Snakes in NJ

The presence of corn snakes and pine snakes has stopped development in Medford, NJ; the developer had too many hurdles, so dropped the plan. (News source.)

India Snakebites

Health Services Maharashtra (India) is looking into the increase in snakebites in that region, and is evaluating the medical treatment. (News source)

Sea Turtle Conservation

A UC Santa Cruz grad student is working with fishermen in several countries to decrease bycatch of sea turtles. (News source.)

Arkansas Hunts

Some various news on Arkansas' first alligator hunting season:

12 hunters were successful. (News source.)

One hunter was the first female hunter to snare a gator during an official state hunt. (News source.)

Alligators and Pollution

Alligators living in pesticide-ridden marshes are only hatching half the normal number of eggs. (News source.)

Vernal Pond Moves

A vernal pool, home to the scarce mole salamander, was moved when a manufacturer expanded in Virginia. (News source.)

Snake Attack

A woman was bitten by a snake along a trail in Gwinnet Co., Ga. The species is unknown, swelling resulted initially, she had to actually beat the snake off her leg. (News source.)

Cane Toads

When trapping cane toads, use soft mating calls rather than loud ones, research suggests. (News source.)

Baby Makes Three

Two "female" yacare caiman at the Blackpool Zoo (UK) turned out to be a pair, as keepers found a baby caiman wandering the enclosure. (News source.)

More From Trinidad

Trinidad wildlife officials are trying to find and relocate any washed-ashore anacondas before the fearful locals kill them. They also note that last year, a number of land turtles rafted over from the mainland. (News source.)

SC Gator Hunts

With other states starting alligator seasons, South Carolina (with an estimated population of 100,000) is seriously considering allowing public hunts. Limited hunts on private land are already in place. (News source.)

Uh, Oh: Geckos Can Bite!

Those mean, nasty giant day geckos, with jaws like "pliers," are being outed by the Hawaiian media. It's one thing to point to the ecological problems of invasive species, but demonizing a day gecko? Please.

Transparent Frogs

Japanese researchers have developed a strain of Rana japonica with pale transparent skin, allowing the organs to be seen as the frogs develop from tadpoles. (News source.)

New Snake in Vietnam

A new species of snake, a white-lipped keelback, is among a variety of new species discovered in Vietnam's Annamite mountain range. (News source.)

More Crocs in the News

Another large saltwater croc has moved into the pen of the late Eric, at the Australian Reptile Park. (News source.)

Cleveland, OH, police picked up an alligator found strolling loose. (News source.)

An alligator call in Las Cruces, NM, turned out to be an iguana instead. (News source.)

Pet Croc Fad is Global

Looks like baby crocodiles are the biggest fad pet in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, with pet shops taking orders on their waiting list. (News source.)

Pacific Chorus Frogs

The San Francisco Zoo is reintroducing Pacific chorus frogs that it reared from eggs and tadpoles, into the west side of the city. (News source.)

Rattler Bite

A White County, GA, man is recovering from severe symptoms from a rattlesnake bite. He is still in the ICU. (News source.)

Anacondas

Trinidadians on the southern tip of the island are keeping a close watch on floating vegetation swept there from the flooding rivers of the mainland; apparently, juvenile anacondas are hitching a ride. (News source.)

Fossil Snake

A fossil snake was found in India in association with sauropod eggs and hatchlings, possibly indicating predation. (News source.)

Snake Bite

A 16-year-old boy was bitten by a snake while walking in the mountains near El Monte, CA. The species was unknown, but the reaction (swelling, etc.) was relatively minor, according to responders. (News source.)

Shop Bite

An employee at Strictly Reptiles (FL) was bitten by a small western diamondback while cleaning the cage. (News source.)

Dwarf Crocs in Trouble

A population of dwarf freshwater crocodiles in north Australia may be in danger of an invasion by the cane toads. (News source.)

Home-Loving Crocodiles

Three saltwater crocodiles that were tagged with satellite trasmitters and relocated from 52 to 130 km from their home, managed to find their way back. (News source.)

Uganda Croc Attack

A man was killed by a crocodile while fishing near at Bwendero Island in Kalangala district, Uganda. (News source.)

NY Gator

A 3 1/2 foot gator was caught in a Suffolk Co., NY, river by two teenagers. (News source)

Turtle Poaching

Two Ontario men were caught poaching snapping turtles. (News source.)

Snapper

A snapping turtle first seen in a UK pond 17 years ago has finally been captured and relocated to a turtle sanctuary. (News source.)

