When Herps Attack

A toddler in California was bitten by a rattlesnake. (News source.)

A 16-year old Florida boy was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake, and a schoolgirl was bitten by a water moccasin. (News source.)

Snakebites have increased by 75% in North Carolina this year. (News source.)

The latest gator attack victim has a new challenge now: mounting hospital bills, as he is uninsured. (News source.)

Gator Survey

There are over a million alligators in Florida, and biologists continue to monitor the population. (News source.)

More Glades Python News

Florida wildlife officials are considering a bounty for Burmese pythons. (News source.)

Sarasota County has had a few sightings of pythons. (News source.)

Herp Crimes

A "double-headed snake" was confiscated from poachers in India. (News source.)

Australian authorities confiscated a pair of leopard geckos. (News source.)

Snake Panic

A harmless northern water snake was apparently mistaken for a "water moccasin" in South Bend, IN. (News source.)

Salmonella Illness in UK

A baby in the UK apparently got salmonella from the pet corn snake or bearded dragon. (News source.)

Turtle News

Indonesians on the island of Runduma are protecting the local sea turtles now, instead of using their eggs. (News source.)

The rare western pond turtle found in Washington state recently turns out to be an escaped family pet, but the owners probably won't get it back. (News source.)

Emergency fishing regs put into effect banning longlines in the Gulf of Mexico may become permanent. Longlines injure sea turtles and other non-target species. (News source.)

Dead turtles turning up in Menasha, WI, are worrying conservationists. (News source.)

A Florida man was charged with poaching sea turtle eggs. (News source.)

Alligator Attack

A Florida fisherman survived an attack by an 11-foot gator. (News source.)

Snakebites

A teenager was bitten by a baby rattlesnakes in Palouse Falls State Park, Washington. (News source.)

A Tennessee girl was apparently bitten by a venomous snake. (News source.) Seems to be a little confusion over the account, though.

A UK man was nipped by an adder. (News source.)

A snake-catcher in India was killed by a cobra. (News source.)

Helping Overseas

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Venom Response Team helped US Army doctors track down antivenom and treat an Iraqi officer who had been bitten by a cobra. (News source.)

Budget Cuts Mean Coqui Wins

The invasive coqui frogs in Hawaii have won for now -- economic tightening means there's no budget for fighting them. (News source.)

Snake Farming

A Vietnamese invalid, a former soldier, is raising water snakes for the food trade quite profitably. (News source.)

Venomous Snakes and Snakebite News

A bushmaster and other venomous snakes were allegedly dumped in the woods near Haskell Indian Nations University, and are being hunted. (News source.) [Almost sounds like an animal-rights ploy, like the "cobra sightings" in South Carolina last year, except there are apparently actual sightings, assuming the identifications are correct. I'm not sure why someone would dump a bushmaster -- they're not inexpensive, and it wouldn't be hard to find a new home for one.]

An alleged snakebite death in a US soldier at a training camp is being reevaluated. (News source.)

A young California girl was bitten by a rattlesnake. (News source.)

A Wyoming man tried to suck the venom out of a rattlesnake bite on his dog's nose and ended up sick himself. (News source.)

A Swaziland cobra bite victim is being sent to the US for skin grafts. (News source.)

Turtle News

Tennessee conservationists want to protect their native turtles from the Asian food trade. (News source.)

A western pond turtle has been found in western Washington state, where it was thought extirpated. (News source.)

Villagers Fear Komodos

The increased attacks by Komodo dragons are terrorizing the local villages. (News source.)

Venomous Snakes in the News

A Chinese man tried to suck the venom out of a snake bite on his wife's leg, but ended up getting sick from that. (News source.)

Spanish police are refusing to confiscate a man's pythons, boas, and rattlesnake until antivenom is on hand, after the man himself was bitten. (News source.)

Lizard News

Vietnamese farmers are starting "dong" (butterfly lizard) farms, primarily for the food industry. (News source.)

Conservation groups are pressing the Secretary of the Interior to list the flat-tailed horned lizard as an endangered species. (News source.)

Crocodile Attack

A woman washing clothes in the river near Bhitarkanika National Park was attacked and killed by a crocodile. (News source.)

It's That Time of Year...

The birds, the bees, and the watersnakes...

Snake Invasion

A lot of snakes have turned up in the village of Almaz-gazmalar of Guba Region, Azerbaijan, causing panic and pleas for help from authorities. No one has been hurt, but the villagers claim the snakes are venomous. (News source.)

