Eating Herps: Risk Analysis

Eurekalert: Study carried out into biological risks of eating reptiles

Frog Poisoning by Shamans

Two Chilean shamans are being sought by police after they used extracted poison from a dart frog in a traditional healing ceremony that went wrong. (News source.)

Culture, Politics, and Crocodile Trappers

An interesting article here, from Nigeria.

Profile of a Killer Croc

A profile here, on "a huge man-eating crocodile that terrorised the villages along the Batang Lupar River in Sri Aman, Sarawak."

Snakes as Service Animals?

I can see a few problems here.

Iguana Cookbook

A Florida author is promoting his new book, Save Florida, Eat an Iguana - An Iguana Cookbook. (News source.)

Nepali Snake Festivals

Hindus in Nepal are celebrating Naag Panchami, the festival of snakes. (News source.)

Prisoners Raise Endangered Frogs

A few prisoners in Washington State are helping to raise endangered Oregon spotted frogs, and are doing a pretty good job at it. (News source.)

Herp Folklore

A Nigerian story about crocodiles, here.

A Kentucky man's snake stories shows how perception can be confused. (News source.)

Python News

A Uganda man got into an argument with wildlife officials when he demanded compensation for damage to a goat from a python. (News source.)

Researchers are investigating whether Burmese pythons could survive in South Carolina. (News source.)

Crocs in the News

A Cambodian croc farmer takes tourists through for a small fee -- showing them where the Khmer Rouge used to feed enemies to the crocodiles. (News source.)

A Congo fisherman was attacked by a crocodile, and ended up in a Texas hospital to have his arm reattached. (News source.)

Cook 'Em

Florida may not be able to afford bounties on the Burmese pythons, but some folks are suggesting they would make an interesting addition to south Florida cuisine. (News source.)

Killer Frog

A noisy garden frog (and neighbors who keep the pond for it) is blamed by an elderly Australian woman for the death of her husband. (News source.)

Snake Panic

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

Villagers Fear Komodos

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

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.)

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.)

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.)

Snake Festival Canceled

Due to the Italian earthquake, officials canceled the annual festival in honor of Saint Domenico (which involves live snakes). They were concerned over building safety, as many need repairs. (News source.)

Weird Culture

An Indian man was murdered by his wife and her lover when they threw a snake on him while he was sleeping. (News source.)

A female cleric in Kenya was almost attacked when she was discovered carrying a python. (News source.)

An Australian man beat a woman for eating the turtle he had captured. (News source.)

Herps and Culture

Bolivian hunters target a species of tree lizard for tradional medicine. (News source.)

Frogs are an important traditional food source in Madagascar. (News source.)

Tampico Crocs

Crocodiles and the residents of Tampico, Mexico, have learned to live with one another, sort of. (News source.)

Snake-Loving Children

A brief article here on a couple of young kids in India who prefer playing with local pythons and other snakes.

Herp Farming

A Belarus scientist suggests the country should start breeding edible frogs to help out economically. (News source.)

Gypsies in Karachi, India, breed leopard geckos -- but claim the species is venomous (they've been "trained" for generations to handle them safely) and that they sell them to venom extraction companies. Obviously, that is bunk -- not sure if they're selling them to pet exporters, though. Technically, that would be illegal under India's wildlife laws, from what I've seen... (News source.)

Snake Charmers United

The Bedia community in Bengal, India, is prohibited from their heritage as snake charmers, but have formed a union to try and convince the government to let them work with snakes in some way (snake farms, etc.). (News source.)

Crocs and Floods

Flooding in North Queensland means more encounters with snakes and crocodiles. One man accidentally drove over a croc. (News source.)

Croc on the Menu

A Chinese supermarket is now offering a farmed crocodile in advance of the Chinese New Year. (News source.)

Married to Frogs

Two minor girls in India were given ceremonial marriages to frogs in a village ritual for warding off spirits and diseases. (News source.)

Venomous News

An Australian man was bitten by a brown snake on a Gold Coast beach. (News source.)

The drug Viprinex, using viper toxin to fight strokes, has been cancelled, failing a large drug trial. The CEO was retired/fired. (News source.)

A village in Thailand takes extra precautions for their king cobras, which they breed, during colder weather. (News source.)

Feasting on Snakes

A village in the Philippines is turning to water pythons for food. (News source.)

A profile here on a woman in Hong Kong who runs a snake soup restaurant. (News source.)

Croc Deaths

An article here on the rising deaths of South African crocodiles, and cultural ramifications.