Guilty or Not

An Illinois man is facing charges for selling a baby red-eared slider to an undercover DNR officer two years ago. The man sold it an a reptile expo he had organized, and believed that because he was a hobbyist, the FDA regulations didn't apply. (News source.)

Now, technically, the official exception to the FDA ruling is:

"The sale, holding for sale, and distribution of live turtles and viable turtle eggs not in connection with a business." (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21, Volume 8, Sec. 1240.62)

So, I suppose it now depends on the court's definition of "business."

Treefrog Rediscovered

UK zoologist Andrew Gray has rediscovered a small nocturnal treefrog, Isthomhyla rivularis, in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, in Costa Rica. The frog hasn't been seen since the 1980s. (News source.)

Frog Malformations

The nutrients from farm runoff trigger a cascading series of events in the local ecology that increases frog deformities, according to a recent study. (News source.)

More on the Diver-Gator Attack

The son of the man whose arm was torn off in an alligator attack told reporters a little more about the event, noting that his father always checked for signs of gators before swimming. (News source.)

Sea Turtles

A sea turtle that had been treated at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island, becoming an ambassador for the facility, has died of complications. (News source.)

Also, 25 loggerheads were released at the Indian River Lagoon, Florida. Researchers are trying to get the word out to commercial fishermen that changing their types of hooks in certain areas could do much to help preserve sea turtles while still continuing with the fishing industry. (News source.)

The Cost of a Snakebite

A New York woman, visiting Tucson, AZ, was bitten several times on her feet by a rattlesnake. Health care costs were over $90,000, and she's without medical insurance. (News source.)

State Amphibian

A Middle School campaign is pushing to make the spotted salamander the state amphibian for Ohio. (News source.)

Loggerhead Decline

A 5-year status report on endangered loggerhead sea turtles reaching the shore of North America shows that the species is starting to decline again, after a period of rising numbers. (News source.)

Snake Scare

Burr Ridge, Illinois, had a snake scare when a resident videotaped what she thought was a large boa constrictor or similar exotic species lounging in her driveway. Police were inundated with frightened callers when the video hit the web. Wildlife officials who viewed the tape recognized it as a native fox snake. (News source.)

Caiman Sentence

A Virginia man was sentenced with 20 days in jail for selling a caiman, illegal in that state. (News source.)

Croc Conference

A West African conference for crocodile conservation is scheduled in November in Niger. (News source.)

Confiscation

64 venomous snakes were confiscated from a Wayne, MI, home, after police were alerted that the owner had been bitten (his fourth time). The owner was not aware that the snakes were illegal in that city, and is cooperating with police. (News source.)

Sea Turtles

Over 100 million eggs are laid by sea turtles in five days at Ostional Beach in Santa Cruz. Photos at news source.

Asprin for an Invasive Headache

The USDA is dropping dead mice stuffed with asprin onto the forest canopy of Guam in an effort to eradicate the brown tree snake. Apparently, acetaminophen, the active ingredient in asprin, is a dangerous intoxicant for the reptiles. (News source.)

BBC Reptile Doc

Sir David Attenborough is scheduled to narrate two more BBC wildlife documentaries, including one (Life in Cold Blood) focusing on reptiles and amphibians. (News source.)

Fiji Smuggling

A California man was charged with smuggling endangered Fiji iguanas inside his prosthetic leg. (News source.)

VetScan

Purdue is testing VetScan for exotic animals, including reptiles. It will allow quick blood analysis so that vets don't have to send samples out to labs for testing. (News source.)

New Zoo Herp Venue

The Fort Worth Zoo (TX) is breaking ground on a new $18M, 30,000sf herpetarium that will house 165 species of reptiles and amphibians, called the Museum of Living Art. (News source.)

California Snakebites

A 10-year-old California boy playing barefoot in his backyard was bitten by a baby rattlesnake, inducing swelling and respiratory issues by the time the paramedics arrived. He was successfully treated at the hospital. (News source.)

A fishing writer for the Tahoe Daily Tribune was bitten by a rattlesnake while trying to photograph a cactus along Lake Havasu. (News source.)

Bullfrogs in Utah

Bullfrogs (illegal in Utah) have been found on a golf course and other locations in the Uinta Basin. (News source.)

