Daily Reptile News

Pssst – want a pet dragon?

If you thought it was stressful for a lizard to be stuck in a fridge for a week, you’ll sympathise with the reptiles that are at the centre of a smuggling trial that’s proceeding in California today.

Michael Plank (40) was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in November 2009 after allegedly being found with 15 live lizards strapped to his chest inside two money belts. Plank was returning from Australia when Customs and Enforcement agents reportedly found two geckos, two monitor lizards and 11 skinks strapped to his body. The lizards reportedly had a value of $8,500. Plank pleaded not guilty at a previous hearing, and no doubt we’ll hear the outcome of the trial in the coming days. According to court documents, Mr Plank told US authorities he collected the lizards in the wild while in Australia. It’s alleged that Mr Plank admitted to US authorities he was the owner of California-based reptile sales business “Big Game Reptiles”, and Mr Plank’s travel records showed that he’d made eight trips to Australia in six years. Mr Plank is charged with fraudulently and knowingly importing lizards into the US.

This seems to be an unusually high profile court case, perhaps because of the bizarre way in which the lizards were smuggled, but it’s well known that there’s a huge and lucrative trade in wild-trapped lizards for the pet industry. I’ve heard that there are so-called “reptile farms” in places like Indonesia. where areas of local scrubland are fenced off before local people are sent in to trap wild creatures. The captured reptiles are then packed off by air to Europe and North America where they can be sold to punters who want to impress their friends with the latest and most exotic pet. Most of this trade is legitimate: the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) only protects endangered reptiles, which includes less than 1200 species. Globally, there are nearly 9000 species of reptiles, which means that there’s a wide choice for those keen on making money by trapping and selling them.

Most new owners aren’t too fussed about the origins of their pets: I’ve seen some strange and exotic reptiles in my vet clinