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.
Stephanie Moore (pictured right), 20, was jailed on a $2,000 bond on a felony warrant on charges of possessing, selling or molesting a marine turtle or eggs nest, according to the Melbourne Police Department's Facebook page.
Moore was arrested after police in Melbourne, on Florida's Atlantic coast, responded to a disturbance at a home Saturday and determined a warrant had been out for her.
Moore was allegedly one of two women sitting on sea turtles in photos that were shared online. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took up the case as a criminal investigation asking for the public's help in identifying the suspects.
A retired teacher in Winter Park Florida is in an Orlando hospital after being bitten on the hand Thursday by a 20 inch Gaboon Viper (Bitis gabonica). The reptile owner, a licensed keeper, is expected to recover, and the snake has been secured, as has the rest of his small collection.
"It wasn't as if the snake had gotten out from my understanding. I think he was bitten on the hand, but based on the evidence, it looks like a simple keeper mishap," - Steve McDaniel, FWC investigator
Found in the rainforests and savannas of sub-Saharan Africa Gaboon Vipers have the longest fangs, up to 2 inches (5 cm), and the highest venom yield of any venomous snake.
Read more on the WESH web site. Gallery photo by dendroaspis
In the animal kingdom, just like the disco, the flashiest males often have more luck attracting a mate but when your predators hunt by sight, this makes them more of a target according to a new study published in Ecology and Evolution. Using models that replicated the coloration of male and female lizards, they found that the male lizard models were less well camouflaged and more likely to fall prey to bird attacks.
"In females, selection seems to have favoured better camouflage to avoid attack from avian predators. But in males, being bright and conspicuous also appears to be important even though this heightens the risk of being spotted by birds," Kate Marshall, University of Cambridge
Using visual modelling, Marshall and her colleagues tested around 300 color variations to find ones that matched the male and female colors in order to make the 600 clay lizards used in the study. They placed models in ten sites on each of the two islands and checked them every 24 hours over five days to see which had been attacked by birds.
More than 130 crocodiles have been captured and fitted with waterproof transmitters as part of a long term University of Queensland study into how the creatures use the environment. The data-gathering program is the largest and longest of its type, beginning in 2008 and set for another 10 years thanks to a new generation of acoustic tags.
"Our goal is to understand the role of crocs in the ecosystem and look how they move into the river systems, estuaries, creeks and waterholes," - Craig Franklin, UQ School of Biological Sciences
The study found small crocs hide in creeks, while reptiles in the five metre category rule water holes and that estuarine crocs can move 1000km in a year and up to 60 km a day. Professor Franklin said his team was using the information to build computer models that might predict the travel plans of estuarine crocs when influenced by climate change.
A local herpetologist is moving his reptiles to comply with a city zoning ordinance that bars him from running a rescue and rehabilitation center at his house. Chad Griffin, the owner of CCSB Reptile Rescue & Rehabilitation Center, said he is looking for a site and will move the reptiles
Because Griffin is cooperating with the city, officials are working with him to find a new site and to move the animals, said Chris Murphy, the deputy director of planning and development services.
“Our end objective is compliance with the ordinance” Chris Murphy - Deputy Director Winston-Salem, N.C.
Griffin has about 10 days to remove the outdoor enclosures that house the alligators, 30 days for venomous snakes and up to 60 days to stop operating the business in his home, Murphy said. He will be able to keep some reptiles in his house, including nonvenomous snakes, that are considered pets.
kingsnake.com would like to remind everyone that keeps herps to make sure you your not violating any local or state laws or ordinances so you don't find yourself in similar circumstances. Read more at the Winston-Salem Journal
Image by David Rolfe
Scientists discovered a new species of snake in the Kimberley region of north-western Australia belonging to Acanthophis (Australian death adders), a genus of highly venomous snakes found in Australia and New Guinea and parts of Indonesia.
The Kimberley death adder, Acanthophis cryptamydros, described in a paper published August 28 in the journal Zootaxa, is an ambush predator, staying camouflaged until it can surprise it's prey. The snake is roughly 24 inches (60 cm) long and has a diamond-shaped head.
