Keep up with news and features of interest to the reptile and amphibian community on the kingsnake.com blog. We cover breaking stories from the mainstream and scientific media, user-submitted photos and videos, and feature articles and photos by Jeff Barringer, Richard Bartlett, and other herpetologists and herpetoculturists.
The venerable alligator snapping turtle, Macrochelys temminckii once ranged in 3 apparently non-contiguous basically riverine populations westward from the northern peninsula of Florida and southern Georgia, to southeastern Kansas and eastern Texas.
The range extended northward in the Mississippi Valley to central Iowa and Illinois. The southeasternmost population (now the Suwannee alligator snapper, Macrochelys suwanniensis, ranges throughout the Suwannee River drainage of Florida.
The central population (now the Apalachicola alligator snapper, Macrochelys apalachicolae) occurs in the drainage of the Apalachicola/Chattahoochee Rivers of Florida, Georgia and eastern Alabama.
The western population (still referred to as simply the Alligator snapper, Macrochelys temminckii, ranges westward and northward from Florida's western panhandle throughout the remainder of the large range.
The separation and erection of these turtles was based on genetic and morphological differences.
For more information read: "Taxonomic assessment of Alligator Snapping Turtles (Chelydridae: Macrochelys)," with the description of two new species from the southeastern United States in Zootaxa 3786 (2): 141–165.
In the city where I live, I have come across many snakes from the highly venomous to the non-venomous. The Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii) is one of the highly venomous snakes I confront. Rescuing Russell’s vipers and studying them has been one of my finest experiences in my herpetology career.
If I rescue 10 snakes a week, at least 4 of them are Russell’s vipers. While researching these snakes, I came to know many amazing facts about them. One such fact was actually so amazing that I never dreamed of witnessing it: "A female Russell’s viper brings 70 more venomous vipers in the world."
Yes, my friends, you got it right. A few days back I saw a female Russell’s viper and all of her babies, which I rescued in their mini-hospital snake container. I was left awestruck for a few minutes after being told that it was really happening.
Though being in a large number, I could clearly see the babies with their mother, moving to and fro even though they weren't in a spacious container. After seeing them a bit congested, I moved them to a larger crate where they were able to move freely.
I took some easy snaps, gave some privacy to this venomous family, and after some hours I released them into a suitable environment for the betterment of their future.
Who ever said you can't teach an old dragon new tricks was certainly wrong. In our Herp Video of the Week, from the London Zoo, keepers are working with target training their Komodo Dragons!
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users!
Only minutes earlier we had found on the pavement one of the prettiest little banded water snakes I had ever seen. Jake and I were up in Columbia County, Florida, and although conditions were a bit wet and cool, a few interesting snakes were crossing.
Garters, ribbons, waters, a corn, and a yellow rat had been seen. Actually our target for the night was a living example of the rough earth snake, Haldea (formerly Virginia) striatula, a tiny burrowing species.
A few days earlier we had been on the same roadway and had seen 3 rough earth snakes. Sadly all had been DOR. Since both Jake and I wished to upgrade our photos of this species, we had decided to try our luck once more.
Not only had we seen none, but until finding the little water snake mentioned above we had not seen anything of great interest.
We had just about given up on finding our target that night when, on the last pass, the rain having nearly stopped: bingo! An earth snake, the only one seen that night, was slowly crossing in front of us. Success!
Note: Based on genetic findings, the generic name of Haldea has recently been resurrected for this small snake. Whether this will be accepted remains to be seen.
Three days after Judge Moss ruled that he would be granting USARK a preliminary injunction, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a joint motion along with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to intervene in USARK’s case.
The extreme position of CBD had been announced promptly after the Lacey Act listing of reticulated pythons and three anaconda species by Collette Adkins, a CBD attorney and biologist focusing on reptiles and amphibians: "Unfortunately, it appears that the agency caved to pressure from snake breeders in its decision not to restrict trade in the boa constrictor — a snake that is clearly damaging to U.S. wildlife."