Six Hour Fight with Croc?

Not long ago, there was a story of a man in Africa fighting off a python for hours, and now there's a man in Zimbabwe who fought of a crocodile after a six hour struggle. Apparently, he lost an arm to the reptile, or it was amputated due to injuries. (News source.)

Komodos Have Venom Glands

Bryan Fry has confirmed the presence of venom glands in Komodo dragons: "magnetic resonance imagery has for the first time uncovered venom glands containing a shock-inducing poison which increases blood flow and decreases blood pressure. (News source.)

Leatherback Population

A leatherback sea turtle population that nests in Gabon has been noted as the world's largest. (Eurekalert.)

NC Legislation

During the "crossover deadline," North Carolina passed updated legislation for herp keepers:

"Under S307, Regulate Ownership & Use of Certain Reptiles, herpetology fans would have to make sure their snakes — particularly those that are poisonous or constrict their prey — are kept under control.
"The measure updates laws regarding the handling of venomous snakes and other reptiles, clarifying penalties for exposing others to dangerous creatures or transporting them in a negligent fashion." (News source.)

Frog Vet

An Australian vet took on a frog that had been hit by a lawnmower, successfully. (News source.)

Gallery: Python vs Goanna

Interesting pics of a blackheaded python eating a goanna, here.

Crimes of a Herpetological Nature

Two suspects in Alabama were arrested for bludgeoning turtles to death. (News source.)

Individuals in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being tricked by con artists into thinking their diseases and illnesses are actually being caused by poisons (from local plants, lizards and toads), requiring payment for healing. (News source.)

Snake Bite Roundup

A man in Spain was bitten by his pet rattlesnake. (News source.)

An Arizona snake-remover was bitten by a small rattlesnake. (News source.)

Herp Researchers

Biologists are mounting cameras on Galapagos tortoises to view their behavior. (News source.)

Biologists are studying the "jumping frogs of Calaveras County" to see why the leap so far. (News source.)

Crocodile News

Papua New Guinea youths trapped a large female crocodile alleged to have eaten 7 people. (News source, image here.)

The croc skin trade in Nigeria is booming, which may hurt the local croc populations. (News source.)

Lion Dies From Snakebite

A white lioness in a zoo in India was found dead from snakebite. (News source.)

Herp Legal Matters

Three men in India were arrested for smuggling 55 tortoises. (News source.)

Texas herpers are trying to get road-hunting legislation passed. (News source.)

An Iowa town has slightly amended their "no constrictors" sales ban. (News source.)

Two pet snakes were confiscated from a home in Hawaii. (News source.)

When Your Eyes are Too Big for Your Stomach

This is what happens... (otherwise titled, Python vs Ibis).

Rattlesnake Bite

A Southern California man was bitten by a rattlesnake while in a cemetery, trying to shoo it away from his family. He is "fighting for his life," according to his wife. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Egg Thief

A man has been arrested in Florida for poaching 119 sea turtle eggs. (News source.)

From Geckos to Cameras

A gecko's ability to see color at night may be key to the development of next generation cameras or even contact lenses. (News source.)

Herp Attacks

A man in India escaped attack from a 12-foot python. (News source.)

No, you should try to pet a rattlesnake. (News source.)

Crocodiles have killed 9 children recently in Angola. (News source.)

Snakes With Bad Karma

A Chinese man bought a bunch of snakes from a market, and released them, triggering a panic in the village and a snake-killing spree. (News source.)

Hungry Snake

A python is photographed swallowing a lizard in Australia. (News source.)

Herp Legality

Florida wildlife officers arrested a man who had a sea turtle in his cooler. (News source.)

The UK is considering easing the captive wild animal regulations a bit. (News source.)

Wildlife officers in India held a man for possessing sand boas illegally. (News source.)

New Frogs from Madagascar

Details here on almost 200 new frogs identified from Madagascar.

Weird Frog

An Indian man found a frog that changes color from white to yellow. (News source.)

Smugglers Foiled

Australian officials found a shipment of 35 reptiles being smuggled from one state to another. (News source.)

Solomon Island Croc Attack

A boy was killed and a girl injured when a crocodile attacked them along the Kolombangara river. (News source.)

Massasaugas Removed

Officials are removing massasaugas from a Chicago wetland and putting them in a zoo breeding program. (News source.)

Sea Turtles Nesting

It's that time of year again. Sea turtles are nesting in Florida and Texas.

One Turtle Patrol is using a terrier to find nests. (News source.)