By Herp News
Scientists have discovered a new species of chameleon in Tanzania.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Welcome to the world: New chameleon emerges from wilds of Tanzania
Turtle soup, perchance? Prehistoric humans had a penchant for tortoises
By Herp News
Researchers have uncovered evidence of turtle specimens at the 400,000-year-old Qesem Cave site, indicating that early humans enjoyed eating turtles in addition to large game and vegetal material. The research provides direct evidence of the relatively broad diet of early Paleolithic people.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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The lizard of consistency: New iguana species which sticks to its colors found in Chile
By Herp News
During a field trip in the mountains of central Chile, scientists discovered a new endemic iguana species. Noticeably, it was characterized by size and scalation, compared to the rest of the local lizards. However, what initially grabbed the biologists’ attention was its coloration. Not only was it unlike the already described ones, but also appeared surprisingly consistent within the collected individuals, even regardless of their sex.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Snake-hunting Secretary Birds use force of five times their body weight to stamp on, kill their prey
By Herp News
Snake-hunting Secretary Birds use the force of five times their body weight to stamp on and kill their prey. Researchers have discovered that Secretary Birds can kick with 195 Newtons, which is equivalent to five times their own body weight, when they attack and kill their prey. And the contact time between the bird’s feet and the snake is delivered extremely quickly — on average just 15 milliseconds.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Snake gait: Science observes nature to invent new ways of moving
By Herp News
Snake locomotion is a source of inspiration for technology: graceful, silent, adaptable and efficient, it can be implemented on devices designed for the most diverse applications, from space exploration to medicine. A new study adds to this line of research and proposes a detailed mathematical account of one of the characteristic types of movement adopted by this animal.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Satellites show Florida beaches becoming darker, and that’s good for sea turtles
By Herp News
Satellite data on artificial nighttime light in Florida from 1992-2012 was compared to robust data on sea turtle nesting for the same period, showing regulations have cut light levels to the benefit of turtles. Still, adult females are impacted by skyglow as distant as 100 km, researchers found. The research shows the value of satellite data as a conservation tool.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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New tiny arboreal toad species from India is just small enough for its own genus
By Herp News
Found on a herb bush, a toad of only 24 mm average length, was quick to make its discoverers consider its status as a new species. After identifying its unique morphological and skeletal characters, and conducting a molecular phylogenetic analysis, not only did the team introduce a new species, but also added a new genus. The new ‘Andaman bush toad’ has now been described.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Emerald and gold: Two new precious-eyed endemic tree frog species from Taiwan
By Herp News
Two endemic tree frog species, not recognized by science until now, have been identified in broadleaf forests in the island country of Taiwan. Unlike their siblings from mainland China and Southern Asia, they demonstrate reproductive behavior, characterized with egg-eating tadpole embryos feeding on eggs, while still inside the mother’s womb. What told them apart initially, however, were their gemstone-colored eyes.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Bachelor’s paradise: Female turtles outnumbering males due to warming temps
By Herp News
Rising global temperatures may skew gender imbalance among the marine turtle population, according to new research. The sex of marine hatchlings is influenced by incubating temperatures, and warmer temperatures produce a higher number of female hatchlings.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Herp Photo of the Day: Rattlesnake Friday!
This little Diamondback baby found Arizona is adorable in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kevinjudd in the field! We can only imagine the excitement at this find! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Herp Photo of the Day: Hognose
It is a whole lotta squee in this two for Thursday pair of hatching Hognose in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user caracal ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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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Northern Brown Basilisk
This is an adult female northern brown basilisk.