USARK has filed to oppose joint intervention by HSUS and CBD.
It seems very unlikely that CBD and HSUS will be allowed to intervene in the PI stage of the case, which would allow them to immediately appeal the PI even if USFWS decides not to appeal the PI at this time. (See my earlier discussion of a potential appeal of PI by USFWS.) Fortunately, the time period for CBD and HSUS to appeal the PI on their own has now expired.
It is also possible that the court will deny the motion to intervene because neither CBD nor HSUS established standing in their supporting declarations. Even if allowed to intervene, it is likely that the judge will limit the issues on which CBD and HSUS will be allowed to participate.
Whenever I am visiting an another state or city, I make sure that I get in touch with a snake rescuer in that area. And that is exactly what I did when I was leaving for Nagpur with my family.
Nagpur is a district in Maharashtra which is about a day's drive away from my place. I was supposed to be visiting Nagpur to attend a wedding ceremony with family, but to be frank I was not at all interested in the wedding! All I ever wanted was to explore new snakes in Nagpur and I got one.
The stout sand snake (Psammophis longifrons) is a common non-venomous snake found in Nagpur, but was new for me. After attending some rescues of cobras and vipers with the local snake rescuer, I found this sand snake on the third day of my visit.
The stout sand snake is thick and it moves fast. The body is uniform brown with black-edged smooth scales. The maximum length is 123 centimeters and it is oviparous by nature.
I attended many more rescues on that trip - and it took some convincing from my mom, but I also attended the wedding! While returning I was really happy as I was leaving with some sweet memories of stout sand snake.
When you visit the Northern Himalayan States of India, I am sure you will see these creatures basking on the rocks.
The Himalayan rock agama or Kashmir rock agama, Laudakia tuberculata, is a very common species of agamid lizard found in North India (Kashmir, Uttarakhand and the western Himalayas).
I'm from Uttarakhand, where you can find plenty of these lizards, and I've been seeing these creatures since I was a child. As I have mentioned in my previous blog post, my unfamiliarity with lizards and these agamas leaves me a little frightened of them, but according to reptile lovers they are magnificent and harmless.
It is said that these lizards are from iguana family and I guess that is the reason some people call them "mini iguanas!"
These agamas can reach 15-16 inches and they have many color variations.
I have been watching these lizards in the backyard of my house in Uttarakhand for 19 years, and the thing that makes me most happy is knowing their numbers haven't decreased. It always gives me a feeling that the reptiles are safe out there!
The seven surviving offspring of the leucistic boa constrictor smuggled by reptile breeder Jeremy Stone have been repatriated to Brazil, nearly a year after Stone plead guilty in federal court. The original boa, as well as one of the offspring, died, but the remainder returned to Brazil, which claimed ownership because the original specimen had been captured there.
In July 2014, Stone pleaded guilty plea to unlawfully transporting wildlife into the United States. As part of his plea agreement, Stone agreed to forfeit the boa’s offspring to the United States.
“The successful prosecution of Mr. Stone and the recovery and repatriation of the offspring from this rare and valuable leucistic boa constrictor are due to the exceptional cooperation between the United States and Brazilian authorities,” said U.S. Attorney Huber.
Not all monitor lizards are giant. The recently discovered Dampier Peninsula Goanna gets it's time in the spotlight at the Western Austrailian Museum.
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users!
In Columbia County, Florida yellow rat snakes, Pantherophis obsoletus quadrivittatus, are not apt to be yellow.
And many fail to have the 4 prominent lines so typical of the subspecies further south. In fact, although some may be prominently striped, the rat snakes in this mentioned region are more apt to be brownish yellow and bear both blotches and stripes (similar to but more tan or brown than the rat snakes of the Gulf Hammock area) than they are to be yellowish and striped.
Why the hodgepodge of characteristics here? Possibly some are intergrades between the more northerly black rat snake or the more westerly gray rat snake. Such naturally occurring interbreedings could certainly create the colors and patterns found.
