It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user draybar!
Blackbelly Salamander, uploaded by kingsnake.com user draybar” />
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By Herp News
Evolve, the four versus one shooter from Left 4 Dead creators Turtle Rock, is a bigger game than you think. It's not just a game of hunting down a giant monster (or hunting as a giant monster), it's also a game of rescue, MOBA-like base defense and egg-smashing strategy, the developer has revealed. Turtle Rock's shooter is also a game with a story that's told dynamically, featuring a cast of a …
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By Herp News
OMAK — The Reptile Man is bringing his educational program to town today. The event will recognize youth and substance abuse prevention, and that family perceptions play a role in youth use of substances, Omak Middle School Principal Kathleen Miller said.
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By Herp News
Charles Darwin noted more than 150 years ago that animals on the Galapagos Islands, including finches and marine iguanas, were more docile than mainland creatures. He attributed this tameness to the fact that there are fewer predators on remote islands.
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By Herp News
The Anjouan scops owl—an elusive owl found only on its tiny eponymous island—was once considered among the world’s most endangered owls, and even the most threatened birds. However, the first in-depth survey of the owls on the island finds that, in fact, the population is far larger than initially estimated.
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By Herp News
Lizard Squad hackers have warned Xbox Live customers that the brief service disruption they experienced Monday was only a preview of more widespread outages they plan to carry out on Christmas.
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By Herp News
Baby sea turtles vanish after they scamper into the ocean. Years later, juvenile turtles may pop up thousands of kilometers away, but often scientists don’t see them again until they return to their birthplaces to nest on the beach. Now, using tiny tracking tags weighing no more than two watermelon seeds, a team has followed newborn loggerhead turtles during their first critical hours at sea, revealing how they evade predators and hitch rides on the ocean’s currents.
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The obvious solution for my turtle and tortoise pond dilemma was simple: hard plastic kiddie pools. They’ve been used uncountable times for this and similar situations, and for most people, they’re the preferred option.
While they have some immediately obvious, and a few less obvious, problems, I still ended up trying this pond idea in a pen just to see how difficult the issues were to overcome.
Even though it was beyond “pool” weather for the year, I was able to track down some 3-foot round “dog washing pools” at Petco for $10 that were the right size and shape, even if they had a giant bone imprinted on the bottom. I probably seemed a little odd buying 12 of them, but they were almost out for the year and I wanted to be prepared if this was the best choice for all the ponds. If not, they would still be useful as temporary turtle and tortoise pens.
The first, and most obvious issue, is that kiddie pools have steep plastic sides made of hard plastic that would be difficult if not impossible for a box turtle to climb out of on its own. One suggested fix was to use rocks piled up in the pool to provide entrances and exits, and in the end this is what I did.
While finding enough of the right sized rocks for one pond was easy, it took no time at all to determine that I would be buying a truck full of rocks if I had to do this in 96 ponds. And while replacing the rocks with concrete was a solution, again I saw myself having to buy a truckload of concrete, as well as 96 kiddie pools at $10 each, and 96 drain plugs.
The second major issue was that it took four times as long to excavate all the dirt required to seat the pond in the ground, as it was substantially deeper and larger than the first pond. I did this with a shovel and a water hose. Again I used the auger to create a 3-4 gallon sump in the excavation, but as the pool holds 20 gallons of water or more, it takes a while to drain out.
Once in place the Gulf Coast Box Turtles used it, but the steep sides made it difficult for them to enter and exit. Often they had to splash around, frustrated, until they gained footing on the rocks. While I am still testing the kiddie pool as turtle pond, it is likely to get replaced over the winter. While this is a “workable” solution for one or two ponds, it doesn’t scale well to my needs.
In part 3, I’ll try another solution! …read more
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Western pond turtles have great friends at Sonoma State.
From the Record Searchlight:
Every year as a part of what’s called a “Head Start Program,” a team of researchers from Sonoma State collect turtle eggs from a pond, hatch the babies and send them to Turtle Bay, the San Francisco Zoo and the Oakland Zoo. Crews care for the babies until they’re big enough to avoid becoming another animal’s lunch.
“It gives them a bit of a push out there, a little more of an advantage because there’s so many invasive species of turtles that are pushing them out because they’re so much bigger than them,” Turtle Bay animal trainer Adrienne John said.
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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user chrish!
