There was some great news regarding the regulation changes for Florida; including Tegus, Iguanas and a selection of large constrictors.

This is the announcement from USARKFL:

We have some news... good news. The judge agreed with USARK FL and found that SB1414 is in fact unconstitutional! We will post full details soon but the judge granted our motion for summary judgment and now we just await his formal order stating the same. Thank you to everyone who supported us. Please keep the donations coming! We must still pay for this lawsuit and future actions. What a win!

NOTE: This will take a few days to all be finalized and for FWC to rescind their Executive Order. We also do not know if FWC will appeal. Also, by "unconstitutional" we mean the Florida Constitution, not the U.S. Constitution. This is a state lawsuit against a state agency, not a federal lawsuit.

Please stay tuned to both USARK and USARKFL to follow updates and please continue to support USARK. They are getting things done!

Happy World Snake Day!

What is that? Well it is a day that is an easy one! It is a day to focus on conservation and education about snakes!

Snakes are one of the greatest fears in the world, but their importance to our environment as well as our health is enough reason to work to change minds. I grabbed a few fun articles for you to read and share today to help reach out and share the joy of snakes.

These articles give a breakdown on the holiday and the issues facing snakes. This post from RepublicWorld is a very basic breakdown that you can readhere. Another option is this article from Newsd. It has some fun little trivia tidbits and again very basic info and can be found https://newsd.in/world-snake-day-2020-here-are-some-snake-facts-you-must-know/.

This Helmeted Iguana or Hernandez's helmeted basilisk (Corytophanes hernandezi) in our Herp Photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user chrish is quite the break from our usual. What a regal and stunning animal! 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!

In the most recent Covid-19 Relief package is a potential reversal of the USARK federal lawsuit victory by reinstating the ban on interstate transportation of species listed as injurious under the Lacey Act. That victory allowed for captive bred animals to be transported across state lines. This impacts the so called "Big 5" but also several Salamander species. We have added the USARK public notice after the bump.

inset photo Mr. Fowler and Peter Gros in 2002. (Nati Harnik/AP)

I never met Jim Fowler in my entire life, but I can attribute a lot of who I am to our weekend mornings spent in my childhood. My breakfast bowl of Apple Jacks, cross legged on the floor of my living room, I would stare at the TV with rapt attention waiting to learn about the animals in our world. He inspired me to learn and read more about animals. He along with his long time co-host, Marlon Perkins, taught me about conservation. They taught me that beauty was simple to find and hard to hold on to.

Jim's message on nature was simple and I hope he knew this difference it made in so many lives.

"What we have to do is ask ourselves, 'What's in it for me?' Only then will we realize that the continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is ultimately important to the quality of life of humans."

To learn a bit more about Jim's life and hear why the environment is so very important to protect, pop over to The Washington Post obituary here.

Thank you Jim for inspiring a little girl who dreamed of going to see alligators in the wild, she did that and so much more. You inspired me to learn more about our natural world and gave me the desire to help protect it.

On Earth Day, I want to share the first animal I worked a conservation program with. The Utila Island Iguana (Ctenosaura bakeri) in our herp photo of the day, uploaded by kingsnake.com user s4sainz! What a STUNNING male! Be sure to tell them you liked it here! That program work lead to working with programs that assisted Grand Cayman Iguanas and Massasauga Rattlesnakes. From there I began helping where I could. Let's celebrate conservation and the envirnoment today!




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