CroFabR

Snakebite Season Still Cause for Concern This Fall
Post-Summer Antivenom Availability Remains Critical

Melville, NY - August 23, 2007 - Labor Day may mark the unofficial end of summer, but snakebite season is still going strong. In fact, approximately 20 percent of reported venomous bites take place during the months of September and October. Although the majority of snakebite incidents occur in the southern half of the U.S., every state had at least one reported bite last year.
Thanks in part to the availability of antivenom, widespread educational efforts and heightened media attention, only about a dozen North American crotalid bites result in death each year. An estimated 8,000 people are bitten annually, and the number of bites in any given season depends on a variety of factors including geography, rainfall and temperature.
"Some areas of the country have experienced higher than average rain fall this year, while others are experiencing drought. Both situations can persuade snakes to move into populated areas in search of food or water," said Erica L. Liebelt M.D. FACMT, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine Director, Medical Toxicology Services UAB School of Medicine.
"Unfortunately, we see numerous cases of a snake biting someone twice or biting two people because of a botched effort to catch or kill it after the first bite. People often want to capture the snake for identification purposes, but we don't need to see the snake to treat the patient. And, we don't want people bringing a snake into an ambulance or a hospital, even a dead one, especially since snakes still have a bite reflex for a short time after death," stated Dr. Liebelt. "The important thing is to get the victim to a hospital as quickly and calmly as possible. Infants, children and adults should all be treated with antivenom if they have a mild to moderate envenomation."
CroFabR Crotalidae Polyvalent Immune Fab (Ovine) is the only widely available antivenom for the management of patients with minimal or moderate North American crotalid snakebite envenomations in the United States (this includes pit vipers such as rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths/water moccasins). "We are working in partnership with the poison control centers to encourage every hospital to stock adequate supplies of antivenom, even if they expect to see just one snakebite patient a year," said Jackie Beltrani, Director of Institutional Sales and Specialty Marketing for Fougera, the marketer of CroFab. "Our goal is to ensure that no patient has to lose valuable treatment time being transferred to another hospital because the initial hospital didn't stock antivenom."

About CroFabR
CroFabR is indicated for the management of patients with minimal or moderate North American crotalid envenomation. Early use of CroFabR (within 6 hours of snakebite) is advised to prevent clinical deterioration and the occurrence of systemic coagulation abnormalities. The term crotalid is used to describe the Crotalinae subfamily (formerly know as Crotalidae) of venomous snakes that includes rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths/water moccasins. With the exception of coral snakes, CroFabR can treat mild to moderate envenomations from any venomous snake indigenous to the United States.
CroFabR works to stop venom from destroying tissue. It does not reverse the damage already done by the snake venom. The more time that elapses between the time of bite and the time of treatment the greater the chance of complications. The phrase "Time is Tissue" is often used to articulate the need to treat bites quickly to prevent tissue damage.
In October 2002, Fougera assumed responsibility for the distribution of CroFabR from Savage Laboratories. Both companies are divisions of Altana Inc. CroFabR was developed and is manufactured by Protherics PLC.

Important Safety Information
The most common adverse events reported in clinical studies were mild or moderate reactions involving the skin and appendages (primarily urticaria, rash or pruritus), which occurred in 14 out of 42 patients. Two patients experienced severe allergic reactions (severe hives and a severe rash and pruritus) following treatment. One patient experienced recurrent coagulopathy due to envenomation, which required re-hospitalization and additional antivenin administration. In clinical trials, recurrent coagulopathy (the return of a coagulation abnormality after it has been successfully treated with antivenin), characterized by decreased fibrinogen, decreased platelets and elevated prothrombin time, occurred in approximately half of the patients studied. Recurrent coagulopathy may persist for 1 to 2 weeks or more. One patient discontinued CroFabR therapy due to an allergic reaction. Patients with allergies to papain, chymopapain, other papaya extracts or the pineapple enzyme bromelain may also be at risk for an allergic reaction to CroFab. For additional information on adverse events, please refer to the full prescribing information for CroFab available at www.snakebitenews.com.

About Fougera
Fougera is a leading manufacturer and distributor of a wide range of multi-source topical and ophthalmic pharmaceuticals in prescription and over-the-counter dosage forms, as well as treatments for emergency/critical care.

Malaysian Croc Attack

A 36-year-old Malaysian man is recovering in the hospital after being attacked by a crocodile. The man was waist-deep in the river harvesting kayu bakau, and managed to fight off the reptile. (News source.)

Gator Mounted

The SC state contractor who trapped the alligator that bit the arm off a diver, will probably mount the head and offer it to the victim, who has expressed interest. (News source.)

Ball Python in California?

