- Feature Blogger

New amphibian discovered in the Western Ghats

Cindy Steinle — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:18:00 -0500

In a partnership between UK and Indian scientists, a new caecilian was discovered -- by pure accident!

The creature - about 168mm in length and pink in colour - belongs to an enigmatic, limbless group of amphibians known as the caecilians.

Ramachandran Kotharambath, lead author of the report, told the BBC Tamil Service that the animal was identified as a new species following extensive comparisons with other, similar examples from this amphibian group.

According to the researchers, specimens of the novel caecilian - named Gegeneophis primus - were collected during field works in two consecutive monsoons, first in October 2010 and then in August 2011.

They were discovered at a valley on a plantation in the Wynad district of Kerala.

The new finding was made as part of a longstanding research collaboration between the department of zoology at the University of Kerala and London's Natural History Museum. The Central University at Kasargod in Kerala also contributed to of the discovery.

To read the full article, click here.

Chinese alligators go wild

Cindy Steinle — Mon, 14 May 2012 06:29:00 -0500

The Anhui Yangtze Alligator Nature Reserve working is on its eighth release of the endangered Chinese alligator:

So far, the nature reserve has succeeded in releasing 45 Chinese alligators into the wild, and the six new members will bring the total to 51, sources with the reserve said.

"The experiments were successful, as the released alligators began laying eggs in 2008 and the alligators that hatched in the wild are in good conditions," said Wang Chaolin, deputy director of the nature reserve.

Wang said researchers need to choose young and healthy alligators so they will survive harsh natural conditions. The alligators will also undergo DNA testing before being released to avoid in-breeding.

To read the full article, click here.

Scared of python attacks? Avoid lemonade, suggests HSUS

Cindy Steinle — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:46:00 -0500

Is lemonade a trigger for deadly python attacks?

No, but you wouldn't know it from a recent HSUS press release that sounds like a script for a new movie, Snakes in a Suburb :

"Unsuspecting people across the country are encountering, and even being attacked by someone else’s escaped or released constrictor snake while tending to their gardens, making lemonade in their kitchens, pulling laundry from their washing machines, or sleeping in their beds."

Now, compare that to the original article about the incident:

Apartment managers have vowed to fully investigate the report, but they have yet to confirm its validity. Residents, who were told to notify apartment staff or animal control if they see the python, have not reported any sightings to authorities.

Despite the fact that nobody has actually seen the python, the report, which very well could be a mean-spirited hoax, has been enough to rile up some residents. Some have expressed that going outside the apartment has become a scary proposition. Others are hoping the python cannot sneak its way into the building.

A snake that no one has verified, that no one is claiming to own, that no one has seen in the complex before the single sighting in the parking garage. My sister's cousin's best friend from first grade once saw a python, too!

The reptile community as a whole looks down upon those who release any pets into the wild. This includes dogs and cats, along with any other type of pet. I don't see HSUS releasing a press release regarding dogs being let into the wild only to kill you while you sleep, but in their continued attack on the reptile community, they take fear mongering to a whole new height.

Having worked animal control, I can verify that most snakes sighted in garages and basements are actually things such as bungee cords and hoses instead of an actual snake. But HSUS relies on sensationalism and paranoia instead of those pesky little things called facts. Why do we let them get away with it?

kingsnake Connect launches "public streams" feature

Jeff Barringer — Thu, 03 May 2012 09:54:23 -0500

Today we have officially launched a new feature on kingsnake Connect called "public streams", which allows kingsnake.com users to post either to their own private feeds, seen only by your private connections, or to the new public streams which can be seen by everyone. This makes kingsnake Connect a hybrid between the old technology of public forums, and the new technology of social networking with private feeds. For now we have launched four public streams that you can post in. We will add more streams as needed.

The General Reptile & Amphibian stream is for posts about anything having to do with reptiles and amphibians, whether its pictures you want to show off, a YouTube video, links to a news article or web site. Just about everything can be posted there, except commercial advertising of course.

The Ball Python stream is, as the name implies, for posts about the highly variable, and highly prized, Ball Python, and it's innumerable morphs. Post about your collection, or your hatchlings, or just show us what your snakes look like!

The Reptile & Amphibian Law stream is for people wanting to converse, proselytize, or just keep up to date with what is happening with herp laws in the United States, and around the world.

Finally the Field Notes and Observations stream is for people who like to see snakes, lizards, frogs, and turtles in the wild and want to keep informed and current on what is happening out in the fields, swamps and deserts, or to share their latest discoveries and field notes.

