorbei: Joachim Hänn, Mitarbeiter des Ehinger Bauhofs, ließ die
Falle zuschnappen, die er am Vormittag auf dem Sockel ausgelegt hatte. Nachdem
ein Kollege die Fontänen ausgeschaltet hatte, konnte Hänn ein Netz auslegen und
darin später eine der beiden Schildkröten der Ehingerin Erika Odoj an Land
ziehen und einfangen. Das zweite Tier ist sozusagen noch in Freiheit und soll
heute eingefangen werden.
Wie Erika
Odoj mitteilte, hatten vermutlich Kinder die Kröten aus dem Teich in ihrem
eingezäunten Garten stibitzt und freigelassen. Zusammen mit ihrer Tochter war
sie in den vergangenen Tagen immer wieder an den Groggensee gegangen, um die
Tiere einzufangen. Vergeblich. Dem munteren Treiben der zweiten Schildkröte wird
wohl ebenfalls bald ein Ende gesetzt.
http://www.suedwest-aktiv.de/region/ehingertagblatt/ehinger_tagblatt/4586296/artikel.php
DIE PRESSE (Vienna, Austria) 05 September 09 Alpensalamander: Die Maskottchen der Alpen -
Die faszinierende Genetik der Alpensalamander soll entschlüsselt werden.
Er sieht
aus wie eine schwarze Eidechse mit glitschiger Oberfläche, gehört aber zu den
Amphibien: der Alpensalamander. „Früher hat man die drolligen Viecherl oft
gesehen, heute werden sie immer weniger“, sagt der Molekularbiologe Robert
Schwarzenbacher (Uni Salzburg). In einem EU-Projekt über Proteinstrukturen will
er die faszinierende Regenerationsfähigkeit von Amphibien untersuchen – und
ihre Metamorphose von der Larve zum erwachsenen Tier. „Von keinem einzigen
Amphib weltweit ist das Genom sequenziert.“ Obwohl südamerikanische Frösche und
Molche typische Labortiere sind, hat sich noch niemand deren komplizierte
Aufruf zur
Beteiligung. Dass der Alpensalamander (genauso wie der Feuersalamander, der
etwas größer und auffällig gemustert ist) auf der Roten Liste der gefährdeten
Tierarten steht, ist kein Problem für die Forschung: „Man findet oft
zusammengestiegene Salamander in den Alpen. Wir brauchen vom toten Tier nur ein
paar Blutstropfen für die Studien.“ Für ein neues EU-Projekt wird nun die
gesamte Bevölkerung einbezogen: „Wenn uns jeder mitteilt, wo Alpen- und
Feuersalamander gesichtet wurden bzw. wo man sich an Vorkommen von vor 50
Jahren erinnert, können wir die Entwicklungsgeschichte der Tiere herausfinden
und ihre heutigen, kleiner gewordenen Lebensräume noch schützen.“
Auf der
eben eingerichteten Homepage www.alpensalamander.eu kann jeder per Mausklick
eintragen, wo er Alpen- und Feuersalamander gesehen hat. „Amphibien haben
keinen Anwalt, der sich gegen neue Skigebiete oder Trockenlegung von Ländereien
wehrt“, sagt Schwarzenbacher. Da brauche es ein Gegengewicht: „Aber der
Naturschutz kann nix tun, wenn die Wissenschaft keine Daten hat.“ Das soll sich
über die Homepage nun ändern: Die Datenbank der Salamandersichtungen wird die
Grundlage des europaweiten Netzwerks zum Schutz der Lebensräume in den Alpen.
„Wenn wir nichts tun, gibt es irgendwann keine Salamander mehr. Man muss die
Tiere jetzt wieder den Leuten bewusst machen, damit sie die Lebensräume nicht
weiter einschränken und etwa durch ,Hardcore-Gardening‘ alles ausrotten, was
nicht wie eine Orchidee oder ein Goldfisch ausschaut.“
http://diepresse.com/home/science/506365/index.do?from=gl.home_wissenschaft
LANDES-ZEITUNG (Bückeburg, Germany) 03 September 09
Aktive Überlebenshilfe für
Geburtshelferkröte
Rinteln
(ur). Naturschützer und Stadtverwaltungen stehen sich oft in Konfliktpositionen
gegenüber, denn öffentliche Planung und ökologische Belange sind bei weitem
nicht immer deckungsgleich. Anders jetzt in Rinteln – jedenfalls, wenn es um
den Schutz der Geburtshelferkröte geht, zu deren nördlichstem
Verbreitungsgebiet in Europa der nördliche Rand des Wesergebirges, des Süntels
und des mittleren Deisters gehört. Inklusive eines Restvorkommens unweit des
Waldkaters. drucken
Gemeinsame
Rettungsaktion: Nabu und Bauhof machen sich für die Geburtshelferkröte stark.
Foto: pr. Entdeckt hatte dies im Rahmen von Kartierungen Holger Buschmann, der
inzwischen als Landesvorsitzender des Nabu fungiert und natürlich Nick Büscher
und die Nabu-Gruppe Rinteln schnell für eine Aktion zum Schutz der bedrohten
Art gewinnen konnte.
Geburtshelferkröten
bevorzugen im Schaumburger Raum zumeist sonnenexponierte Hangbereiche in
Waldnähe sowie Sandgruben und aufgelassene Steinbrüche – und damit bildet ein
fast verlandeter Teich in einer Senke unweit des Waldkaters ein geradezu
ideales Biotop.
Um dies zu
erhalten und zu entwickeln, musste schnell gehandelt werden – und mit ihrer
Bitte um technische Unterstützung stießen die Naturschützer bei Stadtverwaltung
und Mitarbeitern des Bauhofs auf offene Ohren: „Es freut uns, dass die Stadt
Rinteln sich sofort bereit erklärt hat, beim Schutz der Geburtshelferkröten
dabei zu sein“, hebt Buschmann hervor.
Während
die engagierten Nabu-Mitglieder aus Rinteln sich daran machten, Totholz aus dem
morastigen Gelände zu entfernen und kleinere Bäume zu stutzen, die den alten
Teich zu intensiv beschatteten, hoben die Mitarbeiter des Bauhofs den Teich mit
einem Kleinbagger neu aus und befreiten ihn von Schlamm und Morast. Nick
Büscher von der Nabu-Gruppe Rinteln dazu: „Diese Kooperation hat uns sehr gut
gefallen!“
Um den neu
erschlossenen Lebensraum für die selten gewordenen Amphibien noch attraktiver
zu gestalten, soll noch eine Trockenmauer errichtet werden, die den Kröten
Möglichkeiten zum Verstecken gibt – unabdingbar für ihren Lebensraum.
„Mit der
Neugestaltung des Teichs ist ein Anfang gemacht, um den Geburtshelferkröten die
erforderlichen Lebensbedingungen zu schaffen“, meint Büscher zuversichtlich.
„Jetzt können die Gäste kommen“, freut sich auch Amtsleiter Helmut Leppin und
verweist darauf, dass der Baubetriebshof hier mit nur wenigen Stunden
Arbeitseinsatz Grundlagen schaffen konnte für eine positive Weiterentwicklung:
„Wir können ja mit unseren begrenzten Mitteln nicht überall mit anpacken. Aber
wenn wir durch technische Hilfen ohne laufende Unterhaltsmaßnahmen etwas
bewirken können, dann unterstützen wir so eine Initiative gern.“