By Herp News

The Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, has pledged $100 million to combat poaching in Africa during a visit to the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.

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By Herp News

CHICAGO, May 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – Life is not for sitting idly by – especially when there's a freshly washed and waxed car waiting to help you get out and go.  That's why Turtle Wax® is introducing the Get Out There and Shine campaign – celebrating the miles of smiles a freshly waxed car brings to drivers everywhere.  Before hitting the road this summer, Turtle Wax wants drivers to share …

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While dad’s out screwing around, glass frog (Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni) embryos have to take care of themselves — and they do.

From Discovery News:

(S)cientists discovered that glass-frog eggs hatched about 21 percent earlier on average when the fathers were removed. They hatched up to about 34 percent earlier when conditions were drier, suggesting that dehydration was the cue the eggs relied on to hatch early.

“Embryos can cope with delinquent dads,” Delia said.

The researchers suggest this kind of embryo behavior may be common among species that provide care to eggs, such as insects, bony fishes and amphibians. “Variation in parental care seems to be the norm rather than the exception,” Delia said.

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Fines from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill are being used to help save the lives of sea turtle hatchlings.

Disoriented by the lights of civilization, the newly-hatched turtles often blunder into traffic instead of the sea. By retrofitting nearby homes and businesses with LED lights, however, the risk to the baby tutles is dramatically reduced, because they operate on a frequency the hatchlings can’t see.

From Scientific American:

A lot of the money to fund these retrofits comes out of criminal penalties from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which killed or otherwise affected an estimated 100,000 sea turtles. The first two years of the STC’s retrofit efforts were financed by the Recovered Oil Fund for Wildlife (which itself was created with money from Deepwater owner British Petroleum); the organization just received additional funding from the similar Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, both of which are administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

This restitution money, Godfrey says, “has allowed us to actually work with private property owners to go ahead and convert their lights, to work with them, to supplement the money they’re spending. We match money they put in. In some cases where the problem is particularly heinous and the property owners just don’t have the money to fix the problem, we can actually go in and do it for them. That funding mechanism, which has been made available following the spill, has allowed a lot of major progress on this issue.”

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By Herp News

Turtles are more closely related to birds and crocodilians than to lizards and snakes, according to a study that examines one of the most contentious questions in evolutionary biology. The research team looked at how the major groups of living reptiles, which number more than 20,000 species, are interrelated. The relationships of some reptile groups are well understood — birds are most closely related to crocodilians among living reptiles, while snakes, lizards and New Zealand’s tuatara form a natural group. But the question of how turtles fit into this evolutionary picture has remained unclear.

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I found Turtle Times while doing a search on how to take care of my newly acquired turtles. (Link can be found here). The turtles were originally under my Mom’s care and after some rough patches Mom had to leave which left the Trio behind as she was unable to take them with. She had trusted her ex to take care of them but that was a no go. He wasn’t mean to them, he just forgot about them. I’m not exactly sure how you can forget about them when they’re right there every time you walk in the front door but its not like they are dogs that can let him know.

So the Trio came home with us on either April 19 or 20th to be honest I can’t remember and that’s okay as it certainly doesn’t seem like it was just the other day. And I mean that in a good way. They have filled a blank place that I didn’t know I had. I love watching them and learn the little quirks that make them them.

Their set up is pretty simple. It’s a glass tank that is almost as long as I am tall (I’m 5 foot 4 and 1/2…that half counts dimmit!) and roughly about a foot across and sits on an old dresser that is the same length and just a little wider. The bottom of the tank is filled with sand, then a later of dirt.

From just bumming around Turtle Times I’ve learned quite a bit and karencjacomehas been wonderful help. I’ve learned a LOT. I’ve since added a pile of leaf litter to the cooler end of the tank where they love to hide and the dirt is deeper down there as well so that Hotrod and Teddy could burrow down. I use an aluminum pie pan for their water and have dug into the dirt so that the pan sits flat in the dirt and makes it easy for them to get in and out in their mad dash to the sunny end of the tank.

Food is placed on a large flat rock next to the water pan which seems to be something they like. I started out finding greens for them, clover, dandelions, “pig weed” shoots and grass with the little turtle stick food that came with them. I quickly discovered that they didn’t like the stick food as much as it was assumed and the “turtle treats” aren’t touched at all. After a few trial and errors I learned that they’d eat the stick food for aquatic turtles as long as it wasn’t put in the water. They don’t like it in the water and I don’t blame them since it often looks like something that has come out their other end.

But we have now discovered apples and grapes….oh my god…I think they would seriously eat their body weight …read more
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By Herp News

A retired farmer in Accokeek, Md., has made a big find in the world of paleontology. Experts have confirmed he found evidence of a prehistoric reptile along his creek bed.

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By Herp News

A retired farmer in Accokeek, Md., has made a big find in the world of paleontology. Experts have confirmed he found evidence of a prehistoric reptile along his creek bed.

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In case you ever wax nostalgic for the age of the giant reptiles, a quick read of The Paleoart of Julius Csotonyi will probably change your mind.

