Daily Reptile News

Man threw dead snake at landlord, court hears

A MAN threw a dead snake at his landlord after his mate was threatened with eviction, a court has been told.

Brett Anthony Gregory, 42, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court today to one count of common assault against Brian Barnes.

Prosecutor Chris Minnery told the court Gregory became involved in an argument with Mr Barnes on February 10 after a neighbour at his Greenslopes unit complex received a breach notice.

Mr Minnery said Gregory approached Mr Barnes, saying: “If you want to play tough, I’ll show you tough”.

He then threw a dead snake at his landlord, hitting him in the chest.

The court was told the snake was black-coloured, but that the species had not been identified.

Mr Minnery said Mr Barnes was frightened but not hurt, and that he immediately told Gregory he would have to move out.

Gregory was sentenced to a three-month wholly suspended sentence.

Police: Woman raped with live snake

Two men are accused of sexually assaulting a 32-year-old woman and penetrating her with a live snake during the assault.

John D. Bullock, 24, 1003 Briar Lane, Altoona, and Damonta D. Jones, 25, 510 1/2 Platt St., each were charged Wednesday in Eau Claire County Court with a felony count of first-degree sexual assault.

Hundreds of snakes freed into forest

DONG NAI — The Forest Protection Division in southern Dong Nai Province’s Xuan Loc District freed dozens of snakes weighing a total of 193 kilos into the Chua Chan Forest here on Tuesday.

Forest rangers in Tau May District allegedly found Nguyen Thi Xuan Huong, 23, from Xuan Loc District, trafficking the snakes to restaurants on Monday.

The snakes including 10 kilos of ran ho trau (ptyas mucosus), which is listed in Viet Nam’s Red Book as an endangered species and totally protected.

Man bitten by snake at Lilydale

A MAN was bitten by a snake while chopping down trees in his Lilydale backyard on Tuesday.

Paramedic Edda Courtney said the 28-year-old man was in considerable pain and feeling nauseous when the ambulance arrived about 1pm.

“The man told us that he had been cutting down trees in a yard when he saw the black snake with a cream belly,” Mr Courtney said.

“He stood still hoping it would go away. Unfortunately it didn’t and struck his left calf.”

The man went back to the house and was given first aid by a neighbour while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

Mr Courtney said the man wrapped a compression bandage around the site of the bite and continued the bandage up the leg, restricting the flow of venom to the rest of his body.

“Thankfully he remained very calm, despite the pain. Becoming anxious or moving around too much only speeds up the spread of venom,” he said.

The man was taken to Maroondah Hospital in a stable condition.

Nat Geo rolls with Rollins

National Geographic Channels has invited former punk rock singer Henry Rollins to present two wildlife specials.

Rollins, front man with 1980s band Black Flag, will appear in a one-off programme for Nat Geo Wild looking into the US public’s obsession with snakes. The show, entitled Snake Underworld, will air early next year.

He will also present a special episode of National Geographic net’s flagship programme Explorer in December, investigating the ‘warrior gene’ found in men that scientists believe incites violent behaviour.

Rollins’ recent TV credits include a recurring role in the latest season of FX series Sons of Anarchy.

Baby lizard squirms through faucet

Water officials in Denver said they are baffled by the appearance of an inch-long lizard from an office’s faucet.

Samantha Johnston, executive director of the Colorado Press Association, said the tiny reptile came through the faucet when she was getting some water for her office plants, The Denver Post reported Tuesday.

“He literally flopped out of there,” Johnson said.

Stacy Chesney, spokeswoman for Denver Water, said it was unlikely the lizard traveled all the way through the city’s water system, as the pressure would almost certainly have killed it and the system contains numerous screens to remove unwanted items.

“Checking in with my folks, this is definitely an unusual situation,” she said. “We haven’t had anything like this before. It’s likely that it crawled in versus coming through.”

Scales ‘N Tails pet shop, where the lizard was taken, said the baby reptile maybe a fence lizard, which is native to the western United States but not often seen east of Utah.

A hippopotamus has inadvertently given a crocodile a piggyback ride across a river in Africa.

The small reptile was sitting on the three-tonne female hippo when it emerged from the water to avoid two males who were fighting nearby.

The five-year-old crocodile clung onto the back of the hippo for half a minute before falling back into the water and swimming away.

The photos were taken by British wildlife guide Mark Johnson during a boat tour.

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