But Jim Peters, an excellent field herper, has mentioned that these strangely patterned snake may have had a bit of outside help. He says, "Rumor has it that several subspecies of rat snakes were let loose in that area in the sixties."
Whatever the reason(s) these snakes are very different and every time I see one I can't help wondering at the cause
Whenever I am in the wild searching for some snakes on trees, most of the times I end up finding these beautiful frogs. My passion of herping has brought me down to this conclusion that, though being so beautiful and tender these frogs are very obvious to be seen in woods.
The common Indian tree frog, Polypedates maculatus, is a common species of frog found in South Asia. It is widespread through Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka, and its range might also extend into nearby China and Myanmar. These frogs measure about 7-8 cm in body length. They are mostly brownish, yellowish, greyish, or whitish above with darker spots or markings. The fingers are barely webbed, and the toes are two-thirds webbed.
These frogs are one of the main reasons to motivate me during my herpings for finding tree snakes. Whenever I see these frogs in a good number, my hopes boost up as it is easier to find tree snakes because, as the saying goes, "a predator is always lurking behind its prey."
As Jake and I started southward towards Okeechobee County, Florida, the conditions seemed perfect. A low pressure system with scattered thunderstorms was forecast at our destination for the evening hours, forecast temperatures seemed ideal, and almost exactly a year earlier Josh had found our target snake, a South Florida mole kingsnake, Lampropeltis calligaster occipitolineata.
Seemingly uncommon, the South Florida mole kingsnake was described in 1987. This grayish, yard long, largely fossorial constrictor bears 60-80 well defined dorsal blotches as well as smaller lateral blotches between each of the dorsal markings.
The belly, also bearing dark blotches is cream colored.
A prominent dark diagonal bar extends from each eye to the angle of the mouth and two elongate dark blotches are present on the nape.
Jake and I were stoked. Except for a slight breeze, even as we left the turnpike the conditions seemed ideal. Storm clouds amply decorated with lightning continued to build a bit to the west. When we turned westward, the storms seemed more distant than earlier, the gentle breezes had become gusty winds, and the high humidity had become almost desert dryness.
What had earlier been ideal mole king weather now seemed more appropriate for desert kings. And it stayed that way for the 2 days we had allocated. The mole kings failed to become surface active. We failed again!
The Beddome’s keelback, Amphiesma beddomei, is the smallest member of the keelback family I have encountered. Its maximum length is 69 cm and it is named after Richard Henry Beddome, a British officer and botanist. I recently met this snake during my trip to Western Ghats.
Calling this post "Happy Ending" might have worked, too, because after couple of hours of herping in Western Ghats it was time for me to pack up things and return to my accomodations. On my way back I came to a stream and decided to wash my face. There in front of me I saw something moving on a small river rock.
After an observation of a few seconds I realized it was a Beddome’s keelback flicking its tongue!
This week's Herp Video at least gives the fisherman proof of the one that got away! This angler loses his big Northern to the original fisherman in this lake, a giant snapping turtle!
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users!
This week's Herp Video at least gives the fisherman proof of the one that got away! This angler loses his big Northern to the original fisherman in this lake, a giant snapping turtle!
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users!
Collected by biology students visiting Cuba, then introduced to Florida, this species has thrived!
Hearkening back a half century or so, I can remember standing at the Hialeah Racetrack with Jerry Fine in the early 1960s and wondering if we ever would see one of the (then) rather newly and deliberately introduced knight anoles.
Although they were said to be gaining a foothold in Dade County, Florida, we had failed to find one. But within a few years these big anolines became common in roadside trees in Coral Gables. Ditto at the before mentioned Racetrack locale. And they were ever more commonly seen hanging head down on the trunks of palms or ficus trees, in many (most?) urban Miami plantings.
