By Herp News
Lynchburg, VA – UPDATE: The missing tortoise has been reunited with his family. Horatio, aka Big Boy, is now back with his owner. The seven year old animal wandered away from his home on Lakeside Drive in Lynchburg last Friday night while the family worked to enlarge his enclosure.
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By Herp News
Panaji, July 31 (IANS) Using the skin of the endangered monitor lizard for the ghumat, a traditional clay drum, during the upcoming Ganesh Chaturthi festival will attract a fine of Rs.25,000 and a possibility of up to six years in jail, the Goa government cautioned Thursday. A statement issued here said ghumat aficionados should use goat skin instead. The ghumat is a specially designed clay pot …
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By Herp News
An 18-year-old girl who was arrested earlier this month on animal abuse charges after a video appeared to show her and a younger girl torturing a tortoise, is now facing a charge of lewd and lascivious battery on a younger child. According to the Clay County Sheriff's Office arrest report, Jennifer Greene “made friends” with a younger boy and then had sexual contact with him. The incident …
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By Herp News
Eight years ago, a female jaguar cub was caught on film by a motion-triggered camera trap set in the foothills of canyons, oak forest, and scrubland that make-up the Northern Jaguar Reserve, just 125 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Three years later, in 2009, the jaguar reappeared on film as an adult. They called her ‘Corazón’ for the distinctive heart-shaped spot on her left shoulder.
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Going where no gecko has gone before, Russia launched a research satellite filled with geckos who will, hopefully, mate in a zero gravity environment. The satellite briefly stopped responding to mission control’s commands, but contact was restored three days later.
From the Washington Post:
At this very moment, a Russian satellite full of geckos — (possibly) having sex — is floating around in space — and mission control has lost the ability to control it.
The Foton-M4 research satellite launched on July 19 with five geckos on board. The plan: To observe their mating activities in the zero-gravity conditions of Earth orbit. Several other earthly creatures, including plants and insects, were also placed on board for experiments.
But shortly after the satellite made its first few orbits, it stopped responding to commands from mission control. The equipment on board, however, is still sending scientific data back to earth, a spokesman for Russia’s Institute of Biomedical Problems said.
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By Herp News
The ultimate goal of all species on the planet is procreation, the act of making anew. But few mothers could contend with a deep-sea octopus, known as Graneledone boreopacifica, which researchers have recently observed guarding its eggs for four-and-a-half years (53 months), before likely succumbing to starvation soon after.
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By Herp News
Winking Lizard holding 'Vedett Fest' with free samples in August, Portside Brewery is involved with two collaborations, National IPA Day is coming up, and lots more in our beer news and notes.
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Suburban homeowners in Georgia don’t like sharing their backyards with native copperheads, giving rise to a disturbing trend.
From Slate:
Some people are trying to fight snakes with snakes. People in one neighborhood nearby, Druid Hills, which backs up to the Fernbank Forest, imported and released a bunch of black rat snakes into their yards. They hope the snakes will crowd out the copperheads and compete with them for the same food sources. The other day I attended my first-ever snake release party—complete with balloons on the mailbox, a local snake expert, and a kingsnake in a box—right in my own neighborhood after a small child was bitten on the foot while chasing fireflies.
This cannot be normal, can it?
To find out, I reached out to David A. Steen, a wildlife ecologist and research fellow at the Alabama Natural Heritage Program at Auburn University. (And a blogger and occasional writer for Slate.)
“Wow—I don’t even know where to start with what’s wrong with that,” he said of the snake release efforts.
Photo:kingsnake.com user coolhl7
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By Herp News
The Lizard returns to Oz.
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Esmerelda is my wonderful aquatic turtle. We found her as a baby, covered in ants in the park, not moving. We started with a 10 gallon tank; progressed to a 35 gallon octagon, then to a 55 gallon rectangle tank; and, finally, we have an 100 gallon pond enclosure on our back porch for her. She is now 8.5 years old.
We call her Esmie for short and she is buddies with our Rhodesian Ridgeback and Fox Terrier. If we go sit on the back porch, and if she is in her pond, she will swim to the edge and hang her head over and join in the conversation. Not verbally of course, but with attention and head movement back and forth between the talkers.
It has always been a learning experience for me as I knew absolutely nada about raising a turtle. I have managed to have good filtration always which I think is the key to a happy turtle. That and respect. I thought I had run into just about everything (I still remember the first time her flukes peeled off – I thought she was dying 
). Then we came to egg laying.
Last year was our first experience. She was extremely agitated for weeks – maybe 4 or 5. Then she was “swimming” on the back patio. Finally we researched a bit and learned that females lay unfertilized eggs. Wow!!! Now what.
