As a child, two buildings held my attention at the zoo: the reptile building and the house for the big cats. Today I work with reptiles and live with them every day, but until now, my love of big cats was from afar.

I had no plans set aside for a trip while in Los Angeles for NARBC Anaheim, but was very happy when my friend Myke suggested he wanted to take me and the rest of the gang to Forever Wild.

After a morning of errands, including a much-needed Starbucks run and a stop to fill the uber-cool Rover with a gazillion dollars of gas, we hit the road. I hadn't been out of L.A. much, so I'd never seen its surrounding areas, the parts of California that don't look like... well, the Midwest with palm trees.

An hour and a half and a second fuel up later, we hit a lovely dirt road. Unfortunately both Becca and Des get car sick, so the bouncing was insane. We arrived at a rustic building with director Joel waiting outside for us; the center was closed to the public, which gave us a bit more freedom. And yes, that means we had a ton of fun.

Unlike every single other place I have taken you to, this is a rescue sanctuary 100 percent. Every animal we saw was "donated," confiscated or surrendered to the facility. They take in animals from parrots, to horses, vipers and big cats. Operating solely out of their own pockets and donations, this facility is not different at all from my own rescue, and I felt a kinship with Joel. Having a great boost in the past from an "Extreme Home Makeover" build, they are still always struggling, just like any rescue.

Our tour started in their main center with their reptiles. A selection of local rattlesnakes as well as a group of exotics were on display, as well as a handful of non-venomous critters; everything in the room was a rescue, and all were animals that needed someone like Joel.

Today is a a day of celebration for the folks at The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, FL. Sara, the loggerhead speared in the head, was healthy enough for release.

Sara is a young turtle, about 12 years old. It was only a week ago she started eating on her own, gobbling up some squid. Once that happened, Moretti said, "we knew it was time for her to go back home."

[....]

The staff at the Turtle Hospital sees many accidental injuries, "animals tied up in fishing line or hit by a boat," Moretti said. "When we see something like this, intentional, it's rare."
It's even rarer for a turtle to survive and recover so quickly from the kind of damage Sara suffered.

Under a beautiful blue September morning sky, Sara was released near the Seven Mile Bridge in Marathon. For the volunteers, the doctors, and Moretti, this was the kind of day that makes them smile.

The reward for information of leading to the spearfisher who did this has been raised to $16,000. To read the full article and see the release video, click here.

The Georgia Sea Turtle Center. is giving Loggerhead Turtles a chance at survival.

“Twenty percent of the cases are boat strike-related injuries," says Terry Norton, a veterinarian who is director of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. "We get fishing line and fishhook-related injuries. There’s a disease called fibropapilloma, caused by the herpes virus, that can cause tumors on the skin. We get some real debilitated turtles.”

The operating room at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center looks like one you’d see at a major medical center for humans.

There are bright surgical lights, stainless steel tables and an x-ray machine. The doctors and nurses wear blue surgical scrubs. This morning, Norton is treating Ziva, a 68-kilo female loggerhead turtle.

“This is a turtle with a boat strike injury to the head and to her shell," he says. "She actually had a little abscess in the skull. These little Velcro patches are for putting weights because she floats asymmetrically so that helps her dive a little better and get around a little better.”

To read the full article, click here.

In the never-ending search for alternatives to fossil fuels, alligator fat may be the next big thing.

Amid growing concern that using soybeans and other food crops to produce biodiesel fuel will raise the price of food, scientists have identified a new and unlikely raw material for the fuel: Alligator fat.

[....]

They showed in laboratory experiments that extracted oil from alligator fat can easily be converted into biodiesel. The oil actually was more suitable for biodiesel production than oil from some other animal fats. The gator biodiesel was similar in composition to biodiesel from soybeans, and met nearly all of the official standards for high quality biodiesel.

To read the full article, click here.

NARBC had a great line this morning at open. The conference center is packed with conventions, but no matter how our community is dressed, we can pick out our own. Hanging out and opening the show for Desiree Wong and the International Reptile Conservation Foundation booth. Desi was on our morning caffeine run. Here is a quick shot of the line, when Desi returns, I am off to mingle. Ill check in later with the live blog. Remember live blogs are just that, no editor, live and quick.

