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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

Snakebites

A Bushnell, FL, man was hospitalized from a bite by his pet cobra. (News source.)

A South Carolina animal control officer was bitten by a cottonmouth. (News source.)

Texas Copperhead Bite

A Texas kindergarten teacher was bitten twice by a copperhead while walking near her home at night. She felt the first bite to her ankle, and thought she had dropped something, reached down, and was bitten on the finger. (News source.)

Zoo Breeding

Madras Crocodile Bank Trust in India has bred Indian painted roof turtles. (News source.)

Northern Territory Wildlife Park has bred a pair of death adders, resulting in a 25 baby litter. (News source.)

Snake Stories

A Chinese man was bitten by his pet cobra. Antivenom had to be flown from Shanghai to Beijing. (News source.)

While trying to flush out a snake from a shed, an Australian man accidentally shot and killed the woman helping him. (News source.)

VA: Possible Ban

Arlington, VA, is mulling a ban on venomous and "dangerous" snakes. (News source.)

Coral Snake Bite

Details here on a Texas woman's coral snake bite.

Snake Smuggler Fined

An Australian man was fined $15,000 for attempting to take 10 cornsnakes and two Burmese pythons through an airport. The snakes, of course, were destroyed. (They couldn't take $100 of the fine and send the snakes back out of country?) (News source.)

Another Coral Snake Bite

A 24-year old Texas man walked into a hospital and said he had been bitten by a coral snake. Details unknown as of yet. (News source.)

Hawaii Snake Hunt

A report of a possible brown tree snake (described as a 2-foot green-brown snake) at the Marine Corps Base at Kaneohe brought out searching parties. (News source.)

Pet Shop Fiasco

A pet shop employee was attacked by a 12-foot Burmese python, and had to be rescued by emergency personnel. (News source.)

New Reptiles

A few new species of snakes and lizards described in the last couple months:

A pitviper from Hon Son Island in Vietnam, Cryptelytrops honsonensis. (Zootaxa)
A xenodermatid snake from Vietnam, Fimbrios smithi. (Zootaxa)
A night-lizard from Mexico, Lepidophyma cuicateca. (Zootaxa)
Two geckos from southern Vietnam, Cyrtodactylus takouensis and Cyrtodactylus huynhi. (Zootaxa)
A gecko from Borneo in the genus Luperosaurus. (Zootaxa)
A gecko from Cuba, Tarentola crombiei. (Zootaxa)
A gecko from Thailand, Gekko nutaphandi. (Zootaxa)

Land for Watersnakes

9.1 acres (purchased by a conservation and government partnership) on the eastern tip of South Bass Island will be set aside for birds and the threatened Lake Erie watersnake. (News source.)

Green Snake in a Serpentarium

A visitor thinks a green mamba got loose from a NC serpentarium, but employees say it was only a native green snake that another visitor released inside. (News source.)

Arizona Snakebite

A Carefree, Arizona, woman was bitten by a rattlesnake outside her home. (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.

Snake for Dinner

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

More Venomous Bites

A New Mexico zookeeper was bitten by a Gila monster. (News source.)

An Orissa, India, folk dancer died when he was bitten by the cobra he was dancing with. (News source.)

Coral Snake Antivenom Dwindling

Here is an article that discusses the dwindling supply of coral snake antivenom in the US (as Wyeth no longer manufactures it), and the possibility of a Mexican antivenom if the FDA would actually do something about testing it.

Snake Bites

A teenager was bitten by a coral snake in Florida. (News source.)

A South African teenager (who claims to have 150 snakes in his bedroom) was bitten by a cape cobra. This is the third venomous bite he's survived. (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.)

Old Bullsnake

Here's the brief tale of an almost 30-year old bullsnake, reunited with the man who originally caught him. (News source.)

Herp Crimes

The UK mastermind of an illegal tortoise smuggling ring has been charged. (News source.)

A couple of snakes were stolen from Flamingo Gardens in Florida. (News source.)

A woman who stole a young boa constrictor from a Michigan pet shop has returned the snake. (News source.)

Man Saves Python

A UK man rescued his pet water python from a burning building. (News source.)

Snakebites

A high schooler in India was bitten by a cobra and taken to a hospital for treatment. After an hour, the antivenom had taken effect, and the young man expressed the wish to sit for his philosophy paper (exam). His headmaster and local police arranged for him to do so from his hospital bed. (News source.)

Another dog has died from a coral snake bite. It was a 3-year old Jack Russell terrier. (News source.)

WHO is starting a campaign in Africa against snakebites. (News source.)

Python Smuggling

A Victoria, Australia, man is charged with smuggling four "endangered" pythons in from South Africa. (The news report states they are believed to be green tree pythons -- which aren't native to South Africa.) And, of course, the idiots in customs there plan to destroy the snakes. (News source.)