By the 1980s, the question was whether there was any place in Miami where they couldn't be seen! Today, after finding them in thickets along the south shore of Lake Okeechobee, in Palm Beach and Collier counties, and in exotic plantings in St. John's County (where they may have been carried in the plantings and may not be established) the question has become how far north of Dade County can this 16 inch long predatory lizard establish itself? And what are its prey items?
Insects (including large beetles and roaches) and other anoles (most often the introduced brown anole) are grist for the mill of the knight anole.
After toiling for many days, a thought stuck to my mind to take a break from my schedule and go herping to one of my favorite scenic beauties of India, where you find flora and fauna as a paradise on earth.
This amazing place is known as Western Ghats of India, which has rich vegetation and magnificient creatures.
The Indian bullfrog, Haplobatrachus tigerinus, is a large species of frog found in India and especially in Western Ghats. As I was herping in suitable climate, it was my fate that I could easily find this beautiful creature and take some closeups.
An adult bullfrog measures 6.5 inches from snout to vent. I came across many adult bullfrog but as I approached them they jumped and disappeared. Finally I encountered a young and active but co-operative bullfrog -- and trust me, this one was more beautiful than others. It was green in color with blackish-brown spots on it. I was quick enough to grab it and settle it on a leaf.
Losing no time, I took some photographs and he too showed patience and allowed me to do so.
After taking these photographs I left him and continued with my journey in these beautiful mountains and also encountered many lovely reptiles.
One of my favorite pit stops whenever Gordy and I visited Florida was Tarpon Zoo, now long out of business. Located in Tarpon Springs, about mid-distance between the Everglades and the Georgia state line on the Gulf side of Florida, Trudie, Mike, and George specialized in neotropical mammals, birds, and herps. Although they billed themselves as a zoo, the facility was actually a wildlife dealership that stocked everything from tapirs and macaws to Suriname toads, anacondas, bushmasters, and black caiman.
In fact, it was at Tarpon Zoo that I first saw and became enamored of baby black caiman, the most alligator-looking and by far the largest of the several caiman species. But the baby black caiman, with their yellowish faces and dark mandibular blotches, were even cuter than a baby alligator.
With only a mention that over the years black caiman have become a species rarely seen in both private and zoo collections in the United States, I'll fast forward about 60 years to 2015. On our winter Amazonian ecotour of 2015, I had made the sighting of a baby black caiman one of our top priorities.
And as luck would have it, crocodilian expert Flavio and a few sidekicks accompanied us on that trip. I explained to Flavio that over the years several adults of the species had surfaced next to our boats as we searched after dark for anurans, but despite several tries to find a baby at a known "nursery" locale, we had failed.
Flavio and others took on the challenge.
Edwin, one of our Peruvian guides, scouted out the easiest and best way to get through the varzea to the nursery pond. The route involved an arduous trek, kayaking, then portaging the craft, then more kayaking, all the while circumnavigating rainforest treefalls.
And it was thanks to these Herculean efforts on the parts of others that I, over sixty years after first seeing baby black caiman in captivity, got to see a couple of dozen babies of this coveted taxon in the wild.
In the seas of India you can find magnificent creatures and underwater activities.
Found in coastal areas, the file snake, Achrochordus granulatus, is a non-venomous sea snake and an exception to my expectations that sea snakes are usually venomous -- the reason I consider it a friendly inhabitant of the sea!
As the file snake is exceptional, it has a beautiful grey or black body with white or yellow bands patched, with its dark grey head and white spots embroiderd on it. This species is completely aquatic and nearly helpless on land.
The most interesting thing is that this species varies between sexes in feeding habits, the males actively hunt prey whereas the females sit and wait as ambush predators. The maximum length of the file snake is 120 cm, and it is viviparous by nature. The young snakes have distinct white bands.
I have encountered this beauty only once during my morning walk at beach in Mumbai. It was unable to move on dry sand so I just picked it up, handled it for a minute or two, and released it in the sea. One of the memorable morning walks of my life.