We're on the road again! I'm heading out to represent kingsnake.com at the North American Reptile Breeders Conference in Anaheim, CA.

kingsnake.com will be covering NARBC live, just like we did Daytona NRBE last month.
If you're there, look for me at set-up on Friday as well as at the show and auction over the rest of the weekend. Stop me and say hi!

We'll be enjoying the chance to bring the show to those not able to be there. And if you are at the show, we will keep in touch with you as well. Live blogs of the talks, photos from the show floor, interviews with vendors and attendees as well as taking you along on any herping trips will all be happening.

A few ways to keep up with us this week are listed after the bump.

There aren't too many things that unite the herp and animal rights communities, so maybe we ought to give "Snapperfest" in Ohio County, Indiana, some kind of award. On second thought, an "award" isn't what I'd like to give them.

The event has been going on for 15 years, so the organizers were surprised to be met with so much opposition this year.

The contest involves fishing a turtle out of a tank filled with murky water. Contestants use only their hands to try to pull the animal's head out of its shell. The goal is to get a hand around the turtle's neck without getting bit.

[....]

Snapperfest has the blessing of local law enforcement as well as conservation officers. Tom Chalk's been around since the whole thing started. "There ain't no abuse to the turtles whatsoever...there's never been one slammed or killed or had its head ripped off."

What's amazed everyone at the campground is all the attention the event has suddenly received. "We've had calls from Germany, Canada...Florida...every state in the United States has called. The phone it just rings off the handle. Some people get real nasty, cuss us out. We just hang up. We just try to explain what's going on, it's not abuse."

Two very different videos are being circulated. One is the news report featuring the above comments, which can be found here. The other, a video from an attendee last year, can be seen after the bump.

Watching both, really, is there any wonder why animal lovers are outraged?

The reptile community has been losing many of its pioneering members recently. We lost a giant when, only a few days short of the age of 92, Dr. Findlay Ewing Russell passed away:

Dr. Russell leaves behind an extraordinary legacy in science, particularly in the fields of toxicology and toxinology. If he could, he would continue to explore and expand the knowledge and work in this field which began in the 1950s at Caltech and continued at USC where he served as the Director of the Laboratory of Neurological Research in Los Angeles.

Findlay received his medical degree from Loma Linda University in 1952 and worked as a physician and neurosurgeon until war wounds restricted his dexterity. He had served as an army medic in World War II in the Okinawa Campaign where he received a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars.

Findlay was the first president and founding member of the International Society of Toxinology (Toxicon) and continued throughout his life to support the study of toxins and venomous animals. He is recognized as one of the pioneering scientists to progress polyvalent crotalid antivenom for the use of snakebite envenomation.

Findlay served as a professor of neurology, physiology and biology at USC for over 30 years. He was the author of numerous scientific articles, books and holds several patents in the field of medicine. Several species of arachnids are named after him.

In addition to his medical degree, he held a PhD in English and was awarded an honorary degree in law from the University of Santa Barbara. Dr. Russell was a Fulbright scholar and was a visiting professor to numerous colleges and universities throughout the world, including Cambridge (England), Stefan Institute (Yugoslavia), University of Argentina (Buenos Aires) and the University of Cairo (Egypt).

In 1974 Findlay was awarded the Skylab Achievement award for his work with NASA. In addition, Fin consulted for the World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders and National Science foundation. Findlay received numerous awards and distinguished acknowledgments from his peers, most recently he was awarded the Loma Linda University Alumnus of the Year (2011) in California and the Findlay E. Russell Distinguished Citizen Award from the College of Pharmacology at the University of Arizona. For the last 15 years he worked at the School of Pharmacology at the University of Arizona where he leaves many colleagues and friends.

Condolences can be sent to the Russell family, 25611 N. Moon Blossom Ln., Phoenix, AZ 85083. Remembrances can be made in his name to the Portal Fire and Rescue Station, Box 16331, Portal, Arizona, 85632.

While not deadly, the sting from a scorpion can be amazingly painful, causing more severe issues in children, who are the most commonly stung. But that is all changing thanks to groundbreaking research by Leslie Boyer and her team.

"Without antivenom, if you've got that bad of a sting, you accept intensive care or you risk death," says Dr. Leslie Boyer, a pediatrician who directs a venom research center in Tucson.

