By Herp News
THE first tagged female flatback turtle to be released at Eimeo Beach has been sent on her way.
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First turtle release for Eimeo Beach
First turtle release for Eimeo Beach
By Herp News
THE first tagged female flatback turtle to be released at Eimeo Beach has been sent on her way.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Galveston officer removes large reptile from home
By Herp News
A large reptile has been removed from a Galveston home after a nearby animal control officer noticed a “Beware of alligator” sign.
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Galveston officer removes large reptile from home
By Herp News
GALVESTON — A large reptile has been removed from a Galveston home after a nearby animal control officer noticed a “Beware of alligator” sign.
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The incredible disappearing terrapin
One lucky animal narrowly escaped being a meal for a hungry crocodile.
From the Express:
The tiny turtle was thrown into the air by the predator, but managed to slip from its mouth and back into the water thanks to the wet surface of its shell.
Later, the lucky terrapin was spotted chilling out on a nearby rock after its near miss.
South African safari guide Mario Moreno, 49, snapped the exhilarating incident when visiting Lake Panic in Kruger National Park.
Read more here. …read more
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The third amphiuma
Which amphibian is so slender and attenuate that it looks like a hefty nightcrawler, has two tiny eyes, four legs that are so short and slender that they are easily overlooked, and only one toe on each foot?
If you guessed that it is an amphiuma, you were right on target.
It is the third and least known of the amphiuma species, a foot long nocturnal caudatan, the one-toed amphiuma, Amphiuma pholeter, that lives out its life in deep beds of soupy mud of slurry-like consistency. Although it was described in 1964, it has been only for the last two decades that this taxon has become known to many.
Many of its habitats are on posted private land or in state parks that require permits carry on a search. Found in Florida’s Big Bend counties, the Florida panhandle, extreme southwestern Georgia, southern Alabama, and southeastern Mississippi, the one-toed amphiuma is a Gulf Coast specialty and one that I am always happy to see.
Continue reading “The third amphiuma” …read more
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Galveston officer removes large reptile from home
By Herp News
A large reptile has been removed from a Galveston home after a nearby animal control officer noticed a “Beware of alligator” sign.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Herp Photo of the Day: Rat Snake!
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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Evolve gets bigger with four new Hunters, new modes and an addictive dynamic campaign
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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Reptile Man coming to Omak today
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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Predators and isolation shape the evolution of ‘island tameness,’ providing conservation insights
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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New survey finds surprisingly large population of endangered owl
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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Lizard Squad Threatens To Hack Xbox Live Again For Christmas Following Brief DDoS Attack
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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Nano-tags track baby sea turtles during their first few hours
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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Building ponds for a herp greenhouse, part 2
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
Read more here: King Snake
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Baby turtles given a helping hand
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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Herp Photo of the Day: Blackbelly Salamander!
It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user chrish!
Blackbelly Salamander, uploaded by kingsnake.com user chrish” />
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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Turtle Bay Resort Joins the Marketo Marketing Nation to Build Lifelong Customer Relationships
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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Florida's Blind Salamander
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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Confederate soldiers may have used ancient alligator for target practice
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.
Read more here. …read more
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Herp Photo of the Day: Chinese Tree Viper!
It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user dickvisser!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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Xbox Live Down, Hackers Take Credit
By Herp News
The Lizard Patrol claims to have brought down Xbox Live with a DDOS attack.
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Endangered turtle Leona jets off to tweet from the Canaries
By Herp News
Loggerhead who recuperated in Galway will move to sanctuary in Las Palmas
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Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. Provides Unaudited Balance Sheet Information and Asset Coverage …
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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Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. Provides Unaudited Balance Sheet Information and Asset Coverage Ratio Update as …
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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Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. Provides Unaudited Balance Sheet Information and Asset Coverage Ratio Update …
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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Tortoise MLP Fund, Inc. Provides Unaudited Balance Sheet Information and Asset Coverage Ratio Update as of Nov. 30, 2014
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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Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. Provides Unaudited Balance Sheet Information and Asset Coverage Ratio Update as …
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
…read more
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Shark pups may not survive climate change
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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Most blogged artists: Frank Ocean, Turtle
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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Egyptian art helps chart past extinctions of big mammals
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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Building ponds for a herp greenhouse
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
Read more here: King Snake
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More than 1,000 dead sea turtles seized in Vietnam
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.
Read the full story here. …read more
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Herp Photo of the Day: Razorback Musk Turtle!
It’s our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Phil Peak!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
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Anaconda man speaks: Why I let the snake swallow me
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…
…read more
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Connors River's bum-breathing turtles in danger
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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Botanic garden lizard escapes Boris
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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Turtle in greater danger
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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Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. Provides Section 19(a) Notice
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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Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. Provides Section 19(a) Notice
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
…read more
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