In this image, for instance, the artist has depicted the events that must have led to a block of fossils found in Utah. Not exactly anyone’s idea of a good time.

See more over on Wired Science. …read more
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By Herp News

In honor of World Turtle Day on May 23, several Florida hotels are celebrating while also helping turtle conservation efforts.

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By Herp News

Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. today announced that as of April 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $242.9 million an

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By Herp News

Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. today announced that as of April 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $441.8 million and its unau

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By Herp News

Tortoise North American Energy Corp. today announced that as of April 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $307.2 million and its unaudited

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By Herp News

Tortoise North American Energy Corp. today announced that as of April 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $307.2 million and its unaudited

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By Herp News

Tortoise MLP Fund, Inc. today announced that as of April 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $2.2 billion and its unaudited net asset valu

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By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. today announced that as of April 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $2.5 billion and its unaudited n

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By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. today announced that as of April 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $488.0 million and its unaudi

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By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Capital Corp. today announced that as of April 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $1.3 billion and its unaudited net asse

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By Herp News

Tortoise Energy Capital Corp. today announced that as of April 30, 2014, the company’s unaudited total assets were approximately $1.3 billion and its unaudited net asse

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Christian Dior fine jewelry creative director Victoire de Castellane likes snakes. If you like her beautiful designs, however, be prepared to bring a bucket of money — prices start at $150,000 per piece.

Fortunately, looking is free.

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By Herp News

Paul Miller Racing R8 LMS takes second place in GTD Flying Lizard's Spencer Pumpelly maintains commanding lead of race before running out of fuel on final lap Flying Lizard place 5th and 6th at Laguna Seca Audi R8 LMS customer racing cars finish a strong 2nd, 5th and 6th at TUDOR United SportsCar race at Laguna Seca in GTD class

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By Herp News

LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – The Naked Turtle Rum and Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) are stoked to announce the second year of Kill the Lights, Save the Turtles.

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By Herp News

Flying Lizard Motorsports was able to take the pole and 5th place starting positions for today's two-hour TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race despite an interrupted qualifying session caused by a car stuck in the Turn 4 gravel. After only six minutes the red flag came out and the team returned to pit lane. The session did restart however and was extended by enough time to meet the … Keep …

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By Herp News

Little Ray of Little Ray's Reptile Zoo shows off a python to a room filled with excited children at the RE/MAX Centre in St Johns Saturday.

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By Herp News

If you want to talk turtle, Greg Levish is your man and the Crooked Creek Environmental Learning Center on Saturday is the place to do …

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By Herp News

The House cliffhanger vote on the  last day of the legislative session was met with applause. It was an end to a decades-long fight to keep country, country. Click here to watch Catherine Cruz's report. “I think we have to celebrate today's victory and again, it's not just for the residents of the North Shore. It's for everyone who comes to visit our slice of paradise,” said Mark Cunningham …

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By Herp News

The House cliffhanger vote on the  last day of the legislative session was met with applause. It was an end to a decades-long fight to keep country, country. Click here to watch Catherine Cruz's report. “I think we have to celebrate today's victory and again, it's not just for the residents of the North Shore. It's for everyone who comes to visit our slice of paradise,” said Mark Cunningham …

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By Herp News

A simple sample of the protective mucus layer that coats a frog’s skin can now be analyzed to determine how susceptible the frog is to disease, thanks to a new technique. The findings could help scientists successfully reintroduce endangered amphibians into the wild by reducing the chance that the amphibians will be killed by diseases that may have played a role in the species’ original declines.

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Check out this video “Leopard Gecko Morphs,” 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

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A dangerous exotic lizard, probably kept as a pet, either escaped or was dumped in Scottsdale and is still on the loose. A family near 57th Street and Thunderbird Road spotted the 3-foot long, 10-pound Tegu lizard in their backyard. “It was big and ugly,” Robeta Koron told 3TV. The lizard was drinking out of a dog bowl and was tough to scare away. “It hissed at my son when …

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By Herp News

If you want to talk turtle, Greg Levish is your man and the Crooked Creek Environmental Learning Center on Saturday is the place to do …

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Often called “the babies”, “the trio” or the most recent “the Three Amigos”; Hotrod, Pokey and Teddy were originally wild with the first two found in the middle of the street that led to the railroad tracks while Teddy was found in a back yard. Thinking they were helping instead of hindering the Care Takers brought them inside and placed into a large fish tank where they have lived ever since but don’t seem to mind.

The Main Cast

Hotrod:Hotrod is a three toed box turtle with red markings on his face, neck and legs, and two yellow spots on either side of his head. Named partly for the red colouring and partly for how he rip roars down the tank from one end to the other; he’s the most outgoing of the trio. He loves to have his neck stroked, is obsessed with apples and willing to fight over grapes. He’s also the only male of the group, or at least that’s what his care taker thinks.

Pokey:Pokey is an ornate box turtle named for her original lazy disposition. Upon getting to know her she’s fairly sassy and is
Hotrod’s jousting partner when it comes to grape fights. She loves grapes and apples with the occasional turtle treat. She has the traditional yellow markings of her kind however her shell shows signs of a run in with a dog around the neck opening long before she was found. Her favorite past time is hogging the water dish for a good long soak.