To check out all of kingsnake Connects public streams, please visit http://www.kingsnake.com/connect/streams

New local classified ads for Canada!

Jeff Barringer — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:44:00 -0500

kingsnake.com advertisers in Canada can now reach both a national and a local market with the same advertisement, just like their compatriots in the US. There is no extra charge, and no separate account is required to post local and provincial classifieds.

Province-by-province Canadian ads are now available at http://market.kingsnake.com/indexcanada.html, with a postal code-based local search launching soon.

To make sure your ads show up in the local ad system, simply include the province and postal code in the appropriate advertising fields in the classified ad posting form.

If you already have advertisements posted, you do not have to re-post them to take advantage of this new functionality. To update your existing ads, log into the My Ads section of your classified account, enter your province and postal code in the appropriate form fields, fill in the check box that says "update all my ads," and then click submit. The system will automatically update all your existing ads!

To check out the new Canadian reptile and amphibian classifieds, go to http://market.kingsnake.com/indexcanada.html.

To update your existing classified ads, please log into http://market.kingsnake.com/account.php?page=manage.

To purchase a classified account please, go to http://www.kingsnake.com/shared/services/classified.php.

kingsnake.com launches new state/local classified ads!

Jeff Barringer — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:39:48 -0500

kingsnake.com advertisers can now reach both a national and a local market with the same advertisement. There is no extra charge, and no separate account is required to post local and state classifieds.

State-by-state ads are now available at http://market.kingsnake.com/indexlocal.html, with a zip code-based/regional search launching soon.

To make sure your ads show up in the state and local ad system, simply include the state and zip code in the appropriate advertising fields in the classified ad posting form.

If you already have advertisements posted, you do not have to re-post them to take advantage of this new functionality. To update your existing ads, log into the My Ads section of your classified account, enter your state and zip in the appropriate form fields, fill in the check box that says "update all my ads," and then click submit. The system will update all your existing ads! Easy!

To check out the new state and local reptile classifieds, go to http://market.kingsnake.com/indexlocal.html.

To update your existing classified ads, please log into http://market.kingsnake.com/account.php?page=manage.

To purchase a classified account please, go to http://www.kingsnake.com/shared/services/classified.php.

Educating the Masses: Chicago Herp Society's ReptileFest

Cindy Steinle — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:24:00 -0500

Educational outreach is the key to changing people's perceptions about reptiles, PERIOD. It creates a personal connection to reptile ownership that will override misconceptions put out there by the media and others.

With that thought in mind, I am locked and loaded for this year's ReptileFest, an event hosted and organized by the Chicago Herpetologial Society. I will be both exhibiting and covering the event for kingsnake.com. Coverage will be a bit sporadic however, as I will be staffing 12 tables with my slave labor and good friend Chris Law. My exhibit combines my beautiful beloved morelia, my reptile rescue group. and the International Reptile Conservation Foundation. Keep an eye here or on our Facebook page for fun stuff!

It is a very unusual event in that it will have no live animal sales, but that isn't all that makes it special. The fact that there will be around 400 animals and 200 species on display is pretty special. The really cool part is that 99 percent of these animals are privately owned. These are people's pets, and they can share the day to day joy on a far different level than, say, a zoo keeper would.

Our exhibits will range from a 5-year-old darling girl and her corn snake display, to professionals like Rob Carmichael from the Wildlife Discovery Center showing off Illinois native venomous and doing proper public education without sensationalism.

As I get ready to turn the house over to my husband and pick up my trailer of supplies before I head down to Chi-Town, I hope that this weekend will serve as an inspiration to others. Remember, Snake Day is May 14!

Photo courtesy of Mike Heinrich - ReptileFest 2011

Snakes worldwide developing increasing resistance to neurotoxin

Cindy Steinle — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:47:00 -0500

Neurotoxin compositions may vary worldwide, snakes on four continents are demonstrating remarkably similar evolutionary responses enabling them to combat the toxins.

(University of Notre Dame biologist Michael) Pfrender and colleagues found species of snakes in North, Central and South Americas and Asia that are able to feed on amphibians that secrete a deadly neurotoxic poison, tetrodotoxin or TTX. These snakes have similar mutations in a key sodium-channel gene that makes them highly resistant to TTX. These mutations prevent TTX from blocking the sodium channels in muscle, which would otherwise immobilize the snakes by paralyzing nervous and muscle tissue.

"The key finding is that adaptive evolution is constrained by the functional properties of the genes involved in these evolutionary responses," Pfrender said. "While there are many possible mutations that can improve fitness, in this case resistance to the neurotoxin TTX, many of these mutations have a cost because they change the normal function of the genes. So, when we look at multiple species that have independently adapted to TTX, we see a very similar, and limited, set of mutations involved. The story is one of repeated evolutionary change that occurs through a limited set of changes at the molecular level."

