Snakebites

A Florida off-duty deputy was bitten by a water moccasin at a youth fishing event. (News source.)

An Australian man was bitten by a death adder. (News source.)

Brown Tree Snakes

A report shows that more than 500 brown tree snakes were caught on Guam from October to December last year. (News source.)

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.)

Florida Python Ban

Florida is trying to ban "reptiles of concern." (News source.)

Boomslang Bites

Two men and a women in South Africa all handled a juvenile boomslang, getting bit in the process. (News source.)

Pythons Stolen

A petting zoo in South Fort Myers had a python stolen from them. (News source.)

Python Politics Continues

An interesting business-side look at the effects of the python ban from the WSJ.

The cold snap in FL has killed off a number of pythons, apparently.

Another Article on Python Ban

From Tennessee.

Venomous News

The Maryland woman who claimed she was bitten by a loose cobra has been charged by DNR with possession of two venomous snakes. (News source.)

Utah is considering allowing residents to keep rattlesnakes. (News source.)

Australian snakebites are on the rise (News source.); a hiker in Tasmania was bitten by an unidentified snake. (News source.)

MD Cobra Bite

A very strange case where a Maryland woman claims she picked up a "stick" in a parking lot that turned out to be a cobra. Philly Zoo sent antivenom. The woman is being questioned, as the story sounds a little fishy, and venomous species are illegal in the state. (News source, here, and here.)

Big Retic

A 6-meter reticulated python at the Australian Reptile Park weighed in at 131 kg (or 288.8 lbs) at its bi-annual check. (News source.)

Snakebitten

Another stunt by a South African man to win the world's record for days living with venomous snakes was thwarted when he was bitten by a puff adder. (News source.)

A North Carolina man was bitten by a timber rattlesnake. (News source.)

Snakebite News

A man in Adelaide, Australia, was bitten by a suspected venomous snake. (News source.)

An Australia snake park operator was bitten by an eastern brown snake. (News source.)

A curious Labrador retriever brought home a live venomous snake. (News source.)

Herp Conservation Notes

A new hibernaculum was created for some relocated fox snakes in Illinois. (News source.)

Half of a Sussex Co., NJ, bog was acquired for conservation as bog turtle habitat for $1.1 million. Negotiations for the other half are ongoing. (News source.)

Some tuatara conservation research here.

Freshwater crocs are being pushed out of the Northern Territories by saltwater crocs. (News source.)

Reptile Biology Notes

Research on alligator respiration suggests they "breathe like birds." (News source.)

The "tentacles" on a tentacled snake are very sensitive to the touch, allowing the snake to find prey in murky water. (News source.)

Rattlesnakes vs Denim

A new study shows that denim clothing often reduces the amount of venom released by a rattlesnake during a bite. (Abstract; via Zach Barton)

Another Good Letter to Editor

On the proposed python/boa ban.

Snake Poacher

Arizona G&F prosecuted a snake/turtle poacher in 2009. (News source.)

Frog Eats Snake

A large frog (treefrog?) in Queensland was photographed dining on a snake.

Salmonella Lawsuit

A mother has filed a lawsuit against Serpent Safari for an alleged case of salmonella in her young son in 2007. (News source.)

Boiga in Hawaii: Prospective Review

Some biologists have put together a speculative review on the impact of Boiga irregularis (the brown tree snake) should it manage to get a foothold into the Hawaiian islands. (News source.)

Herp Attacks

A South African woman was killed by a crocodile while she was swimming in a river. (News source.)

A Czech man was hospitalized after being bitten by his pet puff adder, and he was bitten a few weeks ago by another venomous species. (News source.)

5 young children in Uganda were apparently killed by the same venomous snake when they went to get water from Lake Victoria. (News source.)

Fear and Loathing in LA

Bigots in Oakdale, Lousiana, are spreading rumors about a high-end python breeder who lives in the area. They tell the police that cats and dogs are missing, so it must be the python guy... Apparently, these villagers are dumb enough to think that someone with thousand-dollar boids is going to feed parasite-ridden free-roaming pets instead of quality captive-bred lab rodents. What's worse, the Allen Parish Sheriff's Office and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials don't bother pointing out the obvious flaw in such reasoning, but just imply they can't do anything about it. (News source.)

Set Up Python Capture?