We let her into the yard for several evenings, as the sand in her pen was not to her liking. Once she laid her eggs I understood why. They must be deep. After several hours of searching for the right spot, then digging and covering the task was done. She started walking “back” but kept stopping. I decided she was exhausted, so I picked her up and returned her to her pen. She was tired for several days, then was her normal self again. Almost forgot, she was ravenous during this time to. I was feeding her at least twice her normal ration.
This year, we didn’t realize she was “ready” for egg laying and our back porch door, as usual, was open during the day for the dogs to go in and out. To make a long story short, Esmie climbed out of her pen and while she had always stayed on the porch, this time she went out. We have 7 acres of property and I swear my husband and I searched all 7 acres and beyond. No Esmie. Again I searched and located a few stories of aquatic turtles leaving and returning within three days. I waited – tried to be patient. I was thrilled to walk out onto the porch the third evening to find Esmie back in her pond awaiting dinner.
Since then I believe she has decided that 3 days away is way too long. She would leave her pen and walk about …read more
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By Herp News
Scientists have added 361 new bird species to the IUCN Red List following a major taxonomic review of non-passerine birds, i.e. non-perching or non-songbirds. Worryingly, 87 of these new birds are threatened with extinction, a percentage nearly double the overall threatened percentage for all birds, which currently sits at 13 percent.
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By Herp News
The world’s worst Ebola outbreak was likely begun by a hunter shooting a fruit bat for their dinner or the market, according to the UN. The outbreak has killed over 660 people in six months to date, and recently spread via plane to Nigeria. The disease is particularly deadly with a mortality rate of around 90 percent.
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As the organism that causes chytridiomycosis in amphibians threatens their existence worldwide, a study published in the journal Nature suggests that turning up the heat and the frogs’ own immune defenses may hold the key to beating the fungus.
From the New York Times:
To find out, the scientists swabbed Bd onto the bellies of Cuban tree frogs. After the frogs became infected, the scientists cured them by taking advantage of a weakness of the fungus: it can’t survive for very long at high temperatures.
[University of South Florida chytrid expert Dr. Jason R.] Rohr and his colleagues kept their frog chambers heated to 86 degrees for 10 days, after which the fungi disappeared. The scientists then repeated this procedure three more times.
Frogs that had already been exposed to Bd produced a much stronger immune response to a new infection, the scientists found. They produced more immune cells, and the fungus produced fewer spores.
The exposed frogs were also much more likely to survive an infection than a frog exposed for the first time. What’s more, these effects became stronger after each exposure.
Dr. Rohr and his colleagues also found that amphibians can learn to avoid the fungus. In another experiment, they put oak toads in a chamber. One side of the chamber was contaminated with fungal spores, while the other was fungus-free. They found that toads that had never been exposed to the fungus would explore both sides of the chamber, becoming infected along the way.
But toads that had previous been exposed (and cured with heat) tended to avoid the side of the chamber with the fungus. If they were exposed more than once, they were even less likely to go to there. Dr. Rohr and his colleagues are investigating how the toads learn to avoid exposure to Bd. It’s possible that the toads can detect a chemical made by the fungus.
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By Herp News
One of the world’s most bizarre animal groups is now at risk of complete eradication, according to an update of the IUCN Red List. Pangolins, which look and behave similarly to (scaly) anteaters yet are unrelated, are being illegally consumed out of existence due to a thriving trade in East Asia.
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By Herp News
STONINGTON, Conn. (AP) — Authorities say a Connecticut man shot to death his girlfriend's pet turtle.
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By Herp News
A Turtle Creek man died after being struck in the head while trying to break up a domestic fight between his neighbors this weekend.
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By Herp News
Infrared camera catches loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings emerging from nest in Fla Keys
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By Herp News
Stonington, Conn. — Authorities say a Connecticut man shot to death his girlfriend's pet turtle.
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By Herp News
Fifteen years ago, scientists knew next to nothing about one of the Amazon’s most mysterious residents: the short-eared dog. Although the species was first described in 1883 and is considered the sole representative of the Atelocynus genus, biologists spent over a century largely in the dark about an animal that seemed almost a myth.
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By Herp News
A 31-year-old Stonington man has been charged with cruelty to animals after police say he shot and killed his girlfriend's pet turtle.
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By Herp News
Infor, a leading provider of business application software serving more than 70,000 customers, today announced that Turtle & Hughes, a leading distributor of electrical and industrial equipment, has successfully …
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American Tortoise Rescue is asking parents not to let their kids get pet turtles just because they love the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
From Today Parents:
Hundreds of thousands of live turtles were purchased after each of the previous movies in the franchise, with many later dumped, deliberately killed or flushed down the toilet, the group said on its website. It estimates 90 percent of the animals died.