Drug companies in the U.S. have little incentive to make antivenom, because it's expensive and there simply aren't enough patients to guarantee a profit. "We in Arizona felt very isolated; we felt abandoned," Boyer says. "This was an orphan disease."

That was until Boyer took a trip south of the border and discovered that Mexico has a far bigger scorpion problem.

In Mexico, a quarter of a million people are stung by scorpions each year. Some clinics in central Mexico can have dozens of scorpion sting patients per night in the summer.

"Mexico has been in the antivenom field for many years, and over many years we have accumulated a big experience on how to make good antivenoms," says Dr. Alejandro Alagon, a professor of biochemistry at Mexico's Autonomous National University.

Alagon says 20 years ago hundreds of people in Mexico would die each year from scorpion stings. Alagon is also an adviser to the Mexican drug company that makes the antivenom, which is effective against the same species of scorpion that exists in Arizona.

Congrats to one of the pioneering women in venom research. To read the full article, click here.

At the Yokohama Subtropical Tea Restaurent in Japan, reptiles aren't on the menu; they're staff.

It's a tea room for reptile lovers, and they have a mini zoo set up where people can get up close and personal with cold-blooded animals.

The 42-year-old Nagano opened Yokohama Subtropical Tea on the 4th of July and not only has his cafe proved popular, it's attracted an unexpected variety of customers, some of whom stay for up to 5 hours!

Nagano was also surprised to note that many of his customers were women who enjoyed talking about reptiles. One supposes that apart from the zoo, there weren't many places where reptilophiles (is that a word?) can go to share mutual interests... until now.

At present, Yokohama Subtropical Tea hosts as many as 30 different reptiles and amphibians including 11 different types of newts.

It also boasts a “free range” area at the back of the cafe where tortoises can roam about within a fenced area. Customers may touch the tortoises but afterwards are obliged to use the hand sanitizer on-hand, so to speak, for that very purpose.

For the full article, click here.

Congratulations to Ray Semlitsch on winning the 2011 Fitch Award for Excellence in Herpetology from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

A leader of amphibian ecology and wetland conservation, Semlitsch is well-known for his research on the mechanisms of persistence of amphibian populations in altered habitats. His studies on the chemical contamination of farmlands have documented that tolerance to direct contaminants, such as insecticides, varies among species of amphibians, and that sub-lethal concentrations for amphibians have an indirect effect on food resources that cause mortality. He also established the ecological connection between aquatic and terrestrial environments for semi-aquatic amphibian species and defined the land around wetlands as an essential part of a species' "core habitat" and critical for management and protection.

"Dr. Semlitsch's research has spanned from basic ecology and life history evolution of amphibians to applied work on conservation of amphibians — work that will have a lasting impact on the way we will conduct science for years to come," said Michelle D. Boone, associate professor of zoology at Miami University, who nominated Semlitsch for the award.
Recently, he drew popular attention with research that showed that amphibian populations could thrive in properly buffered golf course ponds as well as in sustainably timbered forests.

To read the full article, click here.

Above photo taken from the University of Missouri College of Arts and Science facebook page. Ray Semlitsch, Curators’ Professor of Biology, receives the 2011 Fitch Award from J. Whitfield Gibbons, professor emeritus of ecology, from the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.

This weekend, the chondros are the hot ticket. Each time I saw any at a table, by the time I made it back for photos, they were cleared out. And I can see why:



The days are long at NRBE, and we tend to get a bit punch-drunk, but seriously, a lizard giving advice, Thushara? Maybe he's just telling you he needs a Power Sun for the weekend?

After arriving at the National Reptile Breeders' Expo in Daytona, I spent some time walking around the exhibit hall and hitting the talks.

I had so much trouble deciding which talk I wanted to go to, that I ended up bouncing between all three: the annual turtle talks, which are a regular hit and very popular; the boa talks along with a legal chat by Bill Brant, Dave Barker and Andrew Wyatt; and the Gecko Symposium.

Afterward, Chris Law and I hooked up with Jason Hood, a friend from the Chicago Herp Society, for what we had hoped would be a night of herping.