USARK suspects that animal rights activists who are pushing for the ban on pythons may have set up a recent large python capture (and photo-op) in Tampa. (News source.)

Python Ban Opinion Letter

An excellent opinion released by Dr. William Kirby, here.

Frog Embryos and Snakes

Embryos of a red-eyed tree frog can detect the motion of snakes, and hatch early accordingly. (News source.)

More Python Ban Material

PIJAC and others are trying keep the Senate from banning all pythons, latest news here.

Professional herpetologists have weighed in to call the justification for such a ban unscientific.

Roomba vs Viper

An Israeli woman found that her Roomba had swept up a small viper. (News source.)

More Herp Attacks

A young Israeli man was killed by a venomous snake bite while hiking in South America. (News source, and here.)

Crocodiles killed a 13-year old Angolan boy, and a 12-year old Zambian girl.

Catlina Island Rattlers

Researchers are investigating whether the rattlesnakes on Santa Catalina Island may be a different subspecies from their California mainland kin. (News source.)

Bad Suggestion for Snakebite

As any competent herpetologist knows, you really can't suck venom out of a snakebite. While it is great that a Florida man survived a cottonmouth bite without losing his arm, the treatment his roommate used and the newspaper features is outdated and dangerous. The focus should have been on the antivenom the man received; getting to a hospital as quickly as possible is the only thing a snakebite victim should be focusing on. (News source.)

Snake Found New Chameleon Species

A new chameleon, Kinyongia magomberae, was discovered after a researcher ran across a twig snake that regurgitated the lizard. (News source.)

Snake Dog

A chocolate lab is being used to sniff out indigo snakes in Georgia. (News source.)

Albino Small-Eyed Snake

An albino small-eyed snake was discovered just south of the Gold Coast (Australia), and has been returned to the wild. (News source. Photo: Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary)

Aussie Surfer Snakebit

A surfer at Killalea State Park was bitten by a red-bellied black snake. (News source.)

Rattlesnake Bite Leads to Mounting Bills

An under-insured Minnesota man was bitten by a rattlesnake in his car, which has brought on mounting hospital bills. (News source.)

Snakebites

A Volusian County, FL, man was bitten by a cottonmouth while working at a landfill. (News source.)

Two Pasco County, FL, men were bitten by rattlesnakes. (News source.)

Python Hunt Not That Successful

The first python hunter by 15 licensed trappers in the Everglades only came up with 37 snakes in a 4-month period. Most of those were young and "underfed." (News source.)

Two-Headed Snake

AP has video on a 2-headed snake found in Illinois. They misidentify it as a watersnake, though. It's a juvenile ratsnake.

Smuggler

A man tried to smuggle ball pythons and leopard geckos (and a tarantula) into Norway, but got caught when they searched him. (News source.)

Lesser-Known Venomous Snakes

A grant has been won by two researchers (one being Dr. Bryan Fry, University of Melbourne) to investigate the venom of Australia's lesser-known venomous snakes. (News source.)

Double Whammy

A Florida man appears to have been bitten by a coral snake and a pygmy rattler at the same time. (News source.)

Reptile Attacks

A 68-year old Georgia man died from a rattlesnake bite sustained while hunting. (News source.)

A 16-year old boy was killed by a crocodile in the lower Zambezi river. (News source.)

A Melbourne, Australia, boy survived a brown snake bite. (News source.)

Vermont Hognose

A juvenile eastern hognose snake was discovered in Vernon, VT. The species is known from Massachusetts, but this is the first record from Vermont, apparently. (News source.)

Python News

A 16-foot Burmese python was found in the Everglades. It will be radiotagged and released back in the wild by researchers. (News source.)

Florida legislators are considering a ban on internet sales of pythons. (News source.)

Fluffy, the reticulated python displayed at the Columbus Zoo, is a contender for the Guinness World Records. (News source.)

Northern Pine Controversy

Developers are trying to get NJ to take the northern pine snake off the threatened list. (News source.)

Everglades Python Hunt

The technology is expanding in the Everglades python hunt: thermal imaging equipment is being tested. (News source.)

Herp Attacks

An Alabama farmer was apparently killed by a rattlesnake bite to the neck. (News source.)

A Florida woman narrowly escaped an alligator attack. (News source.)

SC Rattler Bite

Trying to retrieve a dove in the weeds, a South Carolina man was bitten by a rattlesnake. (News source.)