“We’re asking you to save a turtle’s life and perhaps even your child’s,” co-founders Susan Tellem and Marshall Thompson write in an open letter to parents.
Previous film versions of the lovable “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” story have led to thousands of pet turtles being purchased and ultimately abandoned or killed.
“Unfortunately, children do not realize that real turtles do not fly, perform stunts or do any of the exciting moves fictional movie turtles do. Parents, trying to please their children, purchased live turtles which ended up languishing in tanks.”
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By Herp News
Less than a mile from downtown Newberry, hidden almost in plain sight, sits a group of unmarked gray warehouse buildings that contain either endless wonders or the stuff of nightmares, depending on how you feel about snakes.
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By Herp News
Malaysian marine police foiled an alleged attempt to smuggle turtle eggs into Sabah by two Filipinos last Friday, the Star online reported.
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By Herp News
A baby alligator named Carlos has broken out of a Michigan zoo, thanks to a large tortoise that regularly strolls around the area. Gary Moore, who runs the GarLyn Zoo in Mackinac County, suspects that the 12-inch hatchling was able to sneak under the double fence because the tortoise wore the dirt away from the bottom of the railing.
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By Herp News
BERLIN, Md. (AP) – A sea turtle that was rehabilitated in Maryland after being found stunned by the cold in New Jersey has been returned to its natural habitat.
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By Herp News
Web-watchers were able to see about 100 baby loggerhead sea turtles hatch via a live-streaming, high definition camera.
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By Herp News
“Abe” survived overnight in a tank firefighters put him in as wildfire destroyed everything around it. pic.twitter.com/w5xlpPKm7d AMADOR COUNTY, Calif. —A 200-pound tortoise was rescued from a wildfire that destroyed much of an Amador County resort.
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By Herp News
They aren't at the level of cats and dogs yet, but reptiles are scaling upward in popularity.
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By Herp News
Repticon, a promoter of nationwide reptile and exotic animal expos, re-introduces it special 1-day-only event, ReptiDay. The event will bring the same unique blend of vendors, breeders, and educators to the Ramada Lafayette Conference Center on August 23. The expo offers hundreds of reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, spiders, and small exotic animals to area enthusiasts. Top breeders and …
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By Herp News
A black-and-white striped bandit from South America has invaded the habitat of threatened and endangered Florida wildlife, according to UF researchers.
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By Herp News
Molecular analysis helps scientists discover and describe a tiny new species of narrow-mouthed frog from the genus Chiasmocleis. The news species, Chiasmocleis quilombola is named after the quilombos — communities constituted by and used as refuges for slaves who had the brevity to escape in colonial Brazil.
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By Herp News
As a result of the Slide Fire, the burned areas of Oak Creek were at risk for ash-filled flooding due to monsoon rains. When ash blankets the habitat, the fish that the gartersnakes feed on aren’t able to survive. The ash covers rocks and small holes making it difficult for the snake to hide while hunting. Though the snakes can survive for some time without food, they will eventually starve to death. Now a team has undertaken to save the narrow-headed gartersnake in the fire’s aftermath.
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Breaking news from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission:
The two teenage girls responsible for the viral video of them torturing a gopher tortoise have been arrested today. Thanks to your concern and tips, Danielle Susan Dionne, 15, and Jennifer Emoke Greene, 18, have been arrested on charges of felony cruelty to animals, a third-degree felony.
They were also charged with a second-degree misdemeanor: taking, harassing, harming or killing a gopher tortoise.
The FWC worked with the State Attorney’s Office of the Fourth Judicial Circuit to decide the appropriate charges related to the crime. State Attorney Angela Corey said, “We are committed to fully prosecuting those responsible for the torture and death of this vulnerable and threatened species.”
The video, which is highly disturbing, can be viewed on the FWC’s Facebook page.
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By Herp News
Horny geckos are spiraling through outer space on a fantastic voyage that may never end.
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Check out this video “Bullfrog Calling,” submitted by kingsnake.com user PH FasDog.
Submit your own reptile & amphibian videos at http://www.kingsnake.com/video/ and you could see them featured here or check out all the videos submitted by other users! …read more
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By Herp News
Gomez bought it to surprise his son, but took it to the ballpark first.
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By Herp News
The lusty geckos will have plenty of time alone.
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By Herp News
Myrtle Beach State Park ranger Ann Malys Wilson isn’t worried about a quiet sea turtle season – which ends in August – following a record year in 2013.
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By Herp News
It's not the year of the turtle. Only half as many sea turtle nests as usual have been laid at Cape Island, which usually holds one-third of the nests laid from North Carolina through Georgia. The rest of the coast is no better. But wildlife biologists say an “off” year was expected.
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