I was totally enthralled when, some 25 years ago, I saw my first northern brown basilisk, Basiliscus vittatus, in Florida. I had been told that they were then tenuously established, but until then I had not seen one. The fact that the example that was then in front of me, resting quietly but attentively on a blade of grass overhanging a canal, was a hatchling disclosed that at least one pair of breeders could not be too far away. Although I did not find additional examples on that trip, when, a few weeks later I again visited South Florida, I happened upon a number of these intriguing lizards of all size classes in Miami-Dade’s Tropical Park
Today (2016) this 2 foot long lizard with the cranial crest (males) and strongly defined vertebral and mid-caudal ridge are locally distributed in Palm Beach and Martin counties are now common in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
The predominant color is brown. Yellow facial and dorsolateral stripes (the latter best defined anteriorly) are usually easily visible. A second yellow stripe, sometimes interrupted, parallels the upper jaw line and continues rearward to the shoulder. Darker crossbands, best defined above the uppermore yellow stripes may be present. Females are smaller than the males, lack the cranial crest but do have a lobe on the back of the head and the stripes are more faded or even absent. Both sexes will be darkest and most poorly marked when cold, at night, or when frightened.
Insects, small frogs and other lizards, form the diet of these pet trade lizards. The species native range is from northeastern Mexico to northern Colombia.
Continue reading “Northern Brown Basilisk” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Whooping cranes’ predatory behavior key for adaptation, survival
By Herp News
The whooping crane, with its snowy white plumage and trumpeting call, is one of the most beloved American birds, and one of the most endangered. As captive-raised cranes are re-introduced in Louisiana, they are gaining a new descriptor: natural killer. A new study suggests Louisiana cranes are faring well thanks in part to their penchant for hunting reptiles and amphibians.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Herp Photo of the Day: Leaf Tail Gecko
Look closely or you might miss the Uroplatus pietschmanni hiding here in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user mcamo3 ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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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Herp Photo of the Day: Pine Snake
Hope your Tuesday shines like this Northern Pine does in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user Turekj ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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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The Large-headed Anole in Florida
The pale yellow dewlap is a hallmark of this anole species.
Anolis cybotes cybotes, is known as the large-headed anole (aka largehead anole when the writer is too lazy to put in a hyphen and add two letters). Males, the larger sex, can attain a robust 8 ½ inches while the females are seldom more than 6 inches in length. This large size (for an anole) places this Hispaniolan species firmly in the position of 2nd largest anole in the USA, being
exceeded in size only by the comparatively immense knight anole, A. e. equestris. The large-headed anole (the head of adult males is noticeably enlarged) is a brown species, sometimes pale brown, sometimes rich, often darkest vertebrally, and equally often with a very pale (sometimes greenish) lateral stripe on each side. The stripe may be thick, thin, or absent and may or may not be outlined with a narrow edging of darker pigment. The male’s dewlap is pale yellow to pale gray.
The large-headed anole has been established in Florida since 1967. The first introduction was deliberate as was one in 1986. Pet trade escapees are probably responsible for several other small populations.The lizard is no longer present at the original release site but continues to exist in relatively small numbers at several newer locales. It is at one of these latter that Jake and I often stop to get our periodic “cybotes-fix.” (by the way, the species name is pronounced ki-boat-ees, not sigh-boat-ees). And sure enough, they were there.
A small population, before we left Jake and I were both speculating that it may soon become even smaller for perched quietly on an upright tree trunk we spied a 14 inch long knight anole as well. This latter looked fat and healthy and since lizards figure prominently in the diet of the knight anole we pondered whether this population of large-headed anoles would soon become even smaller?
I guess we’ll know after a couple of future checks.
Continue reading “The Large-headed Anole in Florida” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Herp Photo of the Day: Tortoise
Happy Monday from the cute Asian Forest Tortoise (Manouria emys phayrei,) the one in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user emysbreeder ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Snake gait: Science observes nature to invent new ways of moving
By Herp News
Snake locomotion is a source of inspiration for technology: graceful, silent, adaptable and efficient, it can be implemented on devices designed for the most diverse applications, from space exploration to medicine. A new study adds to this line of research and proposes a detailed mathematical account of one of the characteristic types of movement adopted by this animal.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Herp Photo of the Day: Rattlesnake Friday!