“It’s not clear how many Kimberley death adders there are in the wild, but they’re probably quite rare,” - Simon Maddock University College London
The species’ range extends from Wotjulum in the west, 45 km north-north-east of Halls Creek in the south, and Kununurra in the east and is also known to occur on some offshore islands including Koolan, Bigge, Boongaree, Wulalam, and an unnamed island in Talbot Bay.
To read more check out the PDF article on Zootaxa - Image by Ryan J. Ellis.
In the United States getting bit by a rattlesnake is a very expensive business. With anti-venin prices at the hospital running $2300.00 a vial, and with severe envenomations often requiring 10 or more vials, its not uncommon for a course of treatment to run close to, or more than $100,000.00.
Meanwhile, in Mexico, that same treatment, using the exact same anti-venins, usually costs a tenth, or less, and achieves the same results. Why the cost disparity?
That's exactly the question researcher Dr. Leslie Boyer at the University of Arizona wanted to find out. The founding director of the VIPER Institute, a research group studying ways to improve the medical treatment of venom injuries, used the numbers to build a pricing model for a typical arachnid anti-venin sold in the U.S. and the disparity is breathtaking. According to the model, a single vial of anti-venin that would cost over $14,000 in the United States would cost one or two hundred dollars in Mexico.
"The U.S. needs to re-think how we manage these things, because we have reached the point where the developing world is getting more timely access to better drugs (at least in this field) than we are." - Dr. Leslie Boyer
According to Boyer, in Mexico authorities determined some time ago that treating venomous snake and spider bites was a public health issue, but to try to implement something similar here would require an act of Congress.
A Mexican national is being held in prison in Guayaquil Ecuador after trying to smuggle out specimens of both species of endangered iguana only found in the Galapagos Islands. The smuggler was trying to transport nine marine iguanas and two land iguanas, all endemic to the islands' fragile ecosystem, intending to send the reptiles to Uganda
9 Marine neonate (Amblyrhymchus cristatus), and 2 juvenile ground iguanas (Conolophus suscristatus) were found in a suitcase where they had been packed so they could not move. The iguanas are being evaluated and fed before they will be reintegrated into their habitat in the Galapagos National Park.
Authorities said the man had previously committed similar crimes in New Zealand, and are investigating his possible involvement in a global network of traffickers in protected species.
To read more, check out the original press release by the Ecuadoran Environment Ministry.
From June of next year, Sanofi Pasteur's stock of anti-venin Fav-Afrique will be exhausted and no more will be produced by the company. The technology used to create the anti-venin will be used in rabies treatments, according to manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur.
“Fav-Afrique is no longer being manufactured so vulnerable farmers will lose their lives or limbs.” - Abdulrazaq Habib Bayero University
Treating bites from snakes like mambas, vipers and cobras just does not add up any more, Sanofi Pasteur said. But tens of thousands may die, unnecessarily, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as it demanded action over the withdrawal of Fav-Afrique. MSF says there will be no alternatives to replace the Sanofi Pasteur treatment for at least two years and that five million people are bitten by snakes each year, 100,000 die and 400,000 are disabled or disfigured.
Yet another cobra is on the loose, this time in Orlando Florida, and this time it's an 8 foot king cobra.
The green and yellow venomous snake was reported missing by its owner Wednesday from a home on North Apopka Vineland Road used as an exotic animal rescue, TV station WFTV reports, citing Florida Fish and Wildlife. The snake’s owner is licensed to own exotic animals and followed proper reporting procedures when it was discovered the reptile was missing.
FWC officials are canvassing the area and ask that anyone who comes across the snake to call FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922 and urge residents not to approach the animal.
Give a female frog two potential mating options, an attractive frog and an unattractive frog, and she’ll pick the attractive frog nearly every time, but if you throw in a third, less attractive frog, all bets are off.
