Florida Moccasin Bite

A 37-year-old Osteen, Florida, woman was gardening when she felt a stabbing pain on her finger. She discovered she had been bitten by a 3-foot water moccassin. She was treated at Florida Hospital Fish Memorial. (News source.)

King Cobras in India

The first record of a king cobra nest (and subsequent hatching) from the Ramsar wetland site in the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary has been noted. (News source)

Indiana Timbers

Purdue University researchers are tracking timber rattlesnakes... (News source.)

Florida Snakebite

A 4-year-old boy in Clermont, Florida was bitten by a rattlesnake on the foot. (News source.)

Nepalese Snakebites

Four people have died from snakebite during extensive flooding in the Banke district of Nepal. The snakes have apparently been pushed out of their normal habitat into conflict with humans. (News source.)

California Rattler

A Lake County, California, rancher ran across a 40-inch western diamondback, which is more common in southern California. (News source.)

Cape Fear Serpentarium

The Wilmington, NC, Cape Fear Serpentarium is profiled here.

Pennsylvania Snakebite

A conservation volunteer in Tioga County was bitten by a timber rattlesnake on state forest land while moving a large rock. He's recovering. (News source.)

Louisiana Gators

Following the hurricanes and a drought, Louisiana's alligator population was hurt severely, but it appears to be rising now. 42,000 coastal nests have been found this year. (News source.)

Big Snake Down in Georgia

What was called a 7-foot "boa constrictor" was seen roaming a Georgia neighborhood. DNR refused to remove it because it wasn't endangered or threatened. (News source.)

Sort of begs the question: isn't the release of an exotic species a wildlife crime in Georgia? Maybe not. But then again, what's the likelihood that the original identification of the snake as a boa was correct? Might just have been a large ratsnake or coachwhip.

Asian Extinctions

Asian conservationists are trying to prevent the extinction of several species, most of which end up in the food markets. (News source.)

Ball Python Roaming House

What sounds like a three-foot ball python was found in an Arkansas woman's cabinet. Source unknown, but ended up as a pet for a firefighter rescuer's kid. (News source.)

Croc Hunter Challenges Preserve

An Australian crocodile hunter and taxidermist has challenged the government funded crocodile preserve in North Queensland being named in honor of Steve Irwin, claiming that it will hurt the commercial crocodile industry. He has challenged the Irwin family to a debate on crocodiles in that country. (News source.)

Lizard in Iceland

Teenage girls in Iceland found a lizard skeleton in a tree bed. Someone from the local university says it was probably an escaped pet. No identification was made. (News source.)

Snake Bite

An Australian man working at a Venom Supplies, Tanunda, was bitten on the finger while milking a cantil. He is in stable condition. (News source.)

NY Gator?

A small caiman or alligator has been reported in a small pond in Ossining, New York. DEC officials haven't found it yet. (News source.)

Malaysian Croc Attack

A 60-year-old Malaysian man was attacked by a crocodile while wading in a river, bitten and bruised 14 times before struggling loose. (News source.)

Chinese Youth Opt for Herps

Reptiles are becoming fashionable pets for many Chinese young people. (News source.)

Lake Ladora

Sightings of a large reptilian creature in Colorado's Lake Ladora (rumored to be a released caiman or alligator) turned out to be a large snapping turtle. (News source.)

Croc Research Center

Australia is buying 135,000 hectares in Cape York Peninsula for a crocodile research center, to be named in honor of Steve Irwin. (News source.)

Dog Saves Toddler

A rattlesnake crawled up to and struck at a 1-year-old Colorado child. Zoey the chihuahua jumped in between and took the bites. The dog was successfully treated for the envenomation. (News source.)

Better Safe Than Sorry

Nature Preserve workers at Pembroke Pines, FL, are now required to wear snake-proof boots and chaps, due to a water moccasin bite in 2006. (News source.)

Idaho Gator

A young free-roaming alligator was captured by police in Bonneville County, ID. (News source.)