To read the full article, click here.

HSUS offers reward for capture of python mutilator in one state, while their policies lead to python abuse in others

Jeff Barringer — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 11:14:00 -0500

These are the cases of two Burmese pythons, both mutilated. One case is a crime, the other a state job.

In bitterly ironic twist, the Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the mutilation, neglect, and abandonment of an emaciated 7-foot male Burmese python who was stabbed twice, shot, and released in York Haven, Pa.

"Snakes require specialized expertise and care and deserve the same humane treatment as all other animals,” said Sarah Speed, Pennsylvania state director for the HSUS.

Sadly the Humane Society of the United States has said nothing about the recent mutilation and slaughter of a similar, yet larger, Burmese python by Florida Forest Service Rangers, killed by being beaten to death by rakes:

Tarrete held the tail, and Chaney grabbed the head. The two killed it with a rake rangers usually use to set fire breaks during controlled burns, Tarrete said.

Perhaps Sarah Speed can speak to her compatriots at HSUS in Florida about offering a similar reward and prosecute the Florida Forest Rangers with the same enthusiasm. Unfortunately her compatriots at HSUS, both in Florida and at the national level, were among the main proponents of the new federal regulations, and state regulations, that allow a duality in laws to occur. Where in one state mutilating a python is a crime, and in another it is a state-funded job opportunity.

Perhaps she can also ask why her organization is paying thousands of dollars to prosecute someone for mutilating a python in Pennsylvania, and has simultaneously spent hundreds of thousands of dollars convincing the State of Florida and the USFWS to essentially mutilate these animals on an industrial scale.

In the meantime this is yet another example of Burmese pythons being "dumped" by irresponsible owners, after the species was recently listed by the USFWS as "injurious," preventing import and interstate transport. This despite USFWS assurance that this would not happen as owners would have local outlets to place their animals.

Unfortunately this is just the beginning, and these numbers will continue to rise as more Burmese python owners find fewer and fewer people and organizations willing to accept their animals.

And sadly, one wonders if the snakes would have both met the same ends in shelters, had neither been mutilated, just surrendered.

Of pythons and pit bulls: Pushing back against media bias

Cindy Steinle — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:39:00 -0500

People used to say "Euuuw!" when they heard I had pythons, and shiver in fear at my pit bulls. Now, those reactions are reversed.

Over the years, the pit bull community has taken a very proactive role in fighting false negative stereotypes about our dogs. For longer than I have owned dogs, people in the community have stepped out, created educational days, spent time talking about our dogs to anyone who will listen. It's time for the python community to adopt what has been an extremely successful program for getting out the truth about our pets.

Consider the headline on an article on ctpost.com:
DEEP collects 5 illegal pets, one vicious python, at Beardsley Zoo

The article goes on to explain the surrender of a Burmese python in lurid detail:

The most exciting moment of the day occurred behind closed doors.

Overturf and EnCon officer Todd Chemacki recalled it in the back of the room.

The other Burmese python was about 13 feet -- and deemed too dangerous to show the public.

When Ralbovsky tried putting it into one of his bins, it struck its head at him several times, reaching waist-high. He had to pin it with a catch pole; then it took two people to get it in the bin.

Of course, the animal isn't poisonous, Overturf granted.

"But when a snake with the head of a small dog hits you, and bites, you'll feel it," he said.

"And then when it wraps around you ..." Chemacki said.

That is the scene people who have never met a python will always remember. They'll get the idea pythons are dangerous beasts who will strike at you and wrap around you and, presumably, send you to your scaly doom -- something those of us who keep them know is a distorted and false view of our pets.

Distorted or not, stories like this fill the newscasts, papers, and websites non-snake owning people read every day. It's time we learned from the pit bull people and started pushing back. We need to attend Snake Day and herp society events that are occurring this spring nationwide. Offer to do presentations at local schools, camps, and community groups. Set up a booth at festivals and street fairs. We need to talk about our pets to other pet people, whenever and wherever we can. This is our opportunity to reach out and change minds.

It worked with pit bulls. It will work with pythons -- if we do the work to get our voices heard. Will you start speaking out this spring?

