Border Patrol Rattler Bite

A border patrol agent in the Huachuca Mountains (Arizona) was airlifted out after being bitten by a rattlesnake. (News source.)

Eviction

The Fitzsimons Snake Park in Durbin, South Africa, has to find a new home. (News source.)

Gator Poaching Videotaped

A Florida man and teenager were videotaped illegally capturing a 7-foot gator by a passer-by. Police caught up with them, and the gator relocated. (News source.)

Gator vs Deputy

A Volusia County, FL, sheriff's deputy attempted to round up a stray 8-foot alligator, and ended up getting bit on the leg. Another deputy shot at it a few times and managed to get the leg free, and a trapper eventually arrived to restrain and shoot the animal. (News source.)

Manitoba Garter Gallery

Here is a photogallery of the annual garter snake mating groups up in Manitoba.

Python Snatches Zoo Deer

An Indian python snuck into the deer enclosure at Sree Venkateshwara Zoological Park in Tirupati, India, captured, and ate a young deer. Story and photos here.

Komodo Coming

St. Augustine Alligator Farm is building a new exhibit for a Komodo Dragon. (News source.)

Scorpions in the UAE

Not herps, but still interesting, an article on scorpions in the UAE.

Viprinex Trials

Two Milwaukee area hospitals are testing the new drug Viprinex, made from Malayan pit viper venom, for stroke treatment. (News source.)

Albino Frogs (Almost)

Albino tadpoles have been reported from a pond in Wales. (News source.)

Pig-Frog Leg Alert

Don't eat pig-frog legs from the Everglades region, the state says, due to elevated mercury levels. (News source.)

Vietnam Smuggling

Vietnam officials intercepted a ton of live monitor lizards headed for China. (News source.)

OOP Crocodilian?

A small crocodilian was reported from Lake Hickory, NC. Gators aren't known from that part of the state, so it may be a released pet, possibly a caiman. (News source.)

Snake Bite Death

A fisherman in Kerala, India, was bitten by a snake that he accidentally caught in a net and died before he could get to help. Species is not given. (News source.)

Download Free Ebooks

I've set up free downloadable (and printable) copies of my early printed versions of Herper's Life List and Herper's Survey. Basic materials (nothing fancy) in PDF that you can print out and use after field herping...

Traffic Reporter Bitten

A California traffic reporter was bitten by a rattlesnake. No details given on how that happened... (News source.)

India: Croc Attack

A teenage boy was snatched at the Madhuvanti dam while on a picnic. The crocodile grabbed him when the boy jumped into the water after a ball. (News source.)

Tuatara Problem

Turns out older tuataras will eat hatchlings... (News source.)

Yet Another Coral Snake Bite

A Florida man shooed his kids away from a snake, and it bit him when he picked it up. It was a coral snake, and he was hospitalized in severe condition. (News source.)

Snake Study

Missouri biologists are studying the mobility and movement of snakes, particularly their seasonal migration across roads, to try and reduce roadkill. (News source.)

Illinois Chorus Frogs

The search is on for overlooked populations of the rare Illinois chorus frog... (News source.)

Brown Snake Bite

An Australian 2-year old child was bitten by a brown snake near Sydney. (News source.)

Canary Island Kings

Someone eventually will bring back a pair of these California kings and start marketing juvies with the new locality data... The introduced species continues to thrive in Gran Canaria. (News source.)

Kenya Snake Thief

Someone stole seven vipers and cobras from a small snake-park in the Rift Valley. (News source.)

Ultrasonic Frogs

The female concave-eared torrent frog, Odorrana tormota, uses ultrasonic chirps to attract males over the sounds of rushing water and waterfalls in central China. (Eurekalert.)

Gharial Breeding

The Prague Zoo is starting a breeding program for gharial, the first in Europe. (News source.)

Long Island Herp Survey

One of the highlights of a recent survey of reptiles/amphibians on Long Island NPS sites was an eastern box turtle that had the carved initials (on its plastron) of a naturalist from 90 years ago. (News source.)