Chinese Frog Poaching

Hunters are illegally taking tiger frogs and other species for the meat market, and Chinese researchers say this could lead to extinction for some species. (News source.)

Oscar the Gator

A resident of Okefenokee Swamp Park since it began in 1945, (and fully mature at that point), Oscar the alligator has been found dead of natural causes. He was 12 foot, 9 inches, and is believed to be a bit smaller than when he was in full health. (News source.)

UK Reptile Farm

A breeder of rare reptiles near Dorchester has been granted permission to continue his business, despite a zoning official's recommendation against it. The district council noted that the breeder's success and the innocuous nature of the project made it worth preserving. (News source.)

Cyprus Whipsnake

Cyprus researchers are investigating a report of a very large whipsnake near Paphos, up to 3 meters long, which could make it the longest snake ever recorded on that island. (News source.)

Aliens in the UK

The Herpetological Conservation Trust is trying to track any non-native herp species discovered in the south of England. (News source.)

Snakeskin Story

Finding a snake's shed skin elicits memories... (News source.)

An Akron Alligator

A boy goes fishing in Ohio and catches a small gator... (News source.)

Smuggling Charges

Three people from Louisiana and Florida plead not guilty to charges of smuggling rare turtles. (News source.)

Politics and Salties

Whether the North Queensland saltwater crocodile populations are booming or not is the controversy creating sparring between the Environmental Ministry and other politicians. An in-house croc survey only fueled the fighting. (News source.)

Australia and Cane Toad Menace

One researcher of the cane toad invasion in Australia suggests that the species is beginning to integrate within Australian ecosystems with less harm to natives than originally reported by conservationists. (News source.)

Florida Snake Bite

An elderly woman at a Jacksonville, FL, retirement home was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake. She was treated at a local hospital. (News source.)

Texas Attraction Gets Update

A New Braunfels, Texas, snake farm attraction is undergoing renovations and has changed its name to Animal World and Snake Farm to reflect the variety of species besides snakes found within the attraction. (News source.)

Wisconsin Frog Call Survey

Volunteers for the La Crosse River Marsh amphibian monitoring survey are being solicited in Wisconsin. (News source.)

Rambo vs Cobra

Apparently, the upcoming movie, John Rambo, has a scene with the title character and a cobra. I'm guessing the cobra doesn't make it; but would be nice to see it just tossed into another section of jungle...

Gator in Pennsylvania

Another abandoned alligator in Pennsylvania. (A good reason for implementing mandatory buyer's education and serious consideration for limiting impulse sales, but there is at least one current, and unfortunate, attempt to ban crocodilian sales in this state.)

Seattle Zoo Python Dies

Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo lost their 18-foot female reticulated python during surgery for removing retained eggs. (News source.)

Russian Reptile Zoos

A couple of "crocodile farms" have opened up in the Krasnodar region of Russia. From the news, "One of the farms with two crocodiles and one alligator is situated in Temryuksky district, and the second farm near Anapa keeps four crocodiles. However, crocodiles are not the only dwellers of the farms – they also keep such reptiles as snakes and lizards."

Colorado Pond Creature Hunted

Wildlife officers have set up mountain lion traps on the banks of Jayhawker Ponds to see if they can trap whatever the creature is (crocodilian, perhaps) that has been reported in the water. (News source.)

Czech Croc Farm

A farm in the Czech Republic has started raising young crocodiles, but hasn't figured out what is going to happen to them - they can't legally cull the adults in Europe. (News source.)

Australia's Croc Skin Processing

Australia is threatening to move their crocodile skin processing industry from Indonesia to China due to double taxation on the product. (News source.)

Rare Pets

A Scottish teen has (through financial sponsorship) acquired a pair of the rare Fiji iguanas in hopes of breeding them. (News source.)