Escaped pythons linked to secret U.S. Army project from 1960s

Jeff Barringer — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 11:58:00 -0500

According to documents and interviews obtained for his book, Vietnam's Underground War: Snakes, Rats and Boonie Hats, Icelandic author Uno Imnottyourdottr makes the shocking revelation that the python and boa problem in the Florida Everglades was the result of the purposeful release of animals used in a secret U.S. Army/CIA sponsored project to develop large constrictor snakes as weapons to fight in the extensive Vietnamese tunnel network.

Dubbed Operation: Blue River in official documents, and gaining the unofficial name Operation: TubeSnake by wags assigned to the project, thousands of boa constrictors, pythons, and anacondas were surreptitiously purchased by the military from Florida wildlife importers in the late 1960s and early 70s and brought to MacDill AFB in Tampa for processing, before being sent to a secure containment facility deep in the Everglades. Once there, the snakes were evaluated for their ability to be trained and suitability for mission, and were given basic mission testing by species.

Snakes were equipped with a variety of equipment depending on mission assignment. Sensor and camera platforms, including infra-red and millimeter band and side-looking radar, as well as UHF/VHF communications equipment were utilized in the reconnaissance role, as well as a variety of weapons to be used literally as a hunter-killer platform. Weaponized snakes included a variety of munitions including everything from small explosive charges to large anti-tank mines. Chemical weapons such as CS gas and pepper spray were also evaluated, difficulties arising in finding applicable gas mask solutions for the constrictors.

Testing of the animals revealed issues with trainability as well as limited load carrying capabilities. According to Army documents Burmese Pythons were found to be the species most suitable to the mission profile, and after late 1971 only Burmese Pythons were used although weapons and sensor platforms had been developed and successfully tested on snakes as small as 2 feet long and as large as 18 feet long.

According to Imnottyourdottr's book, Operation Blue River was quietly discontinued in 1974 before being tested in combat, and all the constrictor snakes remaining in the project were demilitarized and then released outside of the facility into the surrounding swampland, after Congressional investigations were opened into the CIA's failed attempts to train King Cobras as assassins. It was hope that the highly trained constrictors could be recovered should the project be revived, but military priorities by then had shifted to the Middle East.

Million Snake March hits Washington D.C.

Jeff Barringer — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 08:58:00 -0500

Millions of undocumented boas and pythons descended on the National Mall in Washington D.C. today demanding that Congress afford them the protections that others have received, and to demand that Congress stop the building of a wall between Louisiana and Texas to prevent the snakes further migration westward. Acting as their spokesman Norville T. Bass, President of the American Snakehandlers Association, said, "These snakes have come here and are doing jobs that American snakes by and large don't want, and now with no due process the government wants to stop them from traveling between states. Some of these snakes have family in other states. What happens to them?"

Watching the slithery procession of participants while providing crowd control on foot, Sergeant Eric Witherspoon of the Metro D.C. Police Department offered, "We haven't seen this many snakes since the last time Congress was in session." Asked about the lack of mounted patrols at the event, Witherspoon said, "The horses don't like snakes, and some of the officers aren't too keen either," as a reticulated python slithered across his boots.

Bystanders at the event, Cecil and Trudy Horsfeldii from Rockford Illinois, were caught up by the day, but a little confused as to what was going on. "Is this the Rick Astley flash mob? We were all supposed to meet at 3 pm and go to the Air and Space Museum."

It was difficult to tell just how many of the reptiles packed the Mall, their squirming, writhing mass being difficult to calculate with any accuracy. By dusk, however, the snakes, their representatives, and the media had vanished, leaving cleaning crews to clear D.C.s Mall area of debris that always accompanies an event like this, like cups, signs and thousands of shed skins. But the snakes shall return soon when the Senate convenes again.

Obama okays use of drones in fight against invasive pythons

Jeff Barringer — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:01:00 -0500

Multiple White House sources have confirmed that the Obama administration has approved the use of armed drones in the fight against the invasive Burmese python, pending clearance by the Federal Aviation Administration. While the use of armed drones to eliminate threats outside U.S. borders has become rather commonplace, this is the first time that the weapons have been approved for use inside the United States.

"This is an escalation that we don't think the pythons are prepared for. We hope the technology will give us an edge." said one unnamed official. When asked about the $1,200,000 per missile/python cost he replied, "They're eating endangered wood rats. And they are putting American snakes out of work. They have to be stopped before they make the I-10 corridor. Once that happens, we'll start finding em in El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle...then it's game over. The Canadians are even less prepared than we are."

