Herper.com: Reptiles and Amphibians

Reptiles and Amphibians in the News

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Python Season

A new season will be available to hunters for reptile of special concern in Florida state-managed areas around the Everglades. (News source.)

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Sunday, February 7, 2010

Croc News

A Frenchman and Burundi resident is trying to hunt down Gustave, that country's infamous killer crocodile. (News source.)

A Uganda minister is trying to make it legal for residents to kill (and eat) crocodiles, which are a constant danger in that country. (News source.)

Mugger crocs in Iran are seriously on the decline due to poaching and habitat loss. (News source.)

A well-known large American crocodile, Wilma, on Sanibel, has been found dead. (News source.)

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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Culture, Politics, and Crocodile Trappers

An interesting article here, from Nigeria.

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Thursday, September 3, 2009

Python Hunting Expanded

Licensed hunters will be allowed to hunt pythons in certain parts of the Everglades. (News source.)

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Gator Hunting

A "new, undisputed Alabama state record alligator" was shot during the latest season. It was 13' 5" and 701 pounds. (News source.)

The Florida season started up, with some animal rights protesters showing up. (News source.)

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

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.)

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Saturday, March 21, 2009

Call for Croc Cull

Australia's Territory Government is thinking about allowing crocodile safaris by tourists in the aftermath of the recent death of a young girl. (News source.)

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Sunday, February 22, 2009

SC Gator Hunt Numbers

The hunt numbers for the 2008 alligator hunting season in South Carolina show "362 alligators from 13 different counties, in the state's first public alligator hunt in more than 40 years." (News source.)

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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Snake Hunting Techniques

Researchers in Georgia are using a trained Labrador retriever to sniff out eastern indigo snakes. (News source.)

A Malaysian man has created a snake catching device for hands-off capture of venomous snakes. (News source.)

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Friday, January 9, 2009

Frog Hunting to Protect Crop

South Carolina crayfish farmers have to hunt frogs to keep the predators from ruining the crop. (News source.)

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Sunday, January 4, 2009

Snake Hunter

An orphan in Zimbabwe became entrepreneurial, catching snakes and smuggling them over the border into Mozambique where he could find ready buyers. (News source.)

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Sunday, December 21, 2008

Snake Hunter

A profile here on a professional snake hunter in Florida (for live sales to the reptile industry).

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Friday, November 28, 2008

Big Croc Hunting

A brief profile here on an Australian couple, first croc hunters, then croc conservations.

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

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.)

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Friday, November 21, 2008

Snake Hunting

Notes on a video of some snake hunters in the Mississippi Delta region here.

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Monday, October 6, 2008

Iguana Hunters: The Strictly Controversy

An article here detailing how Strictly Reptiles obtains iguanas and more from the burgeoning invasive population in Florida, and how state regulations might affect that. (News source.)

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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Big Gator

A state-record alligator, over 13 feet in length, was killed in Mississippi during this year's alligator hunting season. (News source.)

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Gator Hunting in SC

Via Roark Ferguson: South Carolina is following other southern states and opening up alligator hunting again, with conditions hunters must follow. (News source.)

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Sunday, September 14, 2008

Croc News

An article here on alligator hunting in South Carolina.

South African crocodile farms are becoming big business. (News source.) But, along with that are dubious products marketed from crocodile fat making extravagant claims on their natural healing properties. (News source.)

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Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Chasing Wall Lizards

An article here on an annual wall lizard hunt in Topeka, Kansas. (The lizards are an introduced species.)

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Sunday, August 24, 2008

Froggin' in Missouri

An outdoors column on frogging on the Big Piney River here.

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Friday, August 15, 2008

Florida Gator Hunting Season

The 11-week alligator hunting season in Florida starts today. (News source.)

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Iguana Hunting

A Miami paper followed a 20-year old woman who went out to hunt an iguana with a compound bow, intending to cook it. She probably should have practiced a bit more... Maybe found someplace a bit out of the way rather than a university campus... that sort of thing. (News source.)

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Wednesday, August 6, 2008

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.)

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Turtle Debate

There's some argument over the number of turtles in Georgia (between preservationists and trappers), and the best steps to protect future generations of turtles. (News source.)

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Thursday, May 29, 2008

Florida Gator Hunting

Here is a column on gator hunting in Florida, as the upcoming season's permits come available soon.

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Tuesday, May 6, 2008

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.)

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Saturday, April 12, 2008

Snake for Dinner

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

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Sunday, April 6, 2008

Crocodilian News

A Japanese aquarium has a dwarf caiman that entertains crowds by standing on its hind legs when water is poured on it. (Reminiscent of a waterfall?) (News source.)

Here is a profile on a South Carolina alligator wrangler, who captures problem gators.

And an article on South Carolina's new alligator hunting season. (News source.)

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Saturday, April 5, 2008

Frog Catching Tradition

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

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Monday, March 31, 2008

Turtle Hunting Pressure

Because of increasing pressure on wild turtle populations from hunters for the Asian meat market, environmental groups are asking Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, and Texas to stop commercial turtle harvesting. Here's an article on the Oklahoma figures.

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Monday, March 10, 2008

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.

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Thursday, January 31, 2008

SC Gator Hunting

Legislation to allow alligator hunting in South Carolina has hit a small debate regarding whether or not hunters (or landowners with problem gators) will be required to tie off an alligator before shooting it. (News source.)

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Friday, January 25, 2008

Gator Hunter

An interesting profile on an alligator hunter here.

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Cuba Ban on Sea Turtles

Cuba has banned the hunting of sea turtles on its beaches. (News source.)

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Sunday, November 11, 2007

Gator Hunting

A profile on some Florida gator hunters here.

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Monday, October 1, 2007

Gator in Wisconsin

A Wisconsin hunter ran into a four-foot alligator in the Milwaukee River in Washington County. (News source.)

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Sunday, September 30, 2007

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.)

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Friday, September 28, 2007

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.)

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Tuesday, September 18, 2007

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.)

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Thursday, August 30, 2007

Alabama Gator Hunt Results

84 out of 100 permitted hunters in Alabama's Mobile-Tensaw Delta brought in alligators this year. (News source.)

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Sunday, August 19, 2007

Record Alabama Gator

A hunter in Alabama took a 12-foot, 6-inch, 492-pound alligator, a record for the state. (News source.)

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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Gator Hunting

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Arkansas Alligator Hunting

A report on gator hunting in Arkansas here.

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Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Turtle Grabbing for Snappers

Here's an article on techniques for hunting snapping turtles...

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Thursday, July 5, 2007

Florida Gator Hunting

Florida Fish and Wildlife are offering classes on alligator hunting in preparation for the upcoming season. (News source with class details.)

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