Governor Kasich, we are the "Snake People" -- also known as biologists, conservationists, and herpetologists!
All herpers, -- conservatives, liberals, moderates, independents, green party, and whatever else may be your affiliation -- must stand united to initiate the most vigorous grass roots campaign to publicly oppose the candidacy of Governor John Kasich (R-Ohio) for President of the United States.
On October 21, 2011, Governor John Kasich, by executive order, required a Dangerous Wild Animal Workgroup, within 39 days, to propose legislation regarding the regulation of "dangerous wild animals" in Ohio.
The workgroup recommendation was obviously predetermined. We know what happened regarding unreasonable restrictions being placed on responsible reptile owners; and that Governor Kasich was the driving force behind the Ohio DWA legislation (along with his friends at HSUS). Not only have Ohio herpers and exotic animal owners suffered (many moving out of Ohio), but we now have endured copy-cat legislation in West Virginia and who knows where else in the future.
Our numbers are not equivalent to those of some other groups, but due to our extreme passion for herpetology, our message to government officials and politicians has become loud and powerful: Don't tread on us! As I wrote before, USARK's preliminary injunction against USFWS has left the federal agency stunned. You had to be at the court hearings in Washington, DC to observe their sullen faces.
At the state level, USARK also laid down markers on behalf of reptile and amphibian owners. For example, a prolonged battle during 2014 and early 2015 resulted in the removal of all salamanders, tree frogs, clawed frogs, toads, turtles, large lizards, constrictor snakes, venomous snakes and crocodilians from the WV DWA list.
Then several weeks ago upon adjournment of a DWA Board meeting in WV, one of the DWA Board members politely asked those of us observing the meeting if we were "snake people." On behalf of our contingency, I responded: "Yes, we are 'snake people.'" One of our members then identified himself as an accomplished WV biologist-herpetologist. I wonder how they knew/guessed we were snake people?
The long range forecast for the Houston region had called for one day of showers, light rain on the second day, and heavy rain for most of the third day. The high temperatures of about 45 degrees Fahrenheit on the first day rose on each of the next two to a high of 66 degrees Fahrenheit on the third day.
Sitting in northern Florida, some 850 miles east of Houston, Kenny and I decided that the conditions should induce breeding activities of at least four species of winter breeding anurans (3 species of chorus frog and one true frog) of which we both wanted digital format photos.
We piled into my old Toyota RAV4 and headed west to Texas, a state well known for weather vagaries. And three days of vagaries were exactly what we drove 850 miles to find.
The temperature the first day was actually summery but rather than showers, the rain that fell was very localized and was merely a single sprinkle that barely dampened the area. We did see three Strecker's chorus frogs, Pseudacris streckeri, one of the 4 target species.
The second day was dry and cooler and we saw nothing. Rather than being the warmest of the three, the high temperature on the third day was now forecast be cooler, rainy in the morning, and then clearing and plummeting to near freezing that night. We decided to wait until the next morning, assess the situation and then decide whether to stay or skedaddle eastward.
At daybreak it was dry and temperatures had dropped significantly. By noon it was dry, very windy and cold. We left, our score remaining only one out of 4 of the targets.
They say if you're into studying or handling reptiles, you should be able to handle any species of reptile. Oddly, although I can handle almost any kind of snake, I'm a bit scared of lizards! (Although, despite my fear, I still think they're beautiful.)
I usually only overcome my fear when the species is either rare or beautiful. That's the case with the termite hill gecko (Hemidactylus triedrus), a species of gecko found in South Asia, and one of the rare lizards I've ever touched.
I was searching for some hump-nosed pit vipers with my teacher Iqbal Shaikh at night around 10 PM. I saw a movement in the dried leaves on the ground and I got a glimpse of a brownish tail. I assumed it was a hump-nosed pit viper.
I was the one to remove the leaves and clear the area so it would be easy to catch, and my teacher was the one who was going to grab it. As I cleared the area and removed the leaf, I saw it was a termite hill gecko.