An email circulating around the Edwards Air Force Base showed a picture of a ball python underneath a car, warning people to check under their cars for snakes. The base naturalist did a little spiel about the perils of introduced exotics, etc. I'm betting, however, that the email is just another in a long line of "strange animal photos" circulating with deliberately falsified background details just to fool people. (News source.)

Belize Croc Attack

A 23-year-old bartender in Belize was found dead, having bled to death after a crocodile attack. (News source.)

Monitor Hunt

Englewood, Florida, police are posting fliers asking for information on a large monitor lizard seen in the area. They are trying to pinpoint its territory so that trappers can remove it. (News source.)

Bearded Dragon Emergency

A 12-inch bearded dragon ended up in the veterinary hospital after swallowing a 7-inch rubber lizard. The vet noted that owners should be careful about what they place with their pets. (News source.)

Snakes Aren't Party Tricks

An Oregon man almost died after putting his pet eastern diamondback into his mouth, at which point it bit his throat. (The man, of course, had had a few drinks and was trying to impress some friends.) A swelling tongue hindered his breathing, and the pressure forced blood out of his nose. Doctors administered a breathing tube and antivenom, then induced a coma for three days. (News source.)

Zoo Hatches Iguanas

A clutch of Utila Island spiny-tailed iguanas was hatched at the London Zoo. (News source.)

Venom at the Raceway

A trainer at the Keeneland Race Course received a 5-year suspension for various offenses, including possession of alpha-cobratoxin (which can be used to deaden pain). (News source.)

Timber Theft

A timber rattlesnake was stolen from the Crowley's Ridge Nature Center, Jonesboro, Arkansas. Staff came in to find a broken cage and a small amount of blood. Sources state that someone visited the local hospital that same night for snakebite. Police investigation continues. (News source.)

Mississippi Gators

The alligator season in Mississippi resulted in 66 reported gators harvested, another 90 caught-and-released. The largest was less than an inch longer than 13 feet. (News source.)

Crocs in the Canal

People living around the Bago Canal (Philippines) are upset because of continual appearances of saltwater crocodiles in the water, which they believe are escaping from a local wildlife farm. The wildlife farm says all their animals are accounted for. (News source.)

Nigeria Antivenom Facility

The Commissioner for Health in Nigeria is proposing a facility to manufacture antivenom for Gombe State. (News source.)

Salamander Hybridization

A California study of the hybridization between native California tiger salamanders and introduced barred tiger salamanders shows that the hybrids have "remarkable vigor." The researchers predict that eventually all California tiger salamanders will have some barred ancestry, which raises issues for conservationists. (News source.)

Rattlesnake Defense

"Mental problems caused by a rattlesnake bite" are being blamed by family for the actions of a man charged with the deaths of six people in Texas and Pennsylvania. A Suffolk County, NY, DA points out that the man has a long history of arrests. (News source.)

Man Loses Arm to Gator

A 59-year-old man lost an arm to a gator at the Lake Moultrie recreation area, SC. The Rescue Squad killed the alligator and retrieved the arm so doctors could evaluate whether it could be reattached. (News source.)

Snakes in a Fire

Delray Beach firefighters took on a blaze at a warehouse, which turned out to house a large number of boas and pythons. Faulty wiring apparently caused the fire. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Harvest Debate

More on the Fiji sea turtle banquet debate:

Communication breakdown blamed for turtle harvest

The turtle debate swims on

Hellbender Study

Dr. Peter Petokas has tagged more than 400 eastern hellbenders for his research over the last several years. (News source.)

Dog Saved from Python

A British woman saved her four-year-old dog from a Burmese python that attacked it as they were walking a path in Hong Kong. (News source.)

Croc Poaching

State forest officials in Gujarat, India, say that they have found the carcass of a crocodile clubbed to death by poachers. (News source.)

Crows Eat Cane Toads

Folks in Darwin, Australia, have observed that crows have figured out how to safely eat the invasive noxious cane toad. (News source.)

Sanibel Fights Back

Sanibel is trying to eradicate the non-native iguana and monitor lizards roaming the island. Lizard Control Units are trapping as many as they can. (News source.)

Coqui Lawsuit

A Hawaiian business is suing a real estate company over a property that is infested with coquis, despite the original contract having full disclosure that the noisy little frogs were on the property. (News source.)

Yellow-Legged Frogs

Yellow-legged frogs are being surveyed and monitored in the Willamette Basin in Oregon, to determine their current status. (News source.)

Frogs and Salamanders for Medical Research

Amphibian cell regeneration is being studied in the UK to find a way to treat burn victims. (News source.)

