Reptoman

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   Jun 28

Sea turtle with only three flippers digs nest

By Herp News

A female green sea turtle has displayed a champion’s ability to overcome obstacles. The turtle was rescued from a crab trap line off Key West four years ago, with a left front flipper so badly damaged it had to be amputated. Released after rehabilitation, the turtle – nicknamed Margarita – was discovered by the staff of Loggerhead MarineLife Center on June 13 in northern Palm Beach County …

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   Jun 28

Rescued turtle with 3 flippers discovered nesting on Juno Beach

By Herp News

Photo courtesy of Loggerhead Marinelife Center Posted by Miranda Grossman / CBS12 News JUNO BEACH, Fla. — A female green sea turtle, once found entangled in a crab trap line, was found nesting in Tequesta, by

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   Jun 28

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 June 28, 2013 and cumulativ

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   Jun 28

Sumatran tiger density lower than previously thought

By Herp News

The critically endangered Sumatran tiger may be even rarer than previously thought, reports a study published in the journal Oryx.

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   Jun 28

Frankie Tortoise Tails – Gentlemen Start Your Engines

A long time ago, before there was a Frankie, when I was a Wanna-Be-A-Sulcata-Owner, I hung out with turtle people to learn more about sulcata tortoises. I really wanted to have a sulcata so I listened very carefully to sulcata owners for tips and advise.

One of those sulcata owners had a large 20 year old male sulcata tortoise named “Sam.” The owner told me that he had trained Sam to come to the sound of a bell by feeding Sam a strawberry every time he rang the bell. It took Sam a while to catch on but his owner thought it was worth months of training: when that bell rings Sam comes running.

I have never tried to train Frankie to come running to the sound of a bell. I never had to train Frankie to respond to the word “carrot.” He figured that word out all by himself. A key word I’ve tried to train Frankie to understand is “No!”.

Maybe Frankie doesn’t really understand the word “NO!” but he certainly responds to my loud, high pitched, panic screams of “NO! I think it’s thetonerather than the word that catches his attention.

So Frankie does recognize the word “carrot” and “treat”. Sometimes he ignores me but usually he responds with a beeline dash in my direction the minute I say, “Hey, Frankie! Wanna carrot?”

This evening I went outside to admire Frankie grazing on a freshly mowed lawn. Upon reaching the bottom stair step and stepping onto the ground I was puzzled when I spy Frankie making a fast double-time trot in my direction with enthusiasm in those dark glistening eyes.

I hadn’t said anything. I didn’t announce myself. I didn’t say, “Hello.” I didn’t wave at Frankie or show a carrot or anything. Still, Frankie was heading my way so fast I checked my clothes to see if I was wearing orange.

I prudently took a step to the side from where Frankie was coming to avoid being shin slammed. The side step gave me a needed extra moment to wonder what Frankie was up to or was expecting from me.

There was no slow down to Frankie fervent pursuit to reach me. By the time Frankie was nose to feet with me I was still side-stepping so he didn’t run me down. Frankie finely came to a screeching halt right on my heals.

“Hello, Frankie.”

Frankie immediately started grazing all the grass around my feet.

“Okay. Well, it’s nice to see you too, Frankie.” I was a bit relived.

I took a couple steps away and sat down on the grass. Not to be left two feet away from me Frankie turned around to follow and then commenced to grazing the grass all around me.

Grazing next to my hip Frankie was dangerously close to grazing my shorts.

“No, no, no! No eating the shorts. Good Frankie.” Frankie looks …read more

Read more here: Turtle Times

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   Jun 28

Poll: People find snakes scary, want pet dinosaurs

While dogs are America’s most desired pet, and 21 percent of people rated snakes as the most terrifying of all animals, a hefty 18 percent say they want… a pet dinosaur.

From National Geographic:

Public Policy Polling interviewed 603 registered voters by telephone between June 11 and 13, asking them 36 questions relating to their views on pets, animal phobias, and other random creature preferences. The poll, which was not authorized or paid for by any campaign or political organization, had a margin of error of +/-4 percent.

[…]

1. Twenty-one percent rated snakes as the most terrifying animal, followed by alligators at 19 percent and sharks and bears at 18 and 14 percent, respectively.