The photo may be a bit blurry, but there is no mistaking that is a gravid Masssasauga in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user LetsConservate24 in the field! We can only imagine the excitement at this find! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Bachelor’s paradise: Female turtles outnumbering males due to warming temps
By Herp News
Rising global temperatures may skew gender imbalance among the marine turtle population, according to new research. The sex of marine hatchlings is influenced by incubating temperatures, and warmer temperatures produce a higher number of female hatchlings.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Herp Photo of the Day: Salamander
What a great field shot of this Black Salamander found in a redwood forest in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user sc_shark! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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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Marbled Newts
The green and black color of this beautiful newt blend well with the aquatic vegetation.
Newts, a subset of salamanders in the family Salamandridae, may be found in both the New and Old Worlds. The males of many of the Old World taxa develop nuptial finery (seasonally present and often exaggerated caudal, nuchal, and vertebral finnage) that, no matter the season, no New World species ever has.
And of these Old World salamandrid dandies, IMO one of the most beautiful is the black on forest green (more rarely the black may predominate) marbled newt, Triturus marmoratus, of Spain, Portugal, and France.
Black on green may sound flamboyant, and indeed it is when seen in a home terrarium or aquarium. But when at home in the dappled sunlight and submerged vegetation of a woodland pond, the color combination is a surprisingly effective camouflage.
Although high and very noticeable the even-edged black and green banded vertebral and caudal finnage of this large (it attains a stocky 4 ½ – 6”) newt is less ornate that that of several of its cousins. The nuptial fins of these latter are prettily scalloped. But what the marbled newt lacks in fin appearance is more than compensated for by beauty of color. And as just a bit of added splendor, when, following the breeding season the fins of the marbled newt are resorbed, they remain represented by an orange middorsal ridge. Can you say “pretty?”
Continue reading “Marbled Newts” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Herp Photo of the Day: Iguana
For a little excitement in your life, add a Ctenosaura pectinata to your home like the one in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cochran ! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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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Frankie Tortoise Tails – Sherlock and the Case of the Red Foot Tortoise
The Internet story of the red foot tortoise found alive in a box 32 years after it disappeared is so amusing to me that I thought I would add a bit of logic to this….as in Sherlock Holmes logic.
Hold on to your shells. We are going to use some smarts.
The story of the turtle is a riddle that today may need a genius thinker to solve because, regretfully, a lot of people think that what they read on the internet is true. Um, let me just repeat that: a lot of people think everything on the internet is true.
A lot of Internet stories are written as enhanced reality, or something fixed up to be more interesting. But let’s let Sherlock look at the facts.
A family had a red foot tortoise. It “ran away” or “disappeared.” The turtle was not located nor re-appear for the rest of the time the children lived in the house. The children grow up and move out of the house. These are accepted as fact.
Other facts: Dad died. House was left to the children. House had a lot of stuff left inside. All accepted as fact.
Children clean out the house but there is no mention of any turtle husbandry equipment when they clean up the house. A neighbor makes mentions of the turtle in the trash the children toss from the house. A turtle is found mingling within boxes once inside the house.
Now, here is the jump to fiction. Child says turtle must be the one lost 32 years ago.
Sherlock would say, “Well, first, let’s look at all the facts.”
Sherlock would ask, “Where is your proof that this is the same turtle? Do you have pictures to compare it to? Did a veterinarian attest that this turtle is 32 years old? Can a herpetologist verify that this turtle is the same species you had before? Can either the veterinarian or the herpetologist verify that the turtle’s physical condition is that of a turtle that lived in a house unseen for 32 years without any care?
Sherlock would then say, “You are an idiot.”
Okay, Sherlock wouldn’t say the kid was an idiot. That was me saying the kid was an idiot. Sherlock would be kind and say, the turtle is not the same turtle you saw when you were a child thirty-two years ago.
“First, the children said they did not see the turtle anywhere in the house during the years they lived there with their father. Records kept on the longevity of the species Chelonoidis carbonaria ssp. estimate that they can live from 30 to 50 years, depending on scientific literature and amateur observation. It is also obvious that this family were but amateur keepers.”
“At this point,” Sherlock said, “I would turn the conversation to Julie Maguire at Long Island Turtle Rescue to attest to the condition of …read more
Read more here: Turtle Times
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Herp Photo of the Day: Hognose
How cute is this hognose in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user nearhoofm brighten your Monday! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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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Backyard Bronze Frogs
This is a gravid female bronze frog at the edge of out pool.
