An alligator snapping turtle was found in Oregon reservoir last week.

From KGW.com:

It was the first time the invasive species was found in eastern Oregon, according to Rick Boatner of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The species is native to the southeastern United States, Boatner said. It can grow to 250 lbs.

“I’d hate to see these turtles get established in Oregon,” Boatner said. “We already have problems in the Willamette Valley with common snapping turtles.”

He added that the alligator snapping turtle can be very aggressive, and it’s a safety hazard to people.

“It has quite a bite,” he said.

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By Herp News

A rare turtle sighting is making waves on B.C.'s north coast.

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As long-time followers of The Prudent Speculator would be quick to attest, the ideas that we convey are simple and consistent. Like the turtle in the Tortoise and the Hare, we believe that long-term investment success favors those who hunt for value as opposed to chasers of hot trends. Readers of these posts know that I have been preaching this idea in nearly all of my missives. Of course, with …

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With the help of DNA tests, scientists have declared a new dolphin species that dwells off the coast of northern Australia. The discovery was made after a team of researchers looked at the world’s humpback dolphins (in the genus Sousa), which sport telltale humps just behind their dorsal fins. While long-known to science, the new, as-yet-unnamed species was previously lumped with other humpback dolphins in the Indo-Pacific region.

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Green sea turtle nests have exceeded the state’s expectations this year.

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Let’s go surfin’ now, all the snakes are learnin’ how…

Okay, not all the snakes. But some Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes have been spotted on a Florida beach and in the ocean recently.

From WFTV.com:

Valeh Levy shot video Friday New Smyrna Beach but said her son was one of the first surfers to spot the snake in the waves.

“My son came running up toward my minivan and he said, ‘Mommy, you’re not going to believe this but there’s a rattlesnake in the surf,'” Levy said.

Witnesses estimate it was 4-5 feet long and came onto the beach from the ocean. Levy said her son described how surfers tried to avoid the snake swimming right by them.

“He said the coolest part was that the snake raised half of its body up and looked out towards the surf and a wave was coming and the snake turned towards the beach and kind of let the wave bump it on in,” Levy said.

Experts said it isn’t common to see a rattlesnake in the ocean, but Smyrna Dunes Park near where the one was spotted is a natural habitat for them where they eat rats, small rabbits, and even baby raccoons.

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By Herp News

An expedition to Cape York Peninsula in north-east Australia has found three vertebrate species new to science and isolated for millions of years — a bizarre looking leaf-tail gecko, a golden-colored skink and a boulder-dwelling frog.

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Institutions and governments have been scanning human irises for years to verify one’s identity—Google has been using this method since 2011—but could iris-scanning be employed on other species as well? According to a new study in Amphibia-Reptila, the answer is ‘yes.’ Scientists have recently employed iris scanning to visually distinguish individuals of an imperiled gecko subspecies (Tarentola boettgeri bischoffi) found on Portugal’s Savage Islands off the coast of Western Sahara. l.

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A new public-service campaign in China will ask potential ivory and rhino horn buyers to see the victims of these illicit trades in a new light: as the “pandas of Africa.” The posters are a part of WildAid’s ‘Say No to Ivory and Rhino Horn’ campaign, which was launched earlier in the year.

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790 rhinos have been poached in South Africa this year, nearly a fifth higher than last year’s record toll, reports the Department of Environmental Affairs.

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Why are so many humans afraid of snakes? Scientists may have the answer.

From the LA Times:

We’re not born with a fear of snakes, but it sure seems to develop early.

Now scientists may be closer to a explaining why ophidiophobia ranks among the top fears of humans, and seems to be shared with other primates.

Researchers inserted probes into the brains of Japanese macacques and found that neurons in a part of their brain that controls visual attention were more strongly and quickly activated in response to images of snakes, versus other objects.

The results, published online Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, appear to support a theory that early primates developed advanced perception as an evolutionary response to being prey, not as an adaptation that may have made foraging or hunting easier.

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Company's Equipment Care division becomes sole vendor and installer of Green Turtle's Retroceptor™ and Microceptor™ in-kitchen wastewater treatment solutions ST. PAUL, MN, Oct. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – …

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Was the evolution of high-quality vision in our ancestors driven by the threat of snakes? New work supports this theory. In a new paper, researchers show that there are specific nerve cells in the brains of rhesus macaque monkeys that respond to images of snakes.

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Researchers from James Cook University and National Geographic discovered three new herp species — a cryptic leaf-tail gecko, a colorful skink, and a frog — during an expedition to northeastern Australia. The species are described in three papers published in October in the journal Zootaxa.

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A rambunctious reptile caused Regina firefighters to scramble Monday morning, but they soon scaled back their response.

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Scientists have found what they're describing as a “lost world” on the northern tip of Queensland, Australia, hosting at least three previously undocumented species, including a frog that makes love in the rain.

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One of the world’s least-known flying foxes could face extinction by rising seas and changing precipitation patterns due to global warming, according to a new study in Zookeys. The research, headed by Donald Buden with the College of Micronesia, is the first in-depth study of the resident bats of the remote Mortlock Islands, a part of the Federated States of Micronesia.

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The first corner on the Surfers Paradise track is not the place to be for a lizard. Photos Brian Hurst The first corner on the Surfers Paradise track is not the place to be for a lizard.

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Check out this video “Bearded Dragon eating,” submitted by kingsnake.com user captainjwl.
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A rehabilitated juvenile flatback turtle will be released into the wild and tracked by the WA Department of Parks and Wildlife using satellite technology.

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A rehabilitated juvenile flatback turtle will be released into the wild and tracked by the WA Department of Parks and Wildlife using satellite technology.