Turtle Fights Back, and Other News

A chef in Hong Kong was bitten on the toe by a softshell turtle as it tried to escape. The chef was hospitalized, and the turtle was returned to a cage for later cooking. (News source.)

Profile here on a Florida turtle hunter facing possible restrictions on the trade there. (News source.)

Two Iowa men were charged with poaching turtles. (News source.)

Sermons for Sea Turtles

Malaysian mosques are planning to urge Muslims to protect endangered sea turtles and not poach the eggs. (News source.)

He Seeks to Inspire...

(News source)

Frog Fest

The Rayne Frog Festival (Louisiana) is currently underway. (News source.)

Where to Go: Snake Tourism

Visit the festivities of San Domenico of Cocullo in Italy, on the first Thursday in May, where snakes are released on the streets and squares in the village. (News source.)

Odd Croc News

A newspaper in India asks why a crocodile park in Kerala with healthy adult crocodiles hasn't had baby crocs born since 1998. (News source.)

A community in Burkina Faso embraces crocodiles as part of their life. (News source.)

Croc Scares Neighbors

A 10-foot long, protected North American crocodile has moved into a canal in a Miami neighborhood, worrying the residents. (News source.)

Next Valentine's Day...

No need to spend money on fancy spa treatments for your wife or girlfriend... you can do it at home, just break out the corn snakes.

Strange Snake Stories

A live 4 1/2 foot albino corn snake ended up in a Washington waste water plant. (News source.)

A goat thief in Malaysia turned out to be a 6-meter long python. (News source.)

It's time for the annual Rattlesnake Festival in Pasco County, Texas. (News source.)

Controversy in Illinois: did a man see a massasauga or a fox snake? (News source.)

Has the largest fossil snake been found? Estimates of a South American fossil are up to 12.8 meters. (News source.)

Nepali Turtle Scam

A strange scam involving turtle worship in order to get rich has broken out in Mysore, India, near Nepal. (News source.)

Snake Charmers Reformed

Bihar, India's, snake charmers may have a second chance after a dying tradition, by extracting venom for researchers to process. (News source.)

Snakes Welcome in Burdwan

Venomous snakes don't bother residents in several villages in West Bengal. (News source.)

Turtle Tampering

There's a warning for mainland Chinese soft-shell turtle buyers, to be careful of "adulterated" (water-injected) turtles, pumped up to increase their weight (and price).

Deaths Blamed on Cobra

Three recent deaths are blamed on an angered cobra, in Balasore, India. A local sorcerer blames the snake, but it doesn't sound like anyone actually saw a snake bite the victims... (News source.)

Gatorfest

There's an alligator-themed festival coming up at Fort Anahuac Park, Texas. Details here.

Turtle News

A fossil turtle was found to be pregnant... (News source.)

Bermuda is issuing a coin with a Hawksbill turtle on it. (News source.)

Lizard News

Islanders are upset that Conservancy control of the Komodo National Park has created situations that endanger the locals. (News source.)

Geckos rely on their tails for mobility. (News source.)

Snake Bite Festival

"Tribals in Jharkhand celebrated their traditional festival during which the devotees practice a unique ritual of being bitten by snakes to please the Hindu deity Mansa Devil.
"People participating in the snake biting ritual at Mahulia Sol village apply herbal medicines all over their bodies and also eat special herbal medicine named Eklavi that protects them from the poison of snakes.
"According to them, if they chew this medicine, the snakes would find it difficult to bite them and even if they bite the poison won't affect their bodies." ... (News source.)

Man Walks Up To Crocodile...

A Bangladesh man waded into a pond with a crocodile, near a shrine, to get a blessing from it, and ended up being killed and eaten by the reptile. (News source.)

Python Auto-Guard

A South African businessman uses two pythons to keep his convertible from being stolen. (News source.)

Turtle News

Archaeological evidence shows that Hermann's tortoises were prey to early hunters in Spain. (News source.)

Seven men in Mexico were arrested for poaching 9000 sea turtle eggs. (News source.)

Rattlesnake Dinner

A culinary tradition in South Carolina... (News source.)

Snakebite Attraction?

A 56-year old woman in India has been bitten by snakes (including venomous species) at least 70 times over the last 30 years. Neighbors think she's under a curse. (News source.)

Anaconda Linguistics

The name Anaconda first came from Sri Lanka, not South America, and the linguistic origins have an interesting history.

Frog Jumping

Photos here from a Connecticut frog jumping contest.