2. Nine percent of those polled are vegan or vegetarian, while 91 percent are not.

3. Eighteen percent believe the Loch Ness Monster is real.

4. On preferences for an exotic pet, 26 percent said they would choose a tiger, 20 percent a giraffe, 18 percent a dinosaur, and 16 percent an elephant. (Read about exotic animals as pets.)

5. Ninety percent said they would not want a hippopotamus for Christmas—perhaps to the collective relief of hippos worldwide.

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Read more here: King Snake

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   Jun 28

Koko, an adorable tortoise-shell kitten, is looking for her ‘forever’ home

By Herp News

Koko is a 1-year-old tortoise-shell kitten with a medium, orange and black coat.

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   Jun 27

Authorities nab ringleader of poachers who killed 89 elephants in Chad

By Herp News

During one night in March, horse-riding poachers slaughtered 89 elephants in Chad, including over 30 pregnant mothers. Now officials say they have caught the ringleader behind the mass-killing: Hassan Idriss, also known as Gargaf.

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   Jun 27

The neglected giraffe: world’s tallest animal in need of conservation assistance

By Herp News

Just two year’s before his assassination, Julius Caesar brought to Rome one of the world’s most astonishing living creatures: a giraffe. The animal was among Caesar’s spoils from his campaign in Egypt and according to the Roman writer, Dio, the giraffe, which was arguably the first to ever touch European soil, was paraded in the Circus for all to see. Today, over two thousand years later, the giraffe has become one of the world’s most recognizable animals: after all nothing looks quite like it with its spotted coat, tufted horns, and, most importantly, that impossibly long neck. But less commonly known is that the giraffe is in trouble with some subspecies down to just a few hundred individuals.

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   Jun 27

The Lizard King: David Yow on Three Decades of Music and Mayhem

By Herp News

Speaking from his current home city of Los Angeles, David Yow answers his cell with a cartoonishly protracted, “Yeeeeaaahhhello” that sounds deceptively like the start of an outgoing voice mail…

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   Jun 27

Australia aims to end Japan’s whaling

By Herp News

Australia is hoping to put a permanent end to Japan’s annual slaughter of hundreds of whales in the Southern Ocean, in a landmark legal challenge that begins this week. Australia, a vocal opponent of Japan’s annual “scientific” hunts in the Antarctic, says it is confident that the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague will outlaw the hunts at the end of a highly anticipated case that is due to start on Wednesday.

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   Jun 27

German snake expert bitten, killed by venomous snake during presentation

A German snake expert lost his life after being bitten by a viper during an educationl presentation in France.

From Time:

Dieter Zorn, 53, was in the middle of a presentation about reptiles when he was bitten several times by an Aspic viper. Due to a rare allergy, he suffered a heart attack and died shortly thereafter.

Zorn had been travelling to different villages across the region, delivering presentations that focused on educating the public about snakes and reptiles and helping them overcome their fears of the creatures. After he got bitten, he managed to get the snake back into a cage, preventing it from attacking anyone else present, the Local notes.

Emergency responders arrived at the scene and attempted to administer a blood thinner, but they weren’t able to save him.

Read the full story here.

Photo: Vasily Fedosenko / REUTERS …read more

Read more here: King Snake

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   Jun 27

Two-headed turtle hatches at San Antonio zoo

By Herp News

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A two-headed turtle has hatched at the San Antonio Zoo and officials have named her Thelma and Louise.        

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   Jun 27

Two-headed turtle hatches at U.S. zoo

By Herp News

A two-headed turtle has hatched at the San Antonio Zoo and officials have named her Thelma and Louise.

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   Jun 26

Two-headed turtle hatches at San Antonio zoo

By Herp News

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A two-headed turtle has hatched at the San Antonio Zoo and officials have named her Thelma and Louise.        

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   Jun 26

Two-headed turtle hatches at San Antonio zoo

By Herp News

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A two-headed turtle has hatched at the San Antonio Zoo and officials have named her Thelma and Louise.

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   Jun 26

Ugly animals need saving, too, say scientists

There’s a new organization in the science world, the Ugly Animal Preservation Society (UAPS), “dedicated to raising the profile of some of Mother Nature’s more aesthetically challenged children.” The organization’s president, Simon Watt, is fed up with pandas getting all the attention.

From Discovery News:

Watt, who is also an evolutionary biologist, and his team definitely did not showcase cute and furry pandas at recent UAPS events held at the Edinburgh Science Fest and Bristol’s Big Green Week. Media attention instead was paid to animals such as the appropriately named blobfish.

