Photo of one of the alligator ponds at St. Augustine provided by Cindy Steinle

St. Augustine Alligator Farm is a fantastic place to visit, but only during open hours. Recently a man in Florida felt it was a good idea to break in to the farm after hours and that is when the shenanigans began. Several exhibits were damaged but so was the trespasser. When workers arrived the next morning, they found the damage to the exhibits, a lot of blood, a pair of shorts and a "croc" shoe. The man was found wandering the neighborhood in only his boxers and covered with blood.

To read the full story and view the video, visit Fox 13.

kingsnake.com's Cindy Steinle is live blogging the 2018 Herp Law Symposium in Maryland today and tomorrow (she is also slated as a moderator for one of the panels). This event, sponsored by PIJAC, USARK, kingsnake.com, and a number of other businesses and organizations in the herp community, brings the voices of many different facets of the reptile world together to discuss regulatory issues, conservation issues, and trending disease issues such as the Chytrid fungus that is decimating amphibian populations worldwide. Below is her live blog transcript from the first day:

---

HR6362 has been introduced and is titled the “Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act of 2018.” The bill was introduced by Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and with no co-sponsors. This

USARK broke down the bill and what it intends to do in plain english for us:

Makes illegal the transportation of injurious species between states: “it is unlawful for any person… to import into the United States or transport between States any wildlife designated as an injurious wildlife…”
Creates a list of species which are “not in trade” and those species cannot be imported or transported between states unless or until they are reviewed by the Secretary;
Ambiguously defines “not in trade” species as those non-native species that are not “widely” imported or transported between states (i.e. no definition for the word widely) within the past year;
Within three years from the effective date, a list of all ‘‘wildlife not in trade to the United States’’ must be compiled and that list reviewed to see if any of those species should be designated as injurious;
Allows for an immediately effective emergency rule to add species as injurious;
Requires the establishment of an electronic database for imports of all wildlife which identifies injurious species;
States that the Secretary of the Interior possesses authority to regulate wildlife pathogens and parasites (i.e. Bsal) which currently falls under the jurisdiction of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA);
Makes less burdensome (easier) the listing of species as injurious;
Creates the “Injurious Wildlife Prevention Fund” funded by a new “user fee” (i.e., tax) on wildlife imports.

For more information, visit the USARK notice here.

Poised and watch, what a stunning Mangrove in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user ptahtoo! Be sure to tell them you liked it here.



Upload your own reptile and amphibian photos at gallery.kingsnake.com, and you could see them featured here!

This female Kimberly Rock Monitor is just hanging out in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user bob! 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!

Photo: Boyd Huppert, KARE 11

When Jenna had her 10th birthday party at the Milwaukee County Zoo, she received a gopher tortoise as a gift from the then director. That was in 1962.

Jenna named the tortoise George and she grew up like any other normal Milwaukee kid in the 60's, except she had a pet tortoise. When she went to college, when she met the love of her life, family vacations, everything in life, George was there.

Today Jenna is 65 years old and living in Minnesota. And George? He is 56 and still alive and kicking and living life with Jenna. He has outlived several family dogs and a few walk abouts, the most recent being about 30 years ago.

“He doesn’t sit on your lap and can’t take him on walk, but he’s a great pet,” Kirby says.

The Smiths have also owned a series of Labradors. Their pictures grace the refrigerator of the Smiths' St. Paul home.

“He's gone through five dogs,” Kirby says smiling. He says the dogs all did their share of barking at George, but, “he got the last laugh by outlasting them.”

In George's life, his species has declined severely in the wild and has become protected and endangered. to have a gopher tortoise now, there are permits and restrictions.

When someone asks what you will do with your pet reptiles when you get old, just pause and think of George and Jenna.

Read the full story and see the video at kare11.com.