Snakes as Service Animals?

I can see a few problems here.

Rattlesnake Bite on National Parkland

A Wyoming prairie rattler bite, here.

Ohio Town Ruled by Fear

Wilmington, Ohio, is taking a turn towards fear-based legislation, to restrict such "dangerous" exotics as boids over 3 feet in length, monitors, and tegus. (News source.)

Pygmy Rattler Bite

A Florida woman was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake, but fortunately it was a dry bite. (News source.)

More Dangerous Herp Encounters

Two people were reported bitten by venomous snakes in northern Wyoming this past weekend. (News source.)

Another crocodile attack in Brunei took a young boy. (News source.)

Pythons in the Glades: Keep Out of the Kitchen

The pythons in the Everglades appear to have high levels of mercury, so don't cook them up... (News source.)

Bites

A Kansas man was bitten by a rattler near Lake Cheney. (News source.)

A man was bitten by a copperhead in a South Carolina Wal-Mart's garden center. (News source.)

Overblown Python Numbers

This really shouldn't come as any surprise, but wildlife experts are starting to question the high numbers of estimated pythons in the Everglades. (News source.)

Power Strip Kills Snakes

A fire started apparently from a faulty power strip, killing a teen's 30 pet snakes. (News source.)

Python Hunting Expanded

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

Snakes and Snakebites

A Florida man was saved by quick antivenom response when he was apparently bitten by a green mamba. The snake's wherabouts are unknown, and where it came from is a mystery. (News source.)

A older snake story here, of a military training exercise that runs into a rattlesnake.

Details on the recovery of a Texas girl from a rattlesnake bite. (News source.)

Three Australians were bitten by the same snake of unknown species. (News source.)

A Trinidad woman died from a fer-de-lance bite when she didn't get antivenom in time. (News source.)

Faked for Publicity

Old news, but an article on the Florida man who faked catching a big Burmese python. (News source.)

Snake Bites

A Washington, D.C., man bought a "python" from a neighbor that turned out to be a copperhead, which bit him. (News source.)

A coral snake bit a Florida man this weekend. (News source.)

Lake Erie Water Snakes

There has been a rebound in the endangered Lake Erie water snake, with about 10,000 in the wild. (News source.)

Snakebites & Antivenom

A Florida coral snake bite got a bit tense as antivenom was delayed. (News source.)

No snakebite, fortunately, but a woman picked up a coral snake by accident in a Texas church, thinking it was a rosary. (News source.)

An Iraqi girl was helped with expert advice from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Antivenom Unit. (News source.)

Snakebite Survey in Bangladesh

At least 6000 people in Bangladesh die every year from snakebite, according to a recent survey. (News source.)

Rattlesnake News

A pair of conjoined rattlesnakes were found in Tucson, and scheduled for surgery. (News source.)

A Florida woman shelled out double for human antivenom for her three dogs after they were bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake. (News source.)

An Ontario hospital is stocking up on massasauga antivenom. (News source.)

A Missouri toddler was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake. (News source.)

A British Columbia teenager was bitten by a rattlesnake. (News source.)

An 87-year old Florida woman was bitten by a pygmy rattler, then strangled it with her bare hands. (News source.)

Rattlesnake Bite in Arizona (Pics)

Some interesting images of a rattlesnake bite to the ankle, here.

Fine for NC Dealer

Most of the 100 snakes seized from a North Carolina reptile dealer were returned to be moved to a different location. The dealer was fined $300 for keeping venomous snakes, against county regs. An alligator and four eastern diamondbacks were not returned, due to state laws. (News source.)

Smuggler Busted

If he had had the proper documentation, he could have brought them across the US/Canada border legally, but he didn't want to wait the "several months," and got busted carrying four pit vipers and six tree frogs into Canada. The fine was $1000. (News source.)

Another Sistrurus Bite

A Florida man was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake in his driveway. (News source.)

Giant Garters

The endangered giant garter snake has been found in San Joaquin County, CA, for the first time in 15 years. (News source.)

Big Snake in Everglades

A 17-foot Burmese python was killed on the grounds of the Okeechobee Veterinary Hospital. (News source.)

Titanoboa Speculation

A researcher thinks the fossil giant snake could have kept itself warm even in a cooler climate than originally speculated. (News source.)