“Our society needs a mascot, one to rival the cute and cuddly emblems of many charities and organizations,” shares Watt.

At the end of each UAPS event, the audience votes on a mascot.

One contender is the Chinese giant salamander, with a head resembling an angry block of concrete.

Read the rest, and show some uglies the love, here.

Photo: H. Zell, Wikimedia Commons …read more

Read more here: King Snake

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   Jun 26

New bird species discovered in Cambodia’s largest city

By Herp News

A previously unknown species of bird has been found hiding in plain sight after scientists photographed what was thought to be more abundant species at a construction site on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capitol and largest city. Subsequent analysis revealed the species to be distinct.

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   Jun 26

Lizard expert receives award

By Herp News

Environmental award winner Hermann Frank of Timaru says he’s pleased to be recognised, but mostly he’s pleased with the local awareness of lizards and the way conservation of them has increased over the last four years.

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   Jun 25

In 1949, search for a giant turtle consumed Churubusco

By Herp News

CHURUBUSCO, Ind. – Deep beneath the murky waters of Fulk Lake, a giant turtle – a monster, they say – trolls along the muck, looking for food and avoiding humanity.

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   Jun 25

Lizard expert receives award

By Herp News

A Timaru man’s efforts to research and protect lizards has received national recognition. Hermann Frank is one of six people to receive Forest and Bird’s Old Blue Award for services to conservation this year.

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   Jun 25

Ancient, cow-sized knobby lizard discovered in Africa

By Herp News

The eccentric animal presided over a lonely desert some 260 million years ago, when Earth was home to a single continent, Pangaea.

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   Jun 25

Reptile with knobby head that wandered ancient Earth desert described

By Herp News

SEATTLE, June 25 (UPI) — U.S. paleontologists say a bizarre reptile with knobbly growths on its head roamed a vast, isolated desert about 260 million years ago.

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   Jun 25

New maps highlight global conservation priorities

By Herp News

What region of the world has the most imperiled mammals? Where are the most bird species found? And where are new amphibians being discovered? Indonesia and Malaysia is the answer to the first question; the Amazon, the second; and the Andes, the third. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has used global data on 21,000 mammals, birds, and amphibians to create magnificent maps that highlight missing priorities for conservation.

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   Jun 25

New kind of signalling mechanism in plant cells discovered

By Herp News

Plants possess receptors which are similar to the glutamate receptors in the brain of humans and animals. Biochemists have discovered that these receptors do not, however, recognize the amino acid glutamate, but many other different amino acids.

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   Jun 25

Shrinking alligator penises and what they can tell us

Environmental contamination is causing some alligator populations to have difficulty reproducing.

From Living Alongside Wildlife:

When the sizes of penises were compared between lakes, alligators in Lake Apopka had on average 24% smaller penises than alligators in Lake Woodruff. When the time came for these juveniles to reproduce, this significant reduction in penis size made it difficult to mate and certainly didn’t impress the lady alligators.

This study showed that male alligators in Lake Apopka, which is contaminated with endocrine disruptors, were significantly different than alligators from a lake that had relatively little pollution. In order to help determine the physiological drivers, in other words the chemical pathways in the body that shape these physical differences, behind this reduction in penis size, Dr. Guillette also looked at plasma testosterone concentrations. Plasma testosterone is responsible for the formation and development of male external genitalia. He discovered that juvenile alligators in Lake Apopka had 70% lower concentrations of plasma testosterone than those at Lake Woodruff. Abnormal hormone levels like these are associated with decreased sperm counts and reduced fertility. This can be disastrous for maintaining healthy wildlife populations. The results of this study inspired Dr. Guillette to continue to look at the physiological effects of endocrine disruptors on reproductive systems.

Read the full story here. …read more

Read more here: King Snake

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   Jun 25

The-Lizard-RNLI-host-moving-ceremony-for-families-remembering-the-loss-of-the-coaster-Ardgarry

By Herp News

Byline: The Lizard RNLI host moving ceremony for families remembering the loss of the coaster Ardgarry Page Content: The Lizard RNLI lifeboat station has played host to an extraordinary gathering of families who lost relatives in a shipping disaster in December 1962. Around a hundred people came together for the first time since the Ardgarry capsized off The Lizard in a ferocious gale with the …

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   Jun 25

Hacienda Heights children off to see the lizard

By Herp News

The Lizard Wizard visited the Hacienda Heights Library on Wedneday. The show offered a hands-on journey into the fascinating world of reptiles, amphibians and arthropods.