At first, my expectations were shattered because I wanted to see a hump-nosed pit viper. However, the color of this gecko was so attractive it made me forget everything else. It was brown in color and had white dotted stripes on the back.
My teacher was the one to pick it up, and after watching him handling this beauty, I gained some confidence and handled it. I had the feeling you get when you defeat your fear. It was a great night, and we actually found a few hump-nosed pit vipers, which made me even happier!
The little frog was sitting atop a frond well, up out of reach in a Bactris riparia (spiny palm).
Marisa jokingly told Emerson, the preserve manager, that she wanted the frog and taking her statement at face value, he set about getting it for her. A few minutes later Emerson called Marisa and showed her the frog, then sitting quietly on the crook of his snake hook.
The next morning Marisa, showed Kenny and me the frog. Neither of us were able to identify it to species. In fact, we even vacillated on genus, but eventually agreed on Pristimantis. Kenny just called it Pristimantis sp., I preferred Pristimantis sp. cf okendeni. Lots of pictures were taken.
After returning home, Kenny continued to attempt a positive identification, and thanks to AmphibiaWebEcuador he succeeded.
Marisa and Emerson had collected a species thought previously to be rare in and endemic to Ecuador - Pristimantis orphnolaemus, a small anuran best known as a canopy dweller in primary forest. Its finding has documented a new herpetofaunal species in Peru and it was found on Santa Cruz Forest Preserve.
Thanks to all for the efforts both afield and in researching the find.
In briefs and during recent hearings, United States Fish and Wildlife Service USFWS) informed the United States District Court for the District of Columbia that it would take 75 days to determine whether to appeal the preliminary injunction (PI) granted to USARK. However, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure appear to only provide 60 days in which a United States agency may file a Notice of Appeal. [Rule 4(a)(1)(B)(ii)] Nonetheless, USFWS requested a stay of the PI for 75 days.
In his order, United States District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss stayed most of the proceedings in the Federal District Court for 60 days or until the termination of any appeal of the PI. Judge Moss did not technically stay the PI, but he effectively did so temporarily by making the PI effective 14 days after his order, on Tuesday, June 2, 2015.
If it files a notice of appeal, USFWS may again seek a stay of the PI for the pendency of such appeal. It also appears that USFWS could technically file immediately for a stay of the PI with the United States Court of Appeals. [Rule 8(a)]
However, it seems unlikely the Court of Appeals would be inclined to take such a motion for stay very seriously if USFWS did not simultaneously file a notice of appeal. Why? The District Court has already considered and denied any stay of the PI beyond the 14 days already allowed through June 2, 2015.
Moreover, if USFWS sees the reversal of the PI as an extraordinarily important issue, then it should be able to expedite the administrative procedure for filing a notice of appeal.
During the hearing, USFWS stated that it was time consuming to get administrative permission to appeal because an appeal had to be authorized by the Solicitor General, and also involved Department of Justice lawyers at the trial and appellate levels, as well as a number of folks at USFWS and The Department of Interior, at various levels.
In India you can find 16 species of keelback snakes, which makes it one of the largest family of snakes in the country. The keelback snakes are said to be relatives of the garter snakes, which are pretty common in America.
One of the keelback snakes found in my area is the buff-stripped keelback, Amphiesma stolatum, and it's also my favorite from the family because of its color and its shy nature. These snakes are found near water bodies in marshy areas and paddy fields.
During mating season, six or seven males can be seen following a female. Due to pheromones (sex hormones) that are released in the air, even a recently killed female may attract males during this particular season. This has given rise to the misbelief that at least six more snakes turn up if a buff-stripped keelback is killed.
The maximum length of this snake is 80 cm, and it is oviparous by nature, laying eggs twice in a year.
The color variations in this snake is the main reason which makes it one of my favorites, as well as its shy nature, which is always beneficial during the rescues.
Photo: Riyaz Khoja