India: Snake Charmers "Purify"

"Snake charmers are fast disappearing from this city, but one section that calls itself the 'Manasar Banshadhar' continues to hold on to the profession, claiming their intention is not to entertain but to purify souls. They, however, often end up scaring people." (More at News source.)

Snake Sticks Wanted

Kerala, India, snake-catchers want the government to buy them professional "snake sticks" (tongs) for dealing with dangerous species. (News source.)

Frogs on the Menu

A Malaysian newspaper reviews the uses of frogs for dining and other cultural resources.

UAE: Big Snake Sighted

A "mysterious" big snake was reported in the Gulf News. Appears to be a large specimen (with accompanying exaggeration?) of the native Psammophis schokari.

Turtle Release

Captive-reared northern red-bellied cooters were released into Massachusetts waters in a "head-start" program for the endangered subspecies. (News source.)

Snake Farming for Food

Snake restaurants are growing in Vietnam, and snake farms are cropping up to meet the demand. (News source.)

Frogs Shake Chinese

Another frog/toad "march" is upsetting thousands of Chinese who think it may be a warning that another earthquake is coming. (News source.)

Kids Kill Tortoises

South African police caught 4 children who killed several leopard tortoises, and made them bury the reptiles. (News source.)

India: Snake Rescuer

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

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.)

Death by Crocodile Brain

A crocodile in Zimbabwe was killed, and only its brain taken. It is a superstition in that region, that croc brains can be used to poison an enemy. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Fatality

A sea turtle dish was eaten by several minors in the Philippines, ending in one fatality and 10 or more in the hospital. (Bacterial toxin?) (News source.)

Ukraine: Crocodile Monument

A monument has been opened in Mariupol, where a small crocodile escaped in May 2007, eluding capture for several months. (News source.)

Insurance Stories: When a Cobra Bites

Here's a tale about a man in India who died from a cobra bite, and how his wife finally received her insurance settlement.

Snapper Soup

For ideas on making a better snapping turtle soup...

Snake for Dinner

Here is a brief article on Indians who hunt and snakes in Tamil Nadu. (News source.)

Don't Eat the Frogs

The Cambodian government is trying to curb eating a national delicacy, fried frogs, so that the amphibians can protect the rice crops from insect pests. (News source.)

Cane Toads

A parasitic worm may be the latest weapon in Australia's fight against the invasive cane toads. (News source.)

Sydney's Australian Museum is drawing the ire of Northern Territory residents because it put up husbandry instructions for cane toads. (News source.)

Snakes in a Jail Cell

A couple of snakes have been killed in the cell of a Nigerian rebel, whose organization claims the Nigerian government is trying to kill him that way. The government disagrees. (News source.)

Frog Catching Tradition

Here is a fascinating profile on traditional frog catching in the Philippines.

Snake Soup Crime

A Korean man was arrested for buying soup made from illegally caught wild snakes. It is legal in Korea to raise snakes for soup, but not to catch them in the wild. (News source.)

Snake Catcher

A policeman in India who catches snakes on the side, profiled here.

Strange Snake in Nepal

A "seven-colored" snake is reported from a well in Nepal, creating a local sensation. (News source.)

Crocs in the News

Vietnamese farmers are finding that croc raising isn't as lucrative as they hoped, and poor caging means that escapees are common. (News source.)

Here is a profile on a caiman hunter/skinner.

Snakes and Spiders: Blame Culture for Phobias

Not long ago, there was a (dumb) study publicized about how children recognize snakes from other elongated animals, so this somehow explains why "everyone" is afraid of snakes. A more competent researcher has now pointed out that while snakes and spiders elicit attention, they certainly don't provoke automatic fear. For that, look to the media and other sources which spread negative reports about the animals. (As anyone who's done snake talks can attest, most children are excited to meet and touch snakes. Those who are fearful tend to a) have parents who have taught them to be afraid, or b) have had a specific negative experience (been bitten, or scared by one).)

India Snake Farming?

In response to the cultural instability with snake charmers made illegal in West Bengal, there are plans to create state-sponsored cooperative snake breeding farms (after a Chinese model), apparently for venom extraction. Might there be a possibility of harmless native species bred for the pet trade? India's wildlife laws may be too strict for that... (News source.)

Snake Charmers

Marrakesh, Morocco, snake charmers are facing calls for tourism boycotts, by a French animal rights group. The group alleges cruelty, the snake charmers claim the group is ignorant of actual practices. (News source.)