Plunk, plunk, plunk. Hmmmm. Where’d they come from?
The calls were obviously those of bronze frogs, Rana c. clamitans, the southern and nominate form of the more northerly green frog. Bronze or green, the calls are the same—plunks best likened to the sound made while tuning a loose banjo string. And these calls were coming from what I felt was an unlikely place…
During our many year drought, when no ephemeral pools contained water, Patti and I decided that the southern toads in our yard needed a breeding puddle. So we bought a 20 foot square of pliable PVC, dug a slope-sided excavation about 15” deep in the center, laid in the liner, filled it with water from the hose, and sprinkled dirt over all of the liner that remained exposed. IOW, our intended toad pool was simple in the extreme. We threw in a few aquarium plants, sat back and waited to see if the toads would accept the new water filled hole.
They did. First in small numbers but then from the chorus it seemed that all in the yard converged there—and within weeks we had hundreds of toadlets. Then a few green treefrogs found the pool. Next came southern leopard frogs, dragonflies, and all manner of aquatic insects. And then for years nothing new seemed to find the pool—until a couple of months ago when those plunking notes told me we had new arrivals.
I was glad they were there but wondered then and still do, where these bronze frogs, a species pretty firmly tied to vegetated pond and swamp edges, had migrated from. The frogs stayed and vocalized for several weeks and then, seemingly overnight, en masse, they all disappeared.
Now I’m wondering “Where’d they go?” Did they choose a rainy night to migrate elsewhere? Was our puddle visited by an efficient raccoon? Will the bronze frogs return? Time may tell. Maybe.
Continue reading “Backyard Bronze Frogs” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Turtle soup, perchance? Prehistoric humans had a penchant for tortoises
By Herp News
Researchers have uncovered evidence of turtle specimens at the 400,000-year-old Qesem Cave site, indicating that early humans enjoyed eating turtles in addition to large game and vegetal material. The research provides direct evidence of the relatively broad diet of early Paleolithic people.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
No products found.
Turtle soup, perchance? Prehistoric humans had a penchant for tortoises
By Herp News
Researchers have uncovered evidence of turtle specimens at the 400,000-year-old Qesem Cave site, indicating that early humans enjoyed eating turtles in addition to large game and vegetal material. The research provides direct evidence of the relatively broad diet of early Paleolithic people.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
No products found.
Emerald and gold: Two new precious-eyed endemic tree frog species from Taiwan
By Herp News
Two endemic tree frog species, not recognized by science until now, have been identified in broadleaf forests in the island country of Taiwan. Unlike their siblings from mainland China and Southern Asia, they demonstrate reproductive behavior, characterized with egg-eating tadpole embryos feeding on eggs, while still inside the mother’s womb. What told them apart initially, however, were their gemstone-colored eyes.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Herp Photo of the Day: Boa
Loving this Dumeril’s basking in the sun for a photoshoot in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user liljenni brighten your Monday! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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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Herp Photo of the Day: Rattlesnake Friday!
We give all venomous species some love on Rattlesnake Friday, especially these baby Cobras in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user SouthernHerp !? Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here! …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Satellites show Florida beaches becoming darker, and that’s good for sea turtles
By Herp News
Satellite data on artificial nighttime light in Florida from 1992-2012 was compared to robust data on sea turtle nesting for the same period, showing regulations have cut light levels to the benefit of turtles. Still, adult females are impacted by skyglow as distant as 100 km, researchers found. The research shows the value of satellite data as a conservation tool.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Herp Photo of the Day: Bearded Dragon
How cute are these two beardies in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user TazziesMommy !? Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Read more here: King Snake
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Greenhouse Frogs
This is the striped phase of the tiny greenhouse frog.
If I concentrate, on almost every warm, humid night, the twitterings and chirpings of greenhouse frogs, Eleutherodactylus planirostris, can be heard in our anuran friendly Alachua County yard. The calls are high pitched, soft, and more reminiscent of the stridulations of some cricket species than of an amphibian. In other words, it might take a dedicated effort to hear and have the tinkling notes you are hearing register as the vocalizations of a frog.