Blackbelly Salamander, uploaded by kingsnake.com user chrish” />
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By Herp News
SAN MATEO, Calif., Dec. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – Marketo Inc. (MKTO), the leading provider of engagement marketing software and solutions, today announced that Turtle Bay Resort has selected Marketo's engagement marketing platform to more deeply understand the customer lifecycle and deliver personalized communications to build and nurture lifelong relationships. Prior to implementing Marketo …
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It was several decades ago, when most of Florida’s caves were open to human intrusion, that I first met Florida’s little blind salamander.
A friend took me to cave (that I then thought huge) in Calhoun County. It was by far the biggest cave I had ever been in, and soon after entering I was not at all sure that I really wanted to be there. But I had been told that it was a prime locale for the little Georgia blind salamander, Haideotriton wallacei, a ghostly pale neotenic species that I badly wanted to see.
After I entered I stood contemplating the all surround darkness and probably would have continued standing had not one of my companions (they were all spelunkers familiar with the cave) called from far ahead “Dick, there’s one here. In fact, there’s two. I’m going to turn my light out so I don’t spook them.”
I chose an area that looked like it would be easy to walk along and moved as quickly as possible towards the disembodied voice. Fortunately there were no forks or hidden chambers and soon I could see Ed standing quietly awaiting my arrival.
And I got to see the little plethodontid.
Today, although these salamanders have now been found in many additional underground sites, the closures of many locales to human intrusion has made it more difficult for field herpers and hobbyists to see them.
I’m glad that I had several opportunities.
Continue reading “Florida’s Blind Salamander” …read more
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An alligator recently killed in Mississippi had Civil War era musket balls in his hide.
From the World News Daily Report:
A group of Mississippi hunters who shot and killed an alligator weighting 910 pounds (413 kilograms) on Sunday, were amazed when they discovered that the animal already bore injuries caused by musket ammunitions from the Civil War era. A total of 9 spherical projectiles was found, and the various tests and analysis realized on them have confirmed that they were indeed fired at the animal in the 19th Century.
Nine of the wounds on the animal are believed to have been caused by Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-muskets. These old injuries were concentrated around the animals tail and hind legs, suggesting that the reptile could have possibly been used as a target for shooting practise by Confederate troops.
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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user dickvisser!
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By Herp News
The Lizard Patrol claims to have brought down Xbox Live with a DDOS attack.
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By Herp News
Loggerhead who recuperated in Galway will move to sanctuary in Las Palmas
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By Herp News
Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Nov. 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $259.4 million and
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By Herp News
Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. today announced that as of November 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $443.6 million and its u
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By Herp News
Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Nov. 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $400.1 million and its unaudit
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By Herp News
Tortoise MLP Fund, Inc. today announced that as of Nov. 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $2.3 billion and its unaudited net asset value
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By Herp News
Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. today announced that as of Nov. 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $4.4 billion and its unaudited ne
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By Herp News
Fierce predatory sharks rule the oceans from the apex of the food pyramid. But climate change may be tougher than these marine hunters, a new study suggests. As oceans warm and their waters become more acidic, fewer sharks may survive their infancies.
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By Herp News
Grammy-winning R&B singer Frank Ocean released the new track “Memrise” on his Tumblr to plenty of blogger buzz, and Glasgow producer Turtle has shared “Lavender,” the first track from his second EP.
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By Herp News
Life in modern Egypt clings to the Nile River. This crowded green strip within the desert supports more than 2,300 people per square kilometer (6,000 per square mile). But 6,000 years ago, all of Egypt was green and vibrant, teeming with life much like the current Serengeti. Over time, this rich ecosystem fell apart.
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Box turtles, though primarily terrestrial, love to splash around in the water, and of course box turtles need access to fresh drinking water, too.
Tortoises need access to fresh water as well, so it’s a natural that some type of pond should be included in an outdoor enclosure, even if only deep enough to provide a ready source of fresh drinking water.
I wanted ponds that were deep enough for the turtles and tortoises to immerse themselves, but not big enough to require major maintenance or financial outlay. They needed to be very basic and easily reproduced. They had to be sloped enough to allow the turtles and tortoises easy and safe access, and they had to be easy to clean. I wanted ponds that could be flushed weekly rather than requiring filters that would have to be powered in some manner.
In looking for the right solution, I tried a number of options used successfully by other people. All of them had and have issues.
My initial design had a small rectangular pond excavated from each pen, framed in wood, and concreted in with a sump and drain plug.
For my first test pen, I used this design. I used a shovel to excavate most of the pond, and the auger to create a deep 3-4 gallon sump at the lowest spot. I used some hard plastic from an underbed box lid, and cut a rough cover for the sump hole.