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   Jun 24

Local volunteer group on early morning turtle patrol

By Herp News

Sea turtle nesting season is in full swing here in the Lowcountry and a nest of turtle eggs is like gold at the end of the rainbow for one group of volunteers on Kiawah Island.

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   Jun 24

Knobbly reptile roamed vast desert

By Herp News

A bizarre reptile with knobbly growths on its head roamed a vast, isolated desert about 260 million years ago, researchers say.

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   Jun 24

Fossils of ugly reptile unearthed

By Herp News

A cow-like reptile that may have been one of nature’s ugliest beasts roamed an isolated desert before the age of the dinosaurs.

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   Jun 24

trevor t. turtle – getting there

upon veiws of my so far two comments the health of my turtle has soared and upon solving my fish problem i havemade a breakthrough. a couple days ago me and my family were having catfish and my little brother dropped a cooked piece in my turtles tank. trevor ate it immedently and i went onlineto see if that was ok apparently they can eat cooked foods even with seasinings it is now one of my wishlist items for him.Thanks to those who were kind enough to share their knowledge it has really helped!! [flowers] [:turtle] …read more

Read more here: Turtle Times

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   Jun 24

On guard: protecting wildlife in a heavily hunted Brazilian forest

By Herp News

The Brazilian government offers tax relief to landowners who set aside areas for preservation. While this has expanded the system of private ecological reserves considerably, the Brazilian government currently lacks funding to enforce the protection of these lands from threats such as hunting, leaving the responsibility to the landowners.

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   Jun 24

Over 16,000 wild mammals and birds sold in Nagaland market, India, annually

By Herp News

A comprehensive survey of the wildlife sold in the markets of Tuensang has resulted in a stunning record of the wildlife trade in the state of Nagaland in northeast India, as reported in a new study published in mongabay.com’s open-access journal Tropical Conservation Science. Once a week, researchers with the Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History and the Near Chang Baptist group entered the Tuensang market and carried out intensive surveys and interviews of vendors selling wild birds or mammals.

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   Jun 24

Local people provide wildlife and forest data in park plagued by conflict

By Herp News

There are often many obstacles for scientists when gauging wildlife decline and forest loss, and one of the most difficult is civil conflict, like the situation in the Similipal Tiger Reserve in India. But a new study in mongabay.com’s open access journal Tropical Conservation Science (TCS) finds that local communities may be used to gauge forest loss and wildlife decline for baseline data when conflicts or other obstacle prevent long-term research and monitoring.

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   Jun 24

Herp Video of the Week: Two headed bearded dragon!

Check out this video “Two headed bearded dragon,” submitted by kingsnake.com user RoachMei.
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

Read more here: King Snake

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   Jun 24

WWF Malaysia calls for turtle conservation-based eco-tourism programmes

By Herp News

Terengganu, one of the locations for turtle landing, should embark on a pro-active measure to protect the exotic animal from becoming extinct. Out of seven turtle species in the world, four of them, namely the leatherback, hawksbill, olive ridley and green turtles, land in Malaysia, making the Terengganu beaches their main location to lay eggs, …        

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   Jun 23

Newly discovered pirate ant uses sickle-shaped mandibles to decimate rivals

By Herp News

A new species of ant has recently been discovered in the Hortarium of the Los Baños University in the Philippines. Scientists named it the pirate ant (Cardiocondyla pirata) due to the female’s unique pigmentation pattern: a distinctive stripe across the eyes that resembles a pirates’ eye-patch. The pirate ant belongs to a genus Cardiocondyla that are distributed worldwide, but mainly found in the tropics.

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   Jun 23

Yale scientist peers inside the turtle’s shell

By Herp News

New Haven A Yale University scientist has helped crack the mystery of how the turtle developed its shell.

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   Jun 23

WWF Malaysia Calls For Turtle Conservation-based Ecotourism Programmes

By Herp News

KUALA TERENGGANU, June 23 (Bernama) — Terengganu, one of the locations for turtle landing, should embark on a pro-active measure to protect the exotic animal from becoming extinct.

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