But sometimes all you do is hope. A Vinegaroon later, we came up pretty with nothing more than a bunch of frogs bopping across the road. But hey, we hung out and I tested out my brand spanking new headlamp.

Maybe where we went wrong was I was actually prepared. Usually I have nothing more than my wits. This time I had everything: collapsible hook, flashlights, headlamp, and good friends. I guess I'll try leaving something behind next time -- but definitely not the friends!

The flatworm parasite, Ribeiroia ondatrae, has been known for a decade to cause deformities. While distribution is not spreading, the location of this parasite in monitored sites has moved.

"We found that, although the distribution of Ribeiroia across wetlands changed, there was little net effect on overall parasite prevalence, with 31 percent of wetlands gaining the parasite and 27 percent losing the parasite," according to the study.

But "what was most intriguing," Johnson said, "was that the locations of hot spots had changed substantially over the last decade."

For instance, ponds where scientists had found few "grotesque" frogs in 1999 now had 30 percent or more frogs with deformed limbs, he said. Likewise, former hot spots now had fewer of the diseased amphibians, according to their results, which are not yet published in a journal.

Because some of the hot spots can house threatened or endangered amphibians, conservationists need to know where the parasite is moving.

Predicting future hot spots by keeping track of environmental factors—for example how land is used—may also help scientists figure out what's happening to amphibian populations.

"These severe malformations—even though it's not in the headline news—these continue to occur in a lot of amphibian populations in the western U.S.," said Johnson, who received funding from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration. (The Society owns National Geographic News.)

To read the full article, click here.

Beating all odds, this Loggerhead turtle is recovering nicely after being shot in the head with a spear and with the help of community outcry, perhaps the culprits will be caught. An increasing reward is being offered and currently sits at $10,750 cash and other items offered by community members.

"The whole community is so up in arms about it," said Richie Moretti, who founded the Turtle Hospital in Marathon in 1986.

The victim is a sub adult, 15 to 18 years old. Although the turtle is too young for its gender to be determined, its rescuers named it Sara, after a family member who was celebrating her 18th birthday.

Doug Mader, an expert reptile veterinarian who removed the four-foot, steel-shafted spear, said Sara is one lucky turtle.

The story began on Aug. 3, when father and son Charlie and Nicholas Borg, vacationing from Michigan, were returning to Big Pine Key from a fishing trip in the Atlantic. They spotted something floating, with flippers in the air, near Little Palm Island.

As they got closer, they discovered it was a sea turtle with a long spear protruding from its face. "I've seen turtles before that were hit by boats, but that was not anything I expected to see," said Nicholas Borg, 22.

"At first we thought it was dead, but it pulled its head up, took a breath and dove back down," he added. "We both looked at each other and knew we needed to do something."

[....]

He expects that Sara will be well enough to be released back into the wild within a month or so.

"I don't think it will have any permanent injuries, just a great story to tell its kids," Mader said.

To read the full article. click here.

Despite the fact that Florida is a battle ground for invasive pythons, thousands of reptile owners are preparing to land en masse there over the next few days.

To the reptile community, Daytona is the Mecca of our journey. Our very own forums here at kingsnake.com, Facebook and Twitter are buzzing with folks planning to meet up. With our community spread far and wide, this is the one time we often get to meet our "friends."

We'll be enjoying the chance to bring the show to those not able to be there. And if you are at the show, we will keep in touch with you as well. Live blogs of the talks, photos from the show floor, interviews with vendors and attendees as well as taking you along on any herping trips will all be happening.

A few ways to keep up with us this week are listed after the bump.

A Galapagos tortoise at the Dubbo Western Plains Zoo became a first-time mother and, as you can see by this pic, created one of the most adorable shots ever!

Slow to get started but T3 the tortoise is a mum at age 90.

And Galapagos tortoise T3 is also a cougar: the two possible fathers at Dubbo Western Plains Zoo are 40 and 41. It is the first time a Galapagos tortoise – the fifth longest-living animals in the world, with some being recorded as reaching 177 years of age – has been bred in captivity in Australasia.

T3′s baby, named NJ, will be alive long after every keeper, and the youngest human visitor to Dubbo Western Plains Zoo, has passed away.

For the full article, click here. Video after the bump.