India's ban on snake charming is stirring more trouble, as native snake charmers in West Bengal (an estimated 100,000) are claimed to be on the verge of starvation, having no ration cards or voter identification cards. (News source.)

Malaysia: Just Say No to Turtle Eggs

The Turtle Research and Rehabilitation Group at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu has launched a campaign to get 1 million Malaysians to pledge not to eat terrapin or turtle eggs for the rest of their life. (News source.)

Thailand Lizard Scandal

Well, not really, but apparently a couple of monitor lizards found mating behind the Government House in Bangkok set reporters into a frenzy. It's been suggested that the lizards somehow represent the government, as the Thai name for the lizard is also a derogatory term. (News source.)

Snake in the Rough

A South African golfer's tournament game ended abruptly when he followed a ball into the rough and got bit by a night adder. He was quickly hospitalized and successfully treated, but since he had left the course, tournament officials wouldn't let him continue playing. (News source.)

Feast Over Frogs

Natauloa villagers on the Fiji island of Nairai saw their first frogs, as ten dead amphibians washed ashore after Cyclone Gene. They were planning to serve and eat them (thinking them a new type of fish) at a feast before the village spokesman found out and stopped them. They held the feast sans frogs. (News source.)

Freak Out Over Snakes

Villagers in Punjab, Pakistan, killed 103 snakes in a single day, after a man came across one while shoring up a canal bank. "The presence of large numbers of snakes spread panic among the villagers, who were moving temporarily to the nearby neighbourhoods." (News source.)

Lizards for Dinner

India police have raided several roadside restaurants, finding lizards being served illegally (spiny-tailed lizards and monitor lizards). (News source.)

Snake in the Cashbox

Here is an interesting set of photos of a shop in Jeppinamogru, India, where the shopkeeper found a cobra in the cashbox. That caught the neighbors' interests...

A New Threat to Varanus

Misguided attempts to find a cure for AIDS in Africa has led to the injection of white-throat monitor blood into patients. Besides being dangerous, and useless against AIDS, the practice could cause conservation problems for the species if the treatment becomes widespread. (News source.)

Don't Try This At Home

Here's a profile on a snake enthusiast in India who apparently believes that drinking cobra venom means he's immune...

Snake Catchers

Forestry officials in Nagpur, India, might give official recognition to legitimate snake-catchers, but are concerned about venom smugglers and other "fakes" in the snake trade. (News source.)

Frog Leg Fest

The 17th annual Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival in Florida drew thousands of people, and served up 7,000 pounds of frog legs and 3,000 pounds of gator tail. (News source.)

Boss Snakes

Now available, Boss Snakes: Stories and Sightings of Giant Snakes in North America. More details here.

Malaysian Snake Charmer

Here's a brief profile on a 16-year old Malaysian snake charmer.

Crocs in Sri Lanka

Were saltwater crocodiles introduced into Ceylonese moats centuries ago? Interesting article on crocs in Sri Lanka here.

Snake Charmers

In India, snake charming is illegal (apparently a conservation measure). Generations have passed along this tradition, and the current tribe members (bedias) are trying to band together and get governmental notice, as they have no other means of sustaining themselves. (News source.)

You'd think this would be good test case for commercial snake farming, venom extraction facility, etc., wonder if something along that line would be feasible.

Mice: The Other White Meat

Traditionally, mouse sales at the Chau Hung Town, Vietnam, markets have gone to python owners. Now, mice are a delicacy and restaurants have increased their demand, raising prices on the rodents. One dealer sells 4 to 5 tons of mice every day. (News source.)

"She said mouse prices usually rose during the Mekong Delta's flooding season so python breeders were often priced out. True enough.
"Within 30 minutes, tens of python breeders were shaking their heads with disappointment because they couldn't buy mice at An's stall.
"'Mice in the U Minh District are favored most because they are fat but gentle,' An said. 'People don't like the kinds of mice that live in forests and are thin and savage.'" ...

"Restaurant chefs are fond of giant mice because of their tasty meat.
"'Now people fear bird flu if eating chicken and duck meat and the "blue-ear disease" of pigs if eating pork,' said Diem, the owner of a restaurant which specializes in field mouse dishes.
"'It's safer to eat mice.'" ...

"He said his job was dangerous because snakes also hunt for mice at night.
"He's often seen snakes lying in wait outside mouse nests and once he trod on a snake's tail.
"Many mouse hunters quit after being bitten by poisonous snakes."

India: To Remove or Not to Remove

There's some community tension between those who want (often venomous) snakes to be removed from their yards, and those who think that's just paranoia. (News source.)