In a study published Thursday in Science, researchers showed that the Central American túngara frogs can be tricked into picking "ugly" mates -- even when their prince charming is just within hopping distance.
The scenario, known as the “decoy effect,” is similar to the way in which a consumer might behave when purchasing a new car. A customer may opt to buy a cheap car with poor fuel efficiency instead of a more expensive car with good fuel efficiency. But the custumer might reconsider when a salesmen presents a third option that is the most expensive and also has good fuel efficiency. The customer won’t choose the third option, but he might instead choose the second most expensive.
According to scientists at Arizona State University, climate change will be very hard on many species of lizards, driving many species to, or over, the brink of extinction. Biologists led by ASU investigators determined that lizard embryos die when subjected to high temperatures(110 degrees F) even for a few minutes.
“Lizards put all of their eggs in one basket, so a single heat wave can kill an entire group of eggs,” Ofir Levy - lead investigator
Embryonic lizards are immobile in their eggs and cannot seek shade or cool off when their surrounding soil becomes hot. Given the potential impacts of climate change on embryos, many more places in the United States could become uninhabitable for existing lizard populations than previously expected.
The Arizona Game & Fish Department is planning a large adoption event Sept. 5th to help find new homes for about 60 desert tortoises. They've had about 300 tortoises end up at their center over the past year, so many that they don't have names, but rather numbers to keep track of them all. To help make room, Game and Fish started an adoption program for the tortoises.
"We've been having an issue with people breeding in their homes or people need to surrender their tortoise, and they have nowhere to go," Tegan Wolf - Tortoise Adoption Specialist
There is no fee, but there is an application and certain requirements you have to meet, including having an appropriate habitat and burrow. Starting in December it's going to be illegal for captive desert tortoises to be bred in the home. For more info, click here to read the story at KPHO
kingsnake.com gallery photo by TonyC130
A California man may lose his hand after an attempt to take a 'selfie" with a rattlesnake went wrong. Alex Gomez, 36, spotted the four-foot snake in a field by his family’s ranch. Alex’s nephew, Ronnie, who was with him says the reptile gave plenty of warning.
“It was really thick and had ten rattles on it, it was rattling,” “It was pretty mad.” - Ronnie
After being bitten, Gomez experienced excruciating pain, his hand swelled up and his body started to tingle.
Scientists at Oregon State University are currently studying a baby salamander encased in an amber sample found in an amber mine in the Dominican Republic. There are no salamanders living on islands in the Caribbean today, but the amber-coated amphibian found shows there once were.
"There are very few salamander fossils of any type, and no one has ever found a salamander preserved in amber," - OSU Professor Emeritus George Poinar, Jr.
The sample containing the salamander hatchling measures under an inch in length is an extinct, and the amphibian is a previously undiscovered species, now named Palaeoplethodon hispaniolae, that dates back to between 20 million and 30 million years. For more details check out the paper published online in the journal Palaeodiversity.
Photo: George Poinar, Jr., Oregon State University
If you knew Tommy Yarborough you're pretty much old school. Tommy was old school. Tommy was a herp legend, who spent over 3 decades traveling from herp spot to herp spot, catching snakes, lizards, turtles and more for his Yarbrough Snake Ranch in Eastaboga Alabama. Back in Alabama he and his wife Mary Ann would put on reptile shows for schools, scouts, church groups and more, entertaining and educating thousands of kids over the years, and starting many a herper down the path.
An early brochure for the Yarbrough Snake Ranch advertises that the "excitement and mysteries of nature are brought to life" — including "cobras (Indian, African and Taiwan), pythons, rattlesnakes, boa constrictors, cottonmouth water moccasins, copperheads, African puff adder, king snakes, rat snakes and tropical snakes."
Today his daughter, Rebecca Yarbrough Tucker, continues Tommy's reptile legacy in Alabama. She has help from her husband, Ken, who helps her care for the more than 300 snakes and other animals at the family’s home in Eastaboga and two volunteers who help with the shows. She donates half of the proceeds of each show to the schools, just as her father did.