Power Outage

20,000 South Florida homes lost power after an iguana got fried by high-voltage equipment. (News source.)

India: Snake Rescuer

Here is a short piece by a wildlife consultant in Goa, India, who rescues snakes.

Myanmar Disaster: Snakes Now a Problem

Increased interaction between survivors and venomous snakes are a greater problem with a shortage of shelter after the Myanmar cyclone. (News source.)

Solomon Islands Croc Attack

A man was killed by a crocodile while fishing along the Matepona River. (News source.)

Big Snapper

An 87-lb snapping turtle was caught in a North Carolina pond. (News source.)

Iguana Crime

Six endangered blue iguanas were killed at a captive-breeding center in the Cayman Islands. The animals were stomped and mutilated, and police are investigating. (News source.)

Toads to Fight Toads

Another strategy for fighting cane toads in Australia: release small sterile male cane toads in areas without infestation to "teach" local predators that they're not suitable prey. (News source.)

Frog Farming (1978)

Here is an old article from Mother Earth News on farming bullfrogs.

Gharials Nesting

Gharial nests have been found in Chambal's sanctuary, so there's (some) hope for the species... (News source.)

Big Snake

A 21-foot (approximate) python was found in Sri Lanka, relocated to a forest preserve. (News source.)

EDB Bite

A co-owner of the Edisto Island Serpentarium was bitten by an eastern diamondback while snake hunting on the Georgia coast. (News source.)

Hawaii: Ball Python

A ball python was found hit by a car in Hawaii; officials euthanized the snake. (News source.)

Cat in a Snake

An Australian family's pet cat was eaten by a 2-meter python. X-rays proved it. (News source.)

Oklahoma Ban

Oklahoma has put in place a 3-year moratorium on commercial turtle harvesting in order to study the effect on their native turtles. (News source.)

Croc Attacks

The recent Palawan crocodile attack has prompted calls to curb the illegal mangrove tanbarking trade, which some say contributes to greater croc-human interaction. (News source.)

Two people were recently attacked and injured by crocodiles in Orissa, India. (News source.)

Woman Helps Cobra

A woman in India found a wounded cobra, and treated it (antiseptic creams and feeding syringes of milk) despite neighbors requesting she put it back where she found it. (News source.)

Whiptail Profile

A nature columnist in Colorado ponders the whiptail lizard. (News source.)

Croc Farming

Zimbabwe is encouraging farmers to raise crocodiles commercially. (News source.)

Lizard Saved From Fish

A fisherman in Australia caught a fish which regurgitated its last meal, a small skink. Though the tail was partially digested, the lizard resuscitated and went on its way. (News source.)

Toy Kills Gator

A 9-foot gator in the Florida Keys died after eating a plastic toy turtle, which lodged in its digestive tract. (News source.)

Sea Turtle News

First, an update from Texas: 10 more Kemp's ridley sea turtle nests have been found. (News source.)

And Anna Maria Island (Florida) is gearing up for nesting season. (News source.)

Philippines Croc Attack

A 7-year old boy was killed by a crocodile in Palawan, while he was swimming in a river. (News source.)

Croc Ad Upsets UK Parents

Some parents in the UK are upset about the use of a crocodile in a television ad for a soft drink. (News source.)

New Gecko

A new species is being described in the news as the largest gecko yet found in India, at 250 mm. (I'm a bit leery of this claim; the Tokay gecko, for example, is found in northern India, and can surpass that length in at least parts of its wide range.) The new species has been named Hemidactylus aaronbaueri, after lizard expert Dr. Aaron Bauer of Villanova. (Dr. Bauer, of course, should be a familiar name, as he has written on the cryptozoological giant gecko and other unusual cases.) The lizard was first photographed two years ago, and the photos forwarded to the Bombay Natural History Society for identification, where they realized it was a new species. Since then, about 20 more have been found on rocky cliffs in north west Ghats. (News source.)

Antivenom Rushed to Cobra Victim

More details have been published on the Bushnell, FL, case of a pet cobra bite. The victim is still unconscious, though. (News source.)