Dan and I had been dipping for dwarf siren and then road hunting for several hours. At 4:00PM, we found ourselves on a sand road south of the “Big Lake” (Lake Okeechobee) and we were about ready to call it a day. Dan had to drive back to Miami and I to Gainesville. Fair distances, both.

We were on what we decided would be our last drive of the day along the long dirt road. The drive northward had been uneventful and we were almost to the end of our southward return.

Snake!

A fair-sized, heavy-bodied snake was crawling slowly onto the road. From a distance we had thought it to be a cottonmouth. No great prize, but when herping is slow any and all herps are a welcome sighting. As we neared and the snake crawled farther on to the road it became apparent that it wasn’t a cottonmouth – it was an eastern hog-nose.

This made what had been a rather blah day a really nice one. But it was about to get even better. As we photographed the female that was now almost across the road, an adult male crawled out of the edging grasses about 6 inches from where we first saw the female.

Bingo. Breeding time! And then from about 20 feet farther down road a second male was sighted. Dan and I spent considerable time taking photos and when we left we were both smiling.
Continue reading “The hog-nose trio” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

The Orianne Society knows that herpetological conservation is just as important as other wildlife efforts, and plans to step up for herps.

From Online Athens:

“We are trying to develop a university-based nonprofit that’s a global leader for reptilian and amphibian conservation and herpetology,” said Chris Jenkins, chief executive officer of The Orianne Society and an adjunct faculty member at The Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. “If you look at different types of mammals and birds you’ll find that the entities working to provide conservation and manage those populations is numerous, but there’s nowhere near as many working for reptiles and amphibians.”

The Orianne Society approaches conservation in three ways — research, conservation and boots-on-the-ground work such as purchasing land, managing and restoring habitats, conducting inventories of animals and reintroducing rare reptiles and amphibians into habitats where they have become extinct.

Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

The Orianne Society knows that herpetological conservation is just as important as other wildlife efforts, and plans to step up for herps.

From Online Athens:

“We are trying to develop a university-based nonprofit that’s a global leader for reptilian and amphibian conservation and herpetology,” said Chris Jenkins, chief executive officer of The Orianne Society and an adjunct faculty member at The Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. “If you look at different types of mammals and birds you’ll find that the entities working to provide conservation and manage those populations is numerous, but there’s nowhere near as many working for reptiles and amphibians.”

The Orianne Society approaches conservation in three ways — research, conservation and boots-on-the-ground work such as purchasing land, managing and restoring habitats, conducting inventories of animals and reintroducing rare reptiles and amphibians into habitats where they have become extinct.

Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mizzy!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

A Queensland reptile park owner is recovering in hospital after a crocodile bit off his thumb in front of horrified families during a daily feeding show.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Africa’s rhinos are in a state of crisis. Poaching for their horn has resulted in the deaths of thousands of animals and pushed the continent’s two species—the white and black rhino—against the wall. Yet, despite the crisis, there are pockets of rhino territory where poaching remains rare and rhinos live comparatively unmolested. Indeed, one of the brightest spots for rhinos is in Namibia.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Tortoise Capital Advisors today announced Brian Kessens and Connie Savage have been promoted to the role of managing director.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

This year will be a defining year for British reptile keepers.

This year the UK will see the publication of the list of species to be banned from private ownership under the EU Invasive Alien Species Regulations. This is a defining moment in history. Never before has the UK banned the private ownership of any animal. The number of species affected is initially likely to very small, but there will be the inevitably push from the “antis” have more and more species added.

The EU is also the source of a debate to implement a positive list of approved reptile species. Keepers in Belgium and the Netherlands are very much at the forefront of this insidious push by the antis to ban keeping of non-approved species. There’s nothing positive about a positive list.

2015 will also finally answer a argument that has been raging for more than 20 years – are UK reptile shows are legal or not. The question will finally be answered this year by the British High Court.

Despite these threats, our hobby continues to grow. 2014 saw more reptiles and amphibians kept in the UK than ever before. There was also an increase in the number of pet shops licensed to sell reptiles, and this growth is set to continue and 2015. Although business has been tough, we’re bucking the trend of many other sectors. Growth was strongest in the frozen food sector (rodents) with an increase of about 11 percent, and live foods by about 7 percent.

A belated happy New Year to everyone and I hope it is a prosperous time for everyone.

Photo: 1999 International Herp Society Fall Expo, Walsall, U.K. – courtesy Jeff Barringer
…read more
Read more here: King Snake

Several lizards who survived illegal shipment to the U.S. have found a permanent new home with the Detroit Zoo.

From mlive.com:

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 200 of the lizards died within a few weeks of being seized due to the “inhumane methods used to ship the animals and the conditions they were held in prior to their arrival in the United States…”

The Detroit Zoological society said in a statement that the lizards are representations of a global wildlife trafficking crisis.