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Museum hosts annual Halloween party

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A GOOD samaritan has donated Byron Bay snake catcher George Ellis a car to use until the end of the year. The call went out for a vehicle to replace Mr Ellis' snakemobile last week, after his Holden Rodeo he had used for the past seven years broke down and was not worth getting fixed.

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The first corner on the Surfers Paradise track is not the place to be for a lizard. Photos Brian Hurst The first corner on the Surfers Paradise track is not the place to be for a lizard.

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KOTA KINABALU: The first dedicated turtle rescue centre in Sabah was officially launched yesterday, marked with the release […]

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Guwahati, Oct 26 (IANS) Police Friday arrested three people after recovering a Golden Gecko lizard from their possession, police said.

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The Las Vegas Reptile Expo will be back at the Santa Fe Station Hotel and Casino

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Scientists described at least 441 previously unknown species from Amazon rainforest between 2010 and 2013, according a new report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

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The Nilgiris, also known as the “Blue mountains,” in southern India are an extraordinary mountain range that form one of the most diverse biospheres in the country, the Nilgiri Biosphere. And the Nagarhole National Park, declared a tiger reserve in 1999 is part of this biosphere. The Kabini River flows through the National park and is the lifeline to a wide variety of flora and fauna. This river transforms Nagarhole into a water world of wonder.

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At least 441 new species of animals and plants have been discovered over a four year period in the vast, underexplored rainforest of the Amazon, including a monkey that purrs like a cat.

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People broke the law, but it’s the alligator who died.

Because Florida law prohibits relocating alligators larger than 4 feet in length, this healthy, 11-and-a-half foot animal was killed after some idiot tethered him to a tree behind an apartment complex.

From the Tampa Tribune:

That alligator gator stretched 11 feet, 6 inches and may have hatched when Richard Nixon was president, said Phil Walters, the licensed trapper called out Wednesday afternoon to corral and kill the beast behind the Rivertree Landing Apartments off Sligh Avenue, east of 56th Street.

The back of the complex borders a scenic stretch of the Hillsborough River just south of Temple Terrace.

“We had heard that a couple of people had caught and tied the gator to a tree,” Walters said.

That was indeed the case. A stretch of parachute cord stretched from a tree over a 4-foot seawall and into the river, where the gator floated at the other end of the line.

Walters said some residents told law enforcement that unidentified people “had caught it and was feeding it cats,” keeping it as a backyard pet of sorts.

Whether the cat diet rumor is true or not, Walters was unsure. He does note that it’s a bad idea to feed an alligator anything because the free food makes the reptiles lose their fear of humans and associate people on the shore with getting a snack.

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By Herp News

Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C., the adviser of NDP, NTG, TPZ, TTP, TYG, TYN and TYY, announced today the release of third quarter 2013 reports for each of these funds. The reports are available online at www.tortoiseadvisors.com.

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Scientists are providing an evolutionary explanation for severe allergic reactions. Researchers show that mice injected with a small dose of bee venom were later resistant to a potentially lethal dose of the same venom. The study is the first experimental evidence that the same immune response involved in allergies may have evolved to serve a protective role against toxins.

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The giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) is not called a giant for nothing: it weighs as much as a large dog and grows longer than the world’s biggest tortoise. However, despite its gigantism, many people in its range—from the Amazon to the Pantanal—don’t even know it exists or believe it to be more mythology than reality. This is a rare megafauna that has long eluded not only scientific study, but even basic human attention. However, undertaking the world’s first long-term study of giant armadillos has allowed intrepid biologist, Arnaud Desbiez, to uncovered a wealth of new information about these cryptic creatures. Not only has Desbiez documented giant armadillo reproduction for the first time, but has also discovered that these gentle giants create vital habitats for a variety of other species.

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Scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have captured stunning images of Andean bear families taking down camera traps in Bolivia’s Apolobamba National Natural Area of Integrated Management. In one series of images a mother and her two cubs bite, claw, and whack one of the cameras. However even as they destroy one camera, the bears’ antics are captured by another as researchers typically set several cameras to capture different views of animals, a process that helps them identify individuals.

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On Monday, we reported on an immune system characteristic that leaves amphibians particularly susceptible to the chytrid fungus, which is responsible for massive declines in amphibians populations around the world. Now, it looks like the herbicide atrazine is also increasing the susceptibility of frogs to chytridiomycosis.

From Phys.org:

USF Biologist Jason Rohr said the new findings show that early-life exposure to atrazine increases frog mortality but only when the frogs were challenged with a chytrid fungus, a pathogen implicated in worldwide amphibian declines. The research is published in the new edition of Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

“Understanding how stressors cause enduring health effects is important because these stressors might then be avoided or mitigated during formative developmental stages to prevent lasting increases in disease susceptibility,” Rohr said.

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By Herp News

A new study shows the herbicide atrazine increased mortality from chytridiomycosis, a disease causing worldwide amphibian declines.

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ODFW Wildlife Biologist Jason Journey with the invasive alligator snapping turtle captured at Prineville Reservoir. ODFW

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Alligator snapping turtle, native to the Southeast but an invasive species in Oregon, was discovered by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife last week. The alligator snapping turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in North America and can grow up to 250 pounds. 

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Peruvian fishermen slaughtered dolphins to use as bait for shark fishing, an undercover investigation has revealed. Footage showed infant and adult dolphins being harpooned then stabbed and clubbed before, in some cases, being cut open and butchered while still alive. The slaughtered dolphins were cut up and used as bait. Dolphins are also killed for human consumption in Peru even though it is illegal.

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