One of the most interesting parts of any conference are the field trips away from the actual talks. At the International Herpetological Symposium, I was left in hysterics over one of them. Really, how many other groups would go on a field trip to look at dead things in jars? But for reptile folks, it just seems normal.

Stopping by Carl Franklin's office at the University of Texas - Arlington to see the state's largest specimen collection was definitely interesting. There were a few species I saw that I dont believe I would have seen alive. Carl has a great sense of humor and I will deeply regret missing him speaking at the Chicago Herpetological Society in August. The collection is used nationwide by researchers to learn more about genetics, locality specific data, taxonomy and much more.

After our visit with Carl, it was time for lunch. Dead things, check. Food and drink, check. Live things? Those, too.

Lunch was a trip to the Dallas World Aquarium. After we ate, we headed to the third floor and worked our way down. The aquarium is set up as a descending spiral that brings you different regions as you go. Not just fish, there a selection of mammals, birds and reptiles. Knowing our group, we could not contain ourselves walking through and educating along the way.

I'm telling ya, the Aquarium should have paid us for that day. Every step of the way, all members of our group worked with the general public on reptiles primarily, but everything we knew about. Our little community of gypsies is kinda cool after all. As the day wound down, we headed back to the hotel for the ice breaker party and to prepare for a day of talks.

Photos after the bump.

After being injured by boat propellers last summer, Andre the loggerhead was returned to the same place he found a year ago.

"It's a beautiful thing to see a turtle who had overcome so many obstacles," Ranly said.

Last summer, Andre was spotted by beachgoers on a sand bar on just a few miles from Loggerhead.

Andre had been struck by two boat propellers and was near death. He had a collapsed lung, severe infections and three pounds of sand resting on his shell.

Andre's injuries were so serious, Bethlyn McCloskey, a Loggerhead volunteer, didn't think he was going to make it.

"I thought we were wasting our time," McCloskey said. "But this staff performs miracles."

Ranly said Loggerhead used a "wound vacuum" to draw out all infectious fluids. The center also used grafting material to repair Andre's spinal cord, which was exposed.

To read the full article, click here. Video of the release is after the bump.

photo courtsey of planet save.

A new ointment is proving to save lives by slowing the work that the venom does inside increasing survival rates by 50 percent in Australia.

In experiments on humans and mice, researchers in Australia showed that a class of compounds called nitric oxide donors delays the entry of toxins from potentially deadly snakebites into the blood stream.

Nitric oxide (NO), a molecule involved in regulation of blood pressure and the control of brain activity, has been shown to lower blood pressure in patients who suffer acute strokes.
The new finding is of more than academic interest: every year some 100,000 people worldwide die from snakebites, and another 400,000 must amputate limbs that have been injected with poison.

It has long been known that many snake venoms contain large molecules that transit the human body's lymphatic system before entering the bloodstream.

Separately, scientists have also established that nitric oxide slows down a pumping mechanism within the lymphatic system, a part of the body's immune system that carries a clear fluid -- called lymph -- toward the heart.

To read more, click here.

After 48 months, the final battery may have died, but there is still hope for the snakes relocated in the Lenexa Rattlesnake Relocation Project in Kansas.

The first clue is when Walker calls timber rattlers "the puppy dogs of the rattlesnake world."

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has warm feelings too, listing them among the "species in need of conservation" — animals that cannot be hunted or killed unless they are threatening to attack.

But the little rattlers, living and let living for as long as 20 to 25 years, are mild-mannered.
"Timbers will rarely rattle, let alone strike. It takes a lot of energy to strike," Walker said, so the strike is saved for hunting and feeding. "Their first line of defense is to blend in."

Walker thinks the relocation project was unprecedented -- moving an entire nest of dozens to save them from ultimately fatal contact with humans.

Herpetologists and wildlife specialists from five surrounding states converged to help Walker and her research partner, retired KU professor George Pisani, now an adjunct with the Kansas Biological Survey.

"Our initial intent was to save as many as we could catch and move them," Walker said.
However, these were not a few slithering singles, but a serpent community, established over a decade.

"Snakes have family groups, are familiar with one another, and they recognize their den mates," said Walker.

To read the full story, click here.

Author of Stolen World, Jennie Erin Smith spoke today at IHS. We thought there would be a lot of interest from our members, so enjoy.


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