“Many individual animals die in situations like this, and the impacts on wild populations can be catastrophic,” Scott Carter, Detroit Zoological Society chief life sciences officer, said in a release. “We are happy to be able to provide great care and permanent sanctuary for these lizards, and to help bring attention to this important wildlife issue.”

Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user charlescory!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ – Turtle Beach, the leading audio brand in the video games industry, today announced new gaming products and partnerships at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Turtle Beach will also be showcasing Turtle Beach Corporation's HyperSound virtual reality audio solutions at CES from January 6 to 9 in the South Hall, Booth 21030. Turtle Beach is the …

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

Last spring, while hiking, birding and herping, we had the pleasure of observing an extremely large dusky pygmy rattlesnake basking just under the edge of a cement slab.

Now, this in and of itself isn’t exactly an unusual observation, because dusky pygmy rattlesnakes are extremely common in the area. What amazed us is that the animal had chosen a nice sunny spot where literally dozens of people were constantly walking right past, and yet the animal remained unbothered by all of the human activity and seemed to be completely unnoticed by everyone else but us.

The dusky pygmy rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius barbouri, known as the “ground rattler” by some Southerners, can be found in most habitat types in north Florida, from pine flat woods to hammocks to swamp margins and sandhills and even neighborhoods. It feeds on lizards, amphibians, small mice and even centipedes and other invertebrates.

These small rattlesnakes can be irascible when disturbed and will not hesitate to defend themselves if provoked. They also have a fairly potent venom, so caution is advised!

As we prepared to take a few photographs of our find, an elderly woman with a strong Irish accent decided to take a break from her birding and sat down near the slab about eight feet from the hidden rattlesnake. She asked us what we were taking pictures of. We hesitantly explained to her that we were taking pictures of a rattlesnake. Her reply was simply, “Oh how interesting, I’ll be sure not to disturb it.” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

A new type of pit viper has been identified.

From the Epoch Times:

“It’s a surprising finding,” Dr. Vogel told mongabay.com, “as [the new species] is a large viper, very colorful and superficially different.” It inhabits forested areas between 1,500 and 2,000 meters (5,000 to 6,500 feet) in elevation. This is an important difference from T. sumatranus, which lives on lower, hilly areas rarely above 950 meters (3,000 feet).The difficulty in accessing these high mountain areas, as well as lack of economic interest in developing them, has preserved them from deforestation, according to a 2011 study in Global Change Biology.

“This is a highland species and in Sumatra there is little infrastructure in the higher mountain areas, so I feel it might be safe in the near future,” Vogel said. However, he cautioned its safety is far from secure, saying that its distribution should be more thoroughly studied to help further understanding of the species and its long-term prognosis. He added the region itself deserves more attention, with more endemics possibly awaiting scientific discovery. Vogel, who has discovered other reptile species, is a freelance herpetologist as well as a chemist whose research is self-funded and not tied to any particular institution. For their study, the researchers inspected 53 specimens of T. sumatranus and Trimeresurus hageni, with the primary objective of establishing the differences between them and amend the historical confusion of these two species.

Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

Letters (remember the days when correspondence was via written letters?) were zipping back and forth from Tampa to Karachi. Jerry mentioned having just collected a “nice” half grown whiskered viper (also known as the McMahon’s or leaf-nosed viper), Eristicophis mcmahoni from Balochistan.

Since he was going to ship me a couple of hundred leopard geckos in a week, he was wondering whether I might want the snake as well. My answer was “yes, you bet I want it.” About two weeks later, I was settling a whiskered viper into a sandy terrarium. And to say I was enamored with the beast would be a monumental understatement.

Whiskered vipers are not colorful but what they lack in that respect is more than made up for by their impressively defensive attitude. Until recently, when I decided to not keep “hots” any longer, whenever possible I had an Eristicophis or two in the collection. Although I have never succeeded in breeding this taxon, I have found them hardy and very responsive – the kind of snake that will meet you at the top of its terrarium to accept food from long forceps.

If startled this snake will inflate its body and exhale loudly and/or assume an “S” position and rub the scales together producing a very audible rasping sound.

Like many desert or savannah snakes, the whiskered viper is an ambush hunter that sinks all but its eyes and nostrils just below the surface of loose sand. From this position they are able to strike and envenomate their prey of unwary lizards or rodents .

Males, the smaller sex, are adult at less than a foot and a half. Females may near thirty inches in length but are usually only about two feet long.
Continue reading “Whiskered vipers in the sand” …read more
Read more here: King Snake

It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mesozoic!