In the center of the plastic, I inserted a 1-5/8 PVC pipe to provide a drain, and placed the plastic with the pipe over the sump hole. With the sump hole covered carefully first so the plastic didn’t cave in under the weight, it took around two 60-lb bags of quik-crete to fill my pond excavation, which when cured held approximately 3 gallons of water.
While this worked well and was relatively inexpensive, it seemed more labor-intensive than I’d like. By framing it, the dirt had to be excavated further than planned and required more concrete to build back the slopes.
However, the 3-toed box turtles loved it, and within 24 hours were happily splashing around. The pond allowed them easy access in and out, and was just deep enough to submerge. The biggest issue was that I failed to give the pond a “lip” that would prevent heavy rains from washing down into the pond, so it needs to be flushed if rainwater fills it with mud.
With the first pond down I wanted to try some other ideas. Stay tuned for part 2! …read more
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More than one thousand endangered sea turtles have been seized by Vietnamese environmental police.
From :
“The turtles were all dead,” an official of the Ministry of Public Security’s environmental police department, Le Hong Thai, said. “They were meant to be processed into handicrafts for export to China,” he added.
“The case is under investigation, so we cannot reveal the number of detainees or any other details,” he said.
Vietnamese law protects five native marine turtles, making it a criminal offense to hunt, trade, or store them.
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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Phil Peak!
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By Herp News
In his nearly 10 years studying anacondas in the Amazon, researcher and conservationist Paul Rosolie, 27, has faced his share of danger. The giant reptile is known to grow up…
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By Herp News
A BUM-BREATHING turtle is not something you hear of every day and without more protection it won’t be heard of anymore either.
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By Herp News
Boris Johnson chased a lizard through a tropical paradise today as he visited Singapore's botanic garden to endorse the site's bid to become a world heritage site (WHS).
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By Herp News
A BUM-BREATHING turtle is not something you hear of every day and without more protection it won’t be heard of anymore either.
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By Herp News
This notice provides stockholders of Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. with information regarding the distribution paid on Nov. 28, 2014 and cumulativ
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By Herp News
This notice provides stockholders of Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. with information regarding the distribution paid on Nov. 28, 2014 and cumulative distribu
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By Herp News
The Turtle Back Zoo is hosting a weekend holiday lights spectacular.
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It was time to add the hoophouse roof, but as planned, the final greenhouse would be considerably larger than this first prototype.
That’s why I only wanted a temporary solution, until I could determine the size of the final greenhouse, and could plan accordingly. Thus I wanted to try to use the 16-foot steel livestock panels as a temporary solution, and didn’t want to permanently affix them to the structure.
Allowing the remaining posts concrete to set overnight, I then placed the steel livestock panel arches into the pens, allowing the bottom of one end to dig into the dirt while I pushed from the other side.
As the other end stopped upon encountering the wall, it began to bow upwards, forming the arch needed for the roof. Once the end I was pushing was also inside the pen, I set it down, allowing the spring effect to push it outward and dig into the dirt as well.
Were this the plan for the permanent solution for the roof, and had this been as big as I was planning it would have been, I would have framed the bottom with 2x4s and cemented the livestock panels in as well. As it was, only their weight, and the pressure exerted by their spring tension from being bent, held them in place, which was enough for a temporary solution.
Once I had the livestock panels in place, I covered the whole thing with poultry wire and then zip-tied some inexpensive tarps across the top to provide temporary shade.
And we were ready for turtles. Not finished, but ready enough to move them from their temporary home.
This worked really well, was quick to build out, used a minimal of materials at hand or easily available, and could be finished as-is with doors, or expanded to be part of a larger entity. Since I had purchased the auger, I had long ago decided to make this part of a larger entity. But, would my design expand in real life as well as it did on the computer? I was about to find out — and so will you, in the next in this series!
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Check out this video “Pink Eastern Worm Snake,” submitted by kingsnake.com user Minuet.
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It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cycluracornuta!
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By Herp News
For Stu McKenzie, guitarist and “creative director” in local psychedelic garage band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, the process of making an album is more than a linear aggregation of distinct songs.
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By Herp News
A Loggerhead Turtle that was washed up on the Clare coast in November last year is set to return to warmer climes in time for Christmas.
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By Herp News
For Stu McKenzie, guitarist and “creative director” in local psychedelic garage band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, the process of making an album is more than a linear aggregation of distinct songs.
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