Green Sea Turtles Nest in Texas

A 300-lb green sea turtle was found nesting on South Padre Island, TX. This is the first time that species has been recorded on the island, and is one of three green sea turtles that nested on Texas soil this year. The eggs will be incubated in Corpus Christie due to weather concerns.(News source.)

Snakes & Floods

A researcher found that larger snakes survive better during major flooding, and that habitat islands could be created to provide shelter for smaller species during natural disasters. (News source.)

Boa's Owner Wants Snake Back

The owner of the boa constrictor loose in Tyler, TX, has come forward and asking no one to kill the snake before he can recapture it. It doesn't appear to have left the vicinity around his home. (News source.)

Georgia Snakebites

A Mitchell Co., Georgia, man was bitten by a rattlesnake while working on a farm, and a 19-month-old boy was bitten by a cottonmouth in his backyard. (News source.)

Garter Snake Bite

A student teacher in Florida picked up a garter snake, which bit her, prompting school officials to call 911. Apparently, snake identification isn't taught at that school. (News source.)

Wyoming Toad Conservation

40 Wyoming toadlets are being raised at the Detroit Zoo, and will eventually be either sent to other conservation breeding facilities or released into the wild. (News source.)

Thailand Lizards

A new gecko and skink are reported from Thailand's northern province of Chiang Mai. (News source.)

Boa Loose in Texas

A boa constrictor's shed skin, nine feet in length, was found in the outskirts of Tyler, TX, worrying some residents. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Meal

Fiji's Methodist Church is in trouble for using many more than the approved number of endangered sea turtles in their conference banquet. (News source.)

Turkish Turtle Farm

A German zoologist runs the only turtle farm in Turkey. He exports the babies for the pet trade. (News source.)

Japanese Caiman Owner Charged

A Japanese man, whose two caimans were found wandering the area, was charged with keeping them without prefectural permission. (News source.)

Gila Monster Drug

A new drug for Diabetes has been synthesized, based on a hormone found in the saliva of the Gila monster. (News source.)

Gator-Wrangling Cops in Hot Water

Two Florida police officers are in trouble for taking on an 8-foot alligator on their own, instead of calling in a professional trapper. They were called to a home, finding the gator in a breezeway, captured it, and later released it into a lake. Florida F&W state that any such gators over 4 foot should be killed as nuisance gators. (News source.)

India Snake Wedding

A Hindu woman of the Vaishnav sect "married" a king cobra in a ceremony approved by local elders. The woman has left milk for the cobra on a regular basis, believing that it healed her. (News source.)

K-9 Bitten

A Prince William County, VA, police dog (K-9 unit) was bitten by a copperhead during a burglary investigation. A full recovery is expected. (News source.)

Croc Confiscation

There's an interesting article here, discussing a reporter's attempt to get back a crocodile tooth souvenir confiscated by NZ customs, after having thought he had done everything necessary to ascertain its CITES legality. (News source.)

Cobra Guard

It's not just drug dealers using venomous snakes to guard their stash; Harrod's of London is using an Egyptian cobra to guard a display of jewel-encrusted sandals. (News source.)

Goanna Decline

Researchers believe the yellow-spotted goanna in the Northwest Territories, Australia, is nearing extinction. This could impact Aborigine populations, who use it as a food resource. (News source.)

Crocs OOP Around the World

A 4-foot gator was captured in Hokendauqua Creek, in the Lehigh Valley, PA. (News source.)

Two small crocodilians, one possibly a caiman, were captured in a ditch and a rice paddy in Kanazawa district, Japan. (News source.)

New Salamanders

Two new species of salamander have been discovered and described, from Panama. (News source.)

Missouri Gator

A 2-foot alligator in Missouri University's South Farm Lake eluded capture before becoming entangled in a trapper's net and accidentally drowned. (News source.)

Australian Snakebite

An Australian teenage boy was hospitalized after being bitten twice by a tiger snake. (News source.)

Toadlets Found

Australian conservationists have discovered new populations of the rare brown toadlet, a frog that has too short of legs to hop, in the Greater Bendigo National Park. (News source.)

Copperbelly Watersnakes

USFWS has released an action plan for the threatened northern copperbelly watersnake, asking for public comment in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. (News source.)

Tortoise Hatching

The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens State Park in Carlsbad, NM, has hatched out some Bolson's tortoises, an endangered North American species. (News source.)