Australian Navy Helps Sea Turtle

A hawksbill sea turtle with pneumonia was rescued by the Australian navy when found drifting in the Darwin harbor. It is being treated at the Ark Animal Hospital. (News source.)

Philadelphia Snake Hunt Over

The big snake reported in a Philadelphia suburb has not been seen over the last two weeks, and a snake hunter came up empty. They believe it has either moved on or may have been captured by someone else. (News source.)

Beach Patrol

The Sri Lankan conservation group, the Turtle Conservation Project, has hired former egg-poachers to patrol and protect nests of sea turtles. (News source.)

Snake Farm Phobia

A Mapleton, UT, snake farm (primarily ball pythons and boas) has been attacked by neighbors who think it will lower property values, despite an independent auditor's report that suggests far less of an impact. (News source.)

Philadelphia Snake Hunt Continues

A local snake-catcher has been hired to try and locate the large snake reported in the Bristol area of Philadelphia. (News source.)

"Giant Reptile" Seen in Colorado

Sightings of a "giant reptile," possibly a gator or caiman, at Jayhawker Ponds in Loveland, CO, have closed the area to visitors. (News source.)

Truck Stop Snake

A 5 1/2 foot snake crawled out of the bottom of a truck that stopped to fill up in Bethlehem, PA. Where it came from is unknown. The news report calls it a boa constrictor, but the photo of the snake being held by police shows that it is actually a Burmese python. (First question I'd ask: did the truck just come up from Florida?)

Toad Emergence Imminent

An Oregon nature center is watching as hundreds of thousands small Western toadlets gather for mass emergence from the ponds. (News source.)

Crocodilian Rescue

Croc Encounters, a Florida crocodilian-rescue center, is profiled. (News source.)

NC Hellbenders

North Carolina biologists are surveying for hellbenders in the state's rivers. (News source.)

Anaconda Goes to the Vet

Sedating a yellow anaconda for its radiation therapy is not as easy as it sounds... (News source.)

Frogs and Rainforest Clearings

Clearings created for powerlines in the rainforest may be helping to curb the spread of an amphibian fungal disease. (News source.)

Cloning Sea Turtles

Malaysia will practice cloning green sea turtles, then try to clone leatherbacks. (News source.)

Reptile Store Must Move

A Port Charlotte, Florida, couple who sell reptiles over the internet (Ridgeway Reptiles) have run into zoning trouble and must move their shop out of the residential area. (News source.)

Texas Child Bitten

A two-year-old child from Sinton, TX, was bitten by a snake and hospitalized. (News source.)

Reticulated Python Escapee Found

A 12-foot reticulated python that escaped from its home in Tennessee has been recaptured. Neighbors are relieved. (News source.)

Hunt for a Giant Anole

A travel writer describes his search for the "giant" anole, Anolis roosevelti, on the island of Culebra in Puerto Rico. It hasn't been captured since 1932, though sporadic sightings suggest it still exists. (News source.)

Alligator "Rustling"

Several alligator farms in Florida supplement their egg production with wild eggs, which means they have to go out and "steal" the eggs from wild nests (with state permission). (News source.)

Malayan Pit Viper Medicine

Malayan pit viper venom is being tested as medicine for stroke victims. The drug, Viprinex or Ancrod, could be given up to six hours after onset of stroke to break up blood clots. (News source.)

India: Snake Hunter in Demand

A Bengal snake catcher has plenty of business as rising flood waters drive reptiles out of their homes and in contact with humans. He has caught two dozen cobras and other snakes in three days. Twenty snakebite victims have already been treated. (News source.)

Snake in a Bed

An elderly Nebraska woman was frightened in bed when a 4-foot snake crawled over it. She jumped out and called police, but the snake disappeared. She is sleeping on the couch until relatives find the snake. (News source.)

Mississippi Gators Move to the City

The fifth alligator this year has been spotted in Columbia, MS, wandering in from the river habitat. The latest, a small gator less than three feet in length, hasn't yet been caught and relocated. (News source.)