Apparently the first notice of the greenhouse frog, a West Indian species was in 1875 when it was noted in Miami-Dade County. Since then it has spread pretty much throughout the state and has been heard or found in Alabama, Georgia, southern Mississippi, southeastern Louisiana, and eastern Texas, as well. It has also been found in heated greenhouses in more northerly states.
This little reddish-tan to gray with reddish overtones frog is fully grown at from ¾ to 1 ¼ inches snout-vent length. It occurs in 2 pattern forms, a striped and a mottled.
There being no free-swimming tadpole stage this species does not require water to breed. The 6 to 26 eggs are deposited in moist leaf litter, beneath moist ground debris, in the cups or between the leaves of bromeliads, and other places that offer similar protection from predators and drying. Metamorphosis is rapid, with the tiny froglets hatching when conditions are ideal in as little as 13 days after egg deposition.
This little tiny frog eats the tiniest of insects and is not known to compete seriously with any native species. An interloper though they may be, they are always welcomed when we happen upon them.
Continue reading “Greenhouse Frogs” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Repeat Offenders
This Smooth Earth Snake, Virginia valeriae, is a repeat offender. For the last several years it has been busted utilizing artificial cover! Most often found hiding beneath logs, leaf litter, or other debris Smooth Earth Snakes are fossorial (live underground) and give live birth to as many as 12-14 live young in the late summer.
A scar, blemish, missing tail tips and eyes can often serve as proof that the same individuals have set up shop and thrive for years under cover at study sites. This is another reason to take time to inspect and photograph even the smaller and most common species at your sites!
…read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Welcome to the world: New chameleon emerges from wilds of Tanzania
By Herp News
Scientists have discovered a new species of chameleon in Tanzania.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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Herp Photo of the Day: Frog
There is nothing Common about this frog (Rana temporaria) in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user kus! See what we did there? Get it? Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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Herp Photo of the Day: Caiman
Gotta love the sassy nature of the Schneider’s smooth-fronted caiman in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user cpipes! Be sure to tell them you liked it here!
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The real Mud Eel
Tiny legs having one toe each identify the one-toed amphiuma.
One minute I was standing upright on the edge of a semi-dried creek’s backwater. Then one more step I was thigh deep in soupy mud and if there hadn’t been a bank edge sapling for me to grab I’d have probably been face down in the goop. Kenny was doubled over with laughter. I didn’t know whether to try and back out or to flounder forward another step. In fact, right then I was wondering exactly why we were here. I had expected mud. Just not so quickly (read that unexpectedly) and not so deep. And I had expected to search for the target beast, a one-toed amphiuma, Amphiuma pholeter, by standing high and dry on the bank and dragging the small meshed net through the goo.
This was a colder than cool Florida day in February, and although it was nothing like a Maine winter day would have been I was uncomfortable, and knew that before I could get back in the car I had to get even more uncomfortable cleansing at least most of the mud off in the colder-than-cool fast moving stream ahead of me. Also, since I had fully intended to stay high and dry I had not brought a change of clothes with me. Well, darn it!
So let’s see now—I was in thigh deep mud that seemed to promise it was even deeper ahead of me, Kenny, dry and fairly warm, was busily scooping through the liquid mud with his net, and I had to get at least partially cleaned off. Stream, here I come.
Although I never did get to net up a one-toed amphiuma (aka mud eel) on that trip, it mattered not. While I was trying to extricate myself Kenny got a couple of the little critters, and pix were possible.
Continue reading “The real Mud Eel” …read more
Read more here: King Snake
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Snake-hunting Secretary Birds use force of five times their body weight to stamp on, kill their prey
By Herp News
Snake-hunting Secretary Birds use the force of five times their body weight to stamp on and kill their prey. Researchers have discovered that Secretary Birds can kick with 195 Newtons, which is equivalent to five times their own body weight, when they attack and kill their prey. And the contact time between the bird’s feet and the snake is delivered extremely quickly — on average just 15 milliseconds.
…read more
Read more here: herpetofauna.com
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