Two Gators Killed

North Carolina officials killed two small alligators found in the northwest part of the state, where native populations are unknown. They did this in spite of arguments made by a wildlife rehabilitator that he could find a home for one. The NC officials' arguments were 1) the animals couldn't be released into the wild due to possibility of disease or because they may have been "domesticated," 2) the "normal" alligator rescues were full, and 3) they didn't want people to think that releasing exotic animals into the wild would result in their rescue and future care.

Of course, a) there are several alligator rescues, not all of which are "full," and are still accepting rescues or can locate a home for crocodilians, b) when an exotic is released into the wild, the exotic is a victim, not a perpetrator, and if a legal home can be located in a reasonable amount of time, it is irresponsible for the officials to destroy the animals to "make a point," particularly one that isn't very logical.

Salamander Tunnels

Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park plans to install tunnels under a stretch of road to help protect migrating long-toed salamanders. (News source.)

Charges Planned for Shooting

The accidental shooting (noted here previously) of a young child by police officers (aiming at a ratsnake) will result in charges to the officers. (News source.)

Big Dead Coachwhip

Back in the late 1800s to early 1900s, "big" snakes killed in someone's backyard often made the news. You don't see that happen too often nowadays (reported as news, I mean), but one Alabama paper has brought the tradition back: a 6-foot coachwhip was killed in Monroe County, and is photographed for the newspaper.

Snakebit in Hospital

A cancer patient waiting for treatment in a western Thailand hospital's gurney was fatally bitten by a viper. (News source.)

Central Park Boa

A 6-foot boa constrictor was rescued from a rock fissure in Central Park, NYC. (News source.)

India: Frog Smugglers

3000 frogs were recovered from an Assam smuggling operation. Other wildlife are also in peril from rising smuggling threats. (News source.)

Sand Lizard Release

Threatened sand lizards, from captive bred zoo stock, are being released in a Dorset heath reserve. (News source.)

India Zoo Rhino Dies of Snakebite

Raja, the only male rhino at the New Delhi zoo, died of snakebites around his neck and mouth. (News source.)

New England Gator

A New Hampshire fisherman caught an 18-inch alligator in the Nashua River. (News source.)

Sri Lanka Croc Attack

A Sri Lankan man was killed by a crocodile while swimming in the Nilwala Ganga. (News source.)

Rattlesnake Encounters

Seven people were bitten by rattlesnakes this past weekend in the Tucson, Arizona, area. (News source.)

Crocodile Attack

A New Guinea crocodilian grabbed an 8-year-old child from her mother's arms in Kikori district, about 8 meters from the water, disappearing into the river. (News source.)

Conference

Venom researchers from around the world will be at a conference in Tucson, Arizona, called Venom Week 2007. (News source.)

Tortoise on the Run

A large Sulcata tortoise escaped from its pen at a Missouri pet shop and is missing. A reward has been posted. (News source.)

Snakes vs Frogs

A few Australian frogs have toxins that will kill predatory snakes; those toxins break down a short time after the frog is dead, though, and some venomous snakes have learned to bite, kill, then sit back and wait until the frog is edible. (News source.)

Copperheads

Arkansas researchers are puzzled by the lax appearance of copperheads in the Ozark hills. (News source.)

Police Alert: Corn Snake on the Prowl

A corn snake is missing in Barrow, UK, either escaped or stolen. Police warn it "is not poisonous it can give a nasty bite." Yeah, gotta watch out for those corn snakes. (News source.)

Texas Sea Turtle Nests

A record high number of Kemp's ridley sea turtle nests were found on Texas beaches this year: 128. (News source.)

Sick Sea Snake

A yellow-bellied sea snake found on an Australian shore is recuperating in an aquarium before being released again. (News source.)

California Caiman

A 4-foot long caiman was found in a flood control ditch near a Fremont, CA, high school. (News source.)

Snake Prank Charges

Two Colorado State University students are facing misdemeanor charges for disrupting a classroom by releasing a bullsnake into the room. (News source.)

Utah Snake Breeder Settles

The Mapleton, UT, snake breeder who sued over being ousted from a neighborhood after obtaining business and building permits, has settled with the city for about $300k. (News source.)

Cobras and Humans Living in Harmony...

Almost, if you don't count the dozen villagers a year dying from snakebite.

The village of Choto Pashla, West Bengal, India, has an estimated one snake per two villagers (6,000 villagers total) living together. The snakes are mostly cobras. The villagers are Hindu, and worship the snakes as representatives of a snake goddess. Any snakebites are treated with traditional remedies. (News source.)