Bites

An Ohio man was bit by his pet Gila monster. (News source.)

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

Python Banning Bill is Back

The HSUS and other anti-reptile factions are pushing for the bill to ban pythons again. More details here, and here.

Some Envenomations

A man was bitten by his pet beaded lizard. (News source.)

A Texas man was bitten by a rattlesnake. (News source.)

Three snakebite deaths were reported from India. (News source.)

Nepali Snake Festivals

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

Massasauga Bite

An Ontario woman was bitten by an eastern massasauga. (News source.)

Brown Snake Bite

A woman in New South Wales (Australia) was hospitalized for a brown snake bite. (News source.)

Tiger Ate Snakes

A tiger in the Sunderbans, which apparently died of age-related problems, was found to have a couple of cobras in its stomach. (News source.)

Python Hunt Catches One

Newly authorized python hunters in the Everglades quickly found a 10-footer while on a publicity-tour. (News source.)

Invasive News

Cuban tree frog expansion in Florida may be nearing its limits as they reach colder climates. (News source.)

The governor of Florida has approved python-hunting in the Everglades. (News source.)

Rattlesnake Bites

A Florida man was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake while shopping in a Wal-Mart garden department. He plans to sue. (News source.) Now seriously, what idiot living in rattlesnake country seriously believes that it's a garden center's fault if he doesn't watch where he puts his hands? Snakes can be anywhere, there's no way to effectively prevent them, so common sense has to be applied.

Another man in Florida was driving through the Everglades when he stopped to rescue an eastern diamondback from the road, and ended up getting bit. (News source.)

NC Snake Law Passed

Stricter regulations are now in place in North Carolina for keepers of large constrictors and venomous reptiles. (News source.)

Eastern Massasauga Bite

Details on a massasauga bite in Michigan, here.

Massachusetts Rattlesnake Bite

An unnamed researcher was bitten by a timber rattlesnake in the field, near Sheffield, MA. (News source.)

Snake Bites

A Connecticut man was bitten by a rattlesnake when he tried to pick it up. (News source.)

An Idaho woman was bitten by a small rattlesnake. (News source.)

A Florida man was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake. (News source.)

Sri Lanka recorded approx. 33000 snakebites in 2008. (News source.)

Snake Bites (or Not)

A hiker was airlifted off the Blue Ridge Parkway for alleged snakebite (news source), with reports he was bitten five times by a timber rattlesnake, but medical evaluation says the snakebite story is false (news source), though the man remains hospitalized.

A Texas woman was bitten by a copperhead. (News source.)

Maine: Giant Snake Rumors

A "monster snake," "perhaps up to 17 feet long" was reported in Rumford, Maine. (News source.)

Australian Smuggler Fined

A man in NSW was fined $4,000 for trying to smuggle 12 pythons out of Western Australia. (News source.)

Alabama Coral Snake

A coral snake was found in central Alabama for the first time in 40 years. (News source.)

Rattler Bites

Three people in Florida have been bitten by rattlesnakes in the last week. (News source.)

Fox Snakes

A story about fox snakes near Sandusky, Ohio, here.

Fatal Attack by a Burmese Python

An unlicensed and improperly housed Burmese python killed a 2-year old girl in Florida. (News source, and here.)

Actually, while the stories say the python was a pet, it also says the man had "bagged and caged" the python the night before -- so was it a recently captured feral snake?

Snake Bites in the News

Another B.C. man was bitten by a rattlesnake. (News source.)

A hiker on the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee was bitten by a copperhead. (News source.)

Herp Folklore

A Nigerian story about crocodiles, here.

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

Tentacled Snakes

An interesting study here on how tentacled snakes capture prey.

Snake Bites

A Green Bay, Wisconsin, teen was bitten by a captive rattlesnake. It and several other illegally kept venomous snakes were confiscated. (News source.)

A Louisiana firefighter was bitten by a cottonmouth. (News source.)

Court Ruling: Can't Sue for Utah Snake Case Deaths

The rubber boas that died due to Utah Division of Wildlife Resources negligence are a lost cause: the owner can't sue. (News here, and here.)

Legal Matters in Edgewood, Florida

A reptile ban in Edgewood, Florida, was skipped, after local herpetoculturists showed some fight. Venomous owners will have to register with the city. (News source.)