Both Lockheed-Martin and Northrop-Grumman are said to be preparing drone-based python remediation programs, as are European defense contractors SAAB and MBB. Brazil's Embraer is said to have a head start after developing a similar drone based Anaconda remediation program for it's neighbor Venezuela, but faces challenges selling in the U.S. market after it's Super Tucano deal got hung up in congressional red-tape. "We are the only ones that have actual field experience using laser guided weapons from high altitude to remove yellow Anacondas, the Israelis have only gotten theirs to work with Sand Vipers, and then only with the nominate species Vipera ammodytes" said Embraer's Python Project Manager Pedro Borbón."The Israelis have no jungles to test in as well, all of their work has been in the desert. That might be fine once the pythons reach New Mexico and Arizona, but that cedes the pythons the entire gulf coast."

Other American defense contractors are hard at work on their own remediation products, services and proposals, some less high-tech than others. World Ultradyne Security Systems, formerly a division of Blackwater Associates, is putting its former special forces operatives to work training "A Teams", or action teams, of specially trained mongoose, to hunt out the pythons on the ground. "We' have 100,000 of these rodents ready and trained so far, we are just waiting on the go ahead from the Park Service and USF&W to insert them into the Everglades with a large scale airdrop from C-130 transport aircraft. We're not going to win this until we put boots on the ground, four tiny jump boots at a time" Said Earl Wycleff, former Army Ranger and program manager. When asked about the possibility that the mongoose themselves may not return, and in turn become established Ultradyne has already considered that and is preparing "B Teams" of cougars to release and remediate any mongoose that fail to return. And if the cougars become established? "Bears. Bears are cougars' natural enemy, so we are working with bears. The Russian bears seem easiest to train, probably due to their extensive circus background."

Venom research wrap-up: Catching smugglers in India with DNA

Cindy Steinle — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:27:00 -0500

DNA is being recovered from the smuggled venom of Indian Cobras in an attempt to nab the smugglers.

Smuggling dried cobra venom has its challenges. First there’s the difficulty of milking these highly venomous snakes; it takes time, patience and skill. (It took the legendary snake wrangler Bill Haast three years and 69,000 milkings to produce one pint of coral snake venom, for example.)

Then the smugglers have to furtively transport the stuff and find a buyer with deep pockets. Trepidation is warranted: the authorities in Kerala, India, have made a number of arrests in recent years for venom trafficking, an activity they say is on the rise. It’s illegal to trade in venom from any snake species protected under the country’s Wildlife Act, including the Indian cobra. But how to prove that the substance came from an endangered cobra?

Now scientists have a way. After a recent raid on a hotel room in Kerala, the local magistrate sent venom samples to the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad. For the first time, scientists were able to analyze DNA within the venom to prove that it came from the Indian cobra, or Naja naja.

The smugglers were charged with illegal hunting and trafficking of a protected animal, both of which are punishable by a prison sentence up to three years and/or a fine of 25,000 rupees (about $500). The case is still pending

To read the full article, click here. In an attempt to find the next greatest high, some Indian drug dealers are now making a drug derived from Cobra Venom.

Delhi Police on Monday night seized half-a-litre of venom extracted from cobras and other reptiles, which are classified as highly endangered species under the Wildlife Act.

The raid, at Anand Vihar inter-state bus terminus in east Delhi, was conducted following a tip-off from People for Animals (PFA), an animal welfare organisation.

"Police seized five cobras just two days before Valentine's Day," Sourabh Gupta, a wildlife activist with PFA, said.
"Similar seizures were conducted before Diwali and New Year. The drugs are commonly used in Delhi and NCR; many are commonly called K-72 and K-76."

He added that half-a-litre of venom costs millions of rupees in the international market.

To read the full article, click here.

NRAAC re-forms, announces annual reptile law symposium

Jeff Barringer — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:54:00 -0500

http://nraac.orgThe National Reptile and Amphibian Advisory Council has been re-born to run an annual symposium on reptiles, amphibians, and the law.

In 1997, John Cherry of Cherryville Farms, Stephen Hammack from the Fort Worth Zoo and HISS, and I had dinner after a Texas Reptile Expo in Arlington. By the time our dinner ended, we had convinced ourselves that the reptile community needed a lobbying organization and we were the only three idiots silly enough to take on such a task.

We had decided to use the then-new power of the Internet to start, manage, market and run the organization. Thus the original incarnation of NRAAC was born.

When we put the organization to bed in late 2001 it had been quite successful for what it was, with a membership in excess of 17,000 and active "cells" in 20 or more states across the U.S., working primarily on state laws and regulations. We had some success in Texas, California and a few other states, but by the time we ended it, the need for the organization had lessened significantly. Additionally, kingsnake.com had overwhelmed my schedule. We had learned much about what to do and not to do when running a lobbying organization, and we all swore never to do anything like that again.
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