Teddy: Teddy is the largest of the Three Amigos and was named by Sena Re’s mother. She’s a three toed box turtle that is brown in colour with carmel coloured eyes. She was found in a back yard missing her right hind leg but she doesn’t let that slow her down being not only the largest but also the fastest of the trio. She’s not entirely out going but under the right circumstances she’s happy to stick her head out. She loves when Sena Re talks to her in strange voices and shows it but coming out to bob her head. She loves to have the butt of her shell rubbed and is quite happy to be held, have the butt of her shell rubbed and watch the birds in the front yard. Her favorite food is chopped apples, she loves burrowing into the dirt under the leaf litter in the trio’s tank and hanging out on the sunshine end of the tank and watch the world go by.

The Caretakers

Sena Re: This is me. You can see a picture of me up in the upper left hand corner of the screen. I’ve always loved turtles and whenever I come across them in the road I stop and find a way to get them out of the way and off in the direction that they were heading in..Even if they …read more
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By Herp News

Update: We've received a comment from Josh Olin further clarifying his Twitter remarks and on his termination by 2K Games and Turtle Rock. Josh Olin: “Anyone who follows me knows my tweets were not in support of Sterling's actions. Rather, they were promoting three core tenets I believe in: 1) The harm sensational media presents to society. 2) The importance and sanctity of your privacy within …

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By Herp News

Waltzing Matilda, a gecko lizard, has been reunited with her tearful young owner – all thanks to the power of the internet.

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Greg bought me a Fitbit. It’s a little device I wear on my person that tracks my steps, activity levels, calories burned and sleep. All that information is transmitted to my own personal fitness page where I can also enter what I’ve eaten. I can clearly see how food and activity directly effect my bottom line…you know, my weight. It’s been a real eye opener.

Yes, moving from a three story house to a one story house had a huge impact on my fitness: I gained weight. So, Greg getting me this Fitbit helps track my heath and fitness. Since I’ve started using the Fitbit I have return to my normal weight.

I’d like to say that this miracle is due to a change of diet but I can’t really say that. Since I dropped all hydrogenated oils from my diet nearly 15 years ago maintaining a healthy weight is pretty simple. I’ve made just a few adjustments to food intake but still get ice cream and organic peatnut butter nearly every week. It’s activity that has made the difference

Nope, it’s not the food. It’s Frankie.

Reviewing yesterday’s activity level on my FitBit there was this huge spike of activity at 10:00 am. That was me raking all the leaves and branches from Frankie’s yard. I gotta do this almost every day if there is ever going to be grass in his yard. I gotta water it everyday, by hand, to get that grass growing. Unless it rains. Then I get a day off.

And since there is so little grass in Frankie’s yard I have to drive twice a day (2X!) somewhere and pull up grass and weeds enough to fill a plastic garage bag. According to Fitbit pulling up grass for 30 minutes every day is “high activity.”

Does stress count? This last week I was at this empty lot next to a shopping center pulling up red clover (huge stalks!) when this beat up old Chevy pulled up next to me. I realize it must be a strange sight but why would anyone what to bother what clearly must be a scavenging homeless woman stuffing grass in a plastic bag?

This rough old guy leans out this his window and starts asking some really silly questions: “What are you picking?” What you gonna do with that clover.” “Your feeding it to a turtle?”

All these questions were quite distracting from my real worry that I am not carrying a gun or even a knife to protect myself. I could throw the bag of clover at him if he makes one false move but then I would have to pick another bag of clover for Frankie. See. I am burning calories.

And if I don’t have a bag of clover for Frankie then I have to take him on a walk. This is where the Fitbit goes through the roof.

The minute that gate opens Frankie trots …read more
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By Herp News

Tortoise Capital Advisors today announced the introduction of the Tortoise VIP MLP & Pipeline Portfolio, an investment solution serving the variable annuity market. The variable insurance portfolio will invest primarily in equity securities of MLP and pipeline companies that own and operate essential North American energy infrastructure assets, with an investment objective of total return.

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By Herp News

Once almost extinct in parts of Europe in the late 17th century, the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) eventually bounced back, and how: today, it is one of the most widespread deer in Europe. But will its luck dry out in the future? A new study published in PLoSBiology suggests that while roe deer populations are still increasing, it may not be adapting to climate change.

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By Herp News

Amphibians in the West’s high-mountain areas find themselves caught between climate-induced habitat loss and predation from introduced fish. A novel combination of tools could help weigh where amphibians are in the most need of help.

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By Herp News

For three years, Ramsey Langford searched for a spotted turtle in two Summit County parks. And found nothing.

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By Herp News

Students at St. Edward School in New Iberia got a hands-on lesson on reptiles today. One of the nation's leading reptile experts was on hand to teach the students about their impact on wildlife throughout the world. The students were also able to interact with a few animals, including an alligator, snapping turtle and corn snake.  

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