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.)

Legal Trouble

First, a Kentucky man's home was raided, and numerous prohibited reptiles confiscated. Meanwhile, he was in the hospital for a snakebite. (News source.)

A Roanoke, VA, family gave up their illegal 6-foot Nile crocodile. (News source.)

Snakes and Dogs

First, an update: Roxy, the dachshund puppy who was bit by a coral snake, at first seemed to have recovered, but sadly has died. (News source.)

In Australia, a terrier took on a tiger snake, and ended up in treatment from a bite. The dog survived, no word on the snake. (News source.)

Snakebite Lawsuit

A visitor to a park at Lake Chehaw, Georgia, was bitten by a copperhead, and is now trying to sue the park for $1 million. Here's a clue -- if you visit a wild area populated with venomous snakes and don't take enough care not to get bit, it's your own fault. (News source.)

Salmonella: Case Closed?

A baby in the UK contracted salmonella, and the mother's internet search led to the conclusion that the pet snake was involved... Just a reminder, but many other animals and food products can carry the bacteria. I'd trust a medical report over a quick internet search...

Dachshund Doing Fine

The dachshund puppy bitten by a coral snake is doing fine after treatment. (News source.)

Fer-de-lance Stolen

Someone either knew what they were doing, or is in for a nasty surprise. A boxed up fer-de-lance (very dangerous) was stolen from a vehicle parked at a Vermont Wal-mart. (News source.)

Florida Senator Behind Snake Ban Push

The idiot (and poorly-informed) Florida Senator behind the push to ban python imports and interstate transport is named here. Feel free to send him a note.

Swedish Man Keeps Snakes

A Swedish environmental court ruled in favor of a man with 47 snakes, after the local municipality tried to bar them with claims that "most people in society are afraid of snakes." (News source.)

Rattler Bites Coach

A Virginia high school coach returned from a camp in South Carolina to find a canebrake rattlesnake in his luggage. He was bitten, but is in fair condition. (News source.)

Eastern Brown Bite

An Australian man was bitten twice by his pet eastern brown snake, and is undergoing emergency treatment. (News source.)

Snake Catcher

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

2nd Adder Bite in Huddersfield

A dog was bitten by an adder, not long after a hiker was bitten, about a mile from the previous site in Huddersfield (UK). (News source.)

Gopher Snake's Bad Day

Caught by a hawk, then dropped from mid-air. (News source.)

Rattlesnake Bite

A 3-year old boy was bitten by a rattlesnake while running on a beach at San Luis Pass, Texas. (News source.)

Tasmanian Family Wants Python

An Australian family in Tasmania wants to be allowed a pet diamond python for their autistic son. (News source.)

Herp Crimes

A Chinese student was charged with buying two Burmese pythons (protected in that country) and then selling them. (News source.)

Texas agents confiscated 411 vodka bottles from a ranch; each bottle contained both vodka and a small venomous snake. The ranch owner is (or was) a major exporter of turtles, so apparently these were also going to the Asian market. (News source.)

Snakebites

A dachshund puppy in Florida is being treated for a coral snake bite. (News source.)

A woman in Huddersfield, UK, was bitten by an adder while walking the heath. (News source.)

Rattler Expert

Here's a profile on Bruce Means, a rattlesnake biologist.

Strange Snake in Nepal

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

A Girl and Her Burmese

A South African girl enjoys having a Burmese python as a pet; her parents think she's nuts. (News source.)

Snakes in the News

A pregnant woman and her child in Malawi died from snakebite, allegedly a cobra that chased and finally caught them. (Hard to say what actually happened.) They lived far from a hospital, and died before they could be brought there. (News source.)

An Australian animal rescuer pulled a large python off a joey, and put the snake down as the mother kangaroo had inflicted severe damage. (News source.)

The large scrub python that had eaten a family's dog was released into an undisclosed location. (News source.)

SF Garter & Politics

Here's a commentary on a developer's attempt to finagle its way around its own study of a quarry's habitat potential for San Fran. garters. (News source.)

Mamba Fatality

A 27-year old British student died minutes after being bitten by a black mamba in the South African long grass. (News source.)

Be Careful with Heat Lamps

A Nebraska snake-owner removed the heat lamp from on top of the snake's cage, and forgot to return it. When the lamp's timer turned it on later, it heated up nearby combustibles and set the house on fire. The snake died, and the house had $50,000 in damages. (News source.)

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).)

Cat-Killing Python

An Australian woman's mother lost her cat to a python, so when the woman's own kitten was in danger of the same fate, she fought back. She saved the kitten, but ended up with a broken wrist and several bites. (News source.)