The Yarbroughs will be remembered at a special "Reptiles Alive!" show on Saturday August 29 as part of the Anniston Museum of Natural History’s annual Museum Day celebration. Museum admission, programs and activities will be free. To read more, check out the full article at The Anniston Star
Editors note - I met Tommy and Mary Ann several times on the River Road and in Langtry in the late eighties and early nineties. Tommy was a "fast" cruiser and would barrel down the road at 60-70 miles per hour in a big van with ammunition crates roped to the top for the rattlesnakes. Tommy was a character remembered by all that met him.
Today is Nag Panchami, a traditional day of worship of snakes or serpents observed by Hindus throughout India and also in Nepal. On the Nag Panchami day Nag, cobras, and snakes are worshiped with milk, sweets, flowers, lamps and even sacrifices. Images of Nag deities made of silver, stone, wood, or paintings on the wall are first bathed with water and milk and then worshiped with the reciting of mantras. The piety observed on this day is considered a sure protection against the fear of snake bite. At many places, real snakes are worshipped and fairs held. On this day digging the earth is taboo as it could kill or harm snakes which reside in the earth.
In the past people would gather serpents, and snake charmers would bring their finest snakes to the temples, but changes in India's laws have made snake charming and snake possession illegal, changing the way the event is celebrated for most. Though some still try to celebrate the old ways, authorities keep a watch over events, confiscating and releasing snakes used by the celebrants.
"It's the cobra and rat snakes that are most commonly displayed by snake charmers. We urge people to be alert and capture their pictures and alert the local police station or snake rescue helplines so that they can be nabbed and the snake be freed from torture." Nitin Walmiki - Eco-Echo
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is seeking information relevant to a proposal to list the flat-tailed horned lizard as an endangered species. The flat-tailed horned lizard (Phrynosoma mcallii) inhabits desert habitats in southeastern California, the extreme southwestern portion of Arizona and the adjacent portions of northeastern Baja California Norte and northwestern Sonora, Mexico.
In June 2014, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) to formally list the flat-tailed horned lizard as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act. As part of the status review process, CDFW is soliciting information from the public regarding the species’ ecology, genetics, life history, distribution, abundance, habitat, the degree and immediacy of threats to reproduction or survival, adequacy of existing management and recommendations for management of the species. Comments, data and other information can be submitted in writing to:
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Nongame Wildlife Program
Attn: Laura Patterson
1812 9th Street
Sacramento, CA 95811
Comments may also be submitted by email to wildlifemgt@wildlife.ca.gov. If submitting comments by email, please include “flat-tailed horned lizard” in the subject heading.
To read the full press release click here. kingsnake.com gallery photo by Duner.
You're low crawling through the underbrush, geared up, M4 rifle in hand, helmet hanging low over your brow, and sweat dripping into your eyes. Then you see it.
Right in your path. A snake.
From the jungles of the Philippines and Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, members of the armed forces have long encountered snakes, often at the most inopportune times, and in the most inconvenient places.
“The students, they see them time and time again,” said Staff Sgt. Heath Hensley, a Ranger instructor and member of the reptile team. “You’ll hear them yell out ‘Snake!’ most of the time, and that starts a tactical pause.”
How does the military deal with this problem? Snake school.
Camp Rudder, part of the sprawling Eglin Air Force Base complex, is home to the U.S. Army Rangers reptile house, incorporated into training as students undergo the third and final phase of Ranger School. Its role is to teach students how to overcome their fears of snakes and other reptiles and identify them when they see them. To read more about this fascinating and little known part of military training click here and read the full article at The Washington Post.
(Photo by Staff Sgt. John Bainter/ U.S. Air Force)
Ever thought of starting an alligator farm? In your basement? In Canada?
Rescuers had their hands full in Canada this week when a reptile hobbyist with an affectation for crocodilians decided he could no longer care for his charges properly, and "donated" them to a zoo - all 150 of them. The list includes crocodiles, alligators, and caimans, some as long as 9 feet.