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

The Seaside Aquarium has recovered another sea turtle after it washed ashore on the Long Beach Peninsula, the second recovery in the last two weeks.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

For the second time in a month, an endangered sea turtle washed up on a Northwest beach north of the normal range for the species.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

He was captured on video surveillance striking his victims multiple times with the lizard, police said.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

He was captured on video surveillance striking his victims multiple times with the lizard, police said.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

TURTLE BAY, Manhattan (PIX11) — The founder of a New York City hedge fund was fatally shot in the head in his Turtle Bay apartment Sunday afternoon. Police responded to a 911 call at 20 Beekman Place between 50th and 51st Streets around 3:30 p.m. When officers arrived, they found 70-year-old Thomas Gilbert in his […]

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Snakes may not have shoulders, but their bodies aren’t as simple as commonly thought, according to a new study that could change how scientists think snakes evolved. Rather than snakes evolving from a lizard ancestor to a more simplified body form, researchers say their findings suggest other animals gained more complex vertebral columns as they evolved.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

If you’re a snake lover in India and you wish to do something for the welfare of these reptilian friends, one of the best ways to do so is to become a snake rescuer.

However, should you undertake this difficult ordeal, realize it’s not what you do but why you do it that counts. It’s a journey, like the one that married couples take, to understand and empathize with these wonderful creatures.

Indian culture and snakes are made for each other. There are certain popular myths that have existed for over thousands of years that have caused a great deal of destruction of snake habitats. Some common mis-beliefs include that snakes drink milk and snakes are vengeful by nature. Having said that, I would like to add these myths are also among the reasons snakes have been protected to certain extent. For example, snakes are worshiped to prevent their malevolent behavior or responses.

Until recently, snake rescue culture grew slowly in India. Today, one can find snake rescuers in every part of India. However, you will rarely come across a full-time snake rescuer as there is little scope for herpetology and for most population it’s inaccessible.

One would discover, like I did, that most snake rescuers are hobbyists or affiliated with non-governmental organizations. This calls for a great deal of effort to gain the required knowledge and skill to handle snakes properly. For examples, you’ll only find snake shelters in urban areas. Usually,most snake rescuers free the snake back to nature in forested areas.

Mostly, snake calls in India are distress calls. For example, recently one of my friends called me up on a holiday. He was panicking after he found a snake at his place. Over the years, it’s become almost predictable as to which snakes are found in certain areas in different seasons. However, they never seem to stop surprising me.

Snake rescuing culture in India is still developing. Although it has gained some momentum, it still has a long way to go.
…read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

This fall, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added two little-known prairie butterflies to the Endangered Species Act. One of the species, the Poweshiek skipperling, may be down to only a few hundred individuals. The Dakota skipperling is faring a little better, but both have lost the majority of their habitat in the pass few hundred years and continue to decline.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

A Queensland reptile park owner is recovering in hospital after a crocodile bit off his thumb in front of horrified families during a daily feeding show.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

Stuck in the middle of a drought that may last years, endangered turtles in California were given a roof-top reprieve.

From CBS:

With so much of the fresh water lost to evaporation, what’s left is highly concentrated with minerals and very salty. And that has left the turtles in bad shape.

The USGS researchers called Shaffer when they noticed that not only were the turtles lethargic, but some of their heads, feet and shells were coated in a thick white crust of mineral deposits.

“Some of them looked like ceramic turtles,” Shaffer said. “Between the biologists who were out there and me, we have a hundred years of turtle experience and we had never seen turtles look like this.”

So they mobilized, collecting 60 turtles from the arid lakebed and transporting half to the Turtle Conservancy’s captive breeding facility in Ojai, and the other half to UCLA, where Shaffer and his team set up a reptile refugee camp on the roof of the botany building.

Read more here. …read more
Read more here: King Snake

It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user PH FasDog!

Baby Alligator, uploaded by kingsnake.com user PH FasDog” />

Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake

By Herp News

A Queensland reptile park owner who was mauled by a crocodile in front of zoo visitors has been flown to a Brisbane hospital for plastic surgery.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Last month, on the 66th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 2014 ended very much the same way it began at …

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

A Queensland reptile park owner who was mauled by a crocodile in front of zoo visitors has been flown to a Brisbane hospital for plastic surgery.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Now that cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs has outed members the group that took out the PlayStation and Xbox Live networks over Christmas, the hackers are coming after him. “Lizard Squad” has …

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Now that cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs has outed members of Lizard Squad, the Internet trolls are after him.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

A MAN has been attacked by a crocodile at a Queensland reptile park.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

The Oregon Coast Aquarium says a sea turtle that was near death after washing up on the coast last week is getting better.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Frogs exhibit an amazing variety of reproductive behaviors, ranging from brooding their eggs in their mouths to carrying tadpoles on their backs. Fewer than a dozen species of 6,000+ worldwide have developed internal fertilization, and some of these give birth to froglets instead of eggs. One species that has internal fertilization, a fanged frog from the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, has been observed to give direct birth to tadpoles, which is unique among amphibians.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Dec. 31, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $384.9 million and its unaudit

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Tortoise MLP Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Dec. 31, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $2.2 billion and its unaudited net asset value

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Dec. 31, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $251.3 million and

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. today announced that as of Dec. 31, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $4.2 billion and its unaudited net

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Dec. 31, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $430.0 million and its unaudi

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com

By Herp News

A sea turtle found hypothermic and dehydrated on a beach in southwest Washington is showing signs of improvement after a week of rehabilitation at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Go to Source

…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com