“I think [the owners] just realized that enough is enough, and they need a larger place,” “Kudos to them. A lot of people don’t do the right thing with exotic pets, and they actually did.” - Bry Loyst - Indian River Reptile Zoo
Reptile people are sometimes thought of as "a bit crazy" and stories like this one continue to reinforce that stereotype and leave even experienced reptile hobbyists scratching their heads.
To read more check out the article at the Toronto Star . kingsnake.com gallery photo by user bci32
Frogs and toads, already under enormous pressure from the ravages of the Chytrid fungus, have a new threat to contend with. Scientists in the U.K. have discovered a new parasite that attacks tadpoles. Protists, single-celled microorganisms that store genetic information in a nucleus, act as a parasite for tadpoles, entering into their livers, and killing off huge numbers of the amphibious larvae. With the loss of so many tadpoles, the disease can rapidly cause a decline in amphibian populations.
"We now need to figure out if this novel microbe—a distant relative of oyster parasites—causes significant disease and could be contributing to the frog population declines" - Thomas Richards, University of Exeter
Tadpoles from six countries across three continents were tested and the previously unidentified parasite was present in tadpole livers in both tropical and temperate sites, and across all continents tested.
To read the press release from the University of Exeter, click here. kingsnake.com gallery photo by user retnaburner
U.S. District Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt sentenced Illinois resident Keith Cantore to 41 months incarceration, to be followed by three years of supervised release and $100 special assessment as well as $41,000 in restitution after he attempted to purchase 100 North American Wood Turtles for $40,000.
“The poaching of Wood Turtles has had a significant negative impact on its population in the wild. In effect, this defendant was willing to help drive this species to extinction to make a few bucks. " - Raymond R. Parmer, head of ICE Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans
According to court records, Cantore was charged with three counts of purchasing and/or attempting to purchase threatened species of turtles that were illegally captured from the wild, a violation of the federal Lacey Act. Cantore was previously convicted of federal charges related to the illegal sale of turtles and that he continued to illegally sell turtles while on bond for the current charges.
To read the Department of Justice press release click here. Gallery photo by user arfytoothskin
Researchers have named a brightly colored new flat lizard Platysaurus attenboroughi, after broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough. Attenborough is known worldwide for his numerous documentary films on natural history, many involving reptiles and amphibians.
"We thought it fitting the lizard be named after the world-famous naturalist after he made famous a closely related flat lizard species in the BBC series 'Life in Cold Blood'" - Dr. Martin Whiting - Macquarie University
To read the full article at CBS News click here. Photo Dr. Martin Whiting
The Argentinian Black and White Tegu, Salvator merianae, has been a problem in Southeast Florida for a while now, the lizard has established populations in Miami-Dade, Hillsborough and Polk County, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, but it is now spreading to the Southwest region, particularly Collier County.
“This is public enemy number one–the Argentine Tegu,” - Ian Bartoszek, Biologist - Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Wildlife experts have mailed 7,200 postcards to the Collier County as a warning for residents to report a sighting immediately. Residents are urged to call 1-888-IVE-GOT1 if they see a tegu or send a picture of the animal to www.IveGot1.org.
To read the whole article in the Palm Beach Post click here - Gallery photo by RamblinRose
Faced with a disease that could wipe out native salamander species scientists are calling for a ban on the import of the amphibians from outside the United States in an effort to prevent the disease from establishing a foothold here. Already threatened by the chytrid fungus, also called Bd, this new fungus appears to only target salamander species and is called Bsal Though Bd has made it here, so far, Bsal has not yet been found in the Americas.
"The Fish and Wildlife Service has been very interested in chytrid and amphibian diseases for many years," "But there's a problem. Under the Lacey Act, they don't have the legal authority to do much." - Dr. Karen Lips University of Maryland
According to scientists salamanders in the southeastern U.S., the western U.S., and the highlands of central Mexico are most at risk.
A fatal fungal disease that has been running rampant in snake populations on the east coast and has been found as far west as Illinois has now been identified in at least nine states. The disease can cause crusty scabs and lesions, sometimes on the head, and has a high mortality rate in some populations. Although it affects a number of species, it's especially threatening to rattlesnakes that live in small, isolated populations. It's unclear if this fungal disease was brought to the United States from elsewhere, or if it has always been present and for some unknown reason is now infecting snakes.
"I think potentially this could overwhelm any conservation effort we could employ to try to protect this last remaining population," said Doug Blodgett, a biologist with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife
In New Hampshire, the disease helped halve the population of rattlesnakes, now estimated at only several dozen. In Illinois the disease infects about 15 percent of the population of about 300 of massasauga rattlesnakes every year with a mortality rate of 80 to 90 percent.
Dumping unwanted reptile pets will just lead to more intrusive laws regulating keeping them.
From the Long Island Press:
A “very aggressive” three-foot-long crocodile was found inside a cardboard box left in the parking lot of a Melville office building Tuesday, officials said.
The unusual discovery was made at about 11 a.m. at 25 Melville Park Road following an anonymous call to the Town of Huntington Animal Shelter, according to Suffolk County SPCA Chief Roy Gross.
The worker who took the call was suspicious at first, Gross said, because hoaxes are not uncommon in their experience. But when the shelter employee went to investigate the box in the parking lot of the industrial area, it had a crocodile inside it.
Gross noted the crocodile was feisty, and difficult at first to corral. But the crocodile was safely captured and transported to the animal shelter before it was turned over to the Suffolk SPCA.
Reptile collector Gerard Kruse plead guilty in a New York Federal Court to 13 violations of the Lacey Act for his role in illegally collecting and transporting native snakes.
Arrested as part of a sting dubbed "Operation Kingsnake" Kruse admitted to the illegal collection, transport and receipt of 59 snakes that were collected from and protected by various states, such as New Jersey, California and Oregon.
“All of our protected species, including reptiles, are important to our ecosystems and must be shielded from such illegal trafficking. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously support efforts against domestic wildlife trafficking.” - Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden
According to the terms of the plea agreement, the government will seek 13 months of home confinement with electronic monitoring. In addition, Kruse has agreed to be placed on probation and subject to special conditions such as forfeiture of his snakes and being banned from the collection, sale and trade of reptiles and amphibians.
To read the full news release from the U.S. Department of Justice click here.
Although many frogs and toads are known to be poisonous, i.e. deadly if their toxins are ingested, two frogs from Brazil are now known to be venomous as well, delivering their toxins through spines and spikes on their heads, a first for the four legged amphibians. Scientists that made the discovery said calculations suggest that a single gram of the venom from the more toxic species, Aparasphenodon brunoi, could kill more than 300,000 mice or about 80 humans.
The strength of toxicity of the skin secretions is remarkable, and to say we were surprised by that is an understatement," Brodie said. "Amphibians have a wide array of skin toxins that have been well-studied, but this sort of mechanism — transmitting the toxin as a venom — has not been found before. It moves the study of amphibian defenses to a new level.
Although their venom packs a wallop, scientists are convinced it is only used as a defensive mechanism as opposed to using it to hunt their prey. Since neither frog has any known predators, that is certainly a likely scenario.
To read more, check out the full article on LiveScience
The community of Chilliwack has constructed an amphibian tunnel to stave off deaths of frogs and toads during periods of mass migration.
From the Chilliwack Progress:
There's a spot on Elk View Road where tiny toadlets no bigger than a dime were getting crushed by vehicles as they tried to migrate across the road.
A new amphibian tunnel completed in June in the hills above Chilliwack should help.
"One of the really neat aspects is this is a solution that other communities can implement as well," said Joanne Neilson, executive director of Fraser Valley Conservancy.
There's province-wide concern about declining amphibian species in areas where development is spring up around wetlands, so the tunnel structure is being touted as a potential model for others to follow to reduce mortalities.
B.C. communities might one day look at culvert replacement in a more toad-friendly way.
Last month special fencing was used to guide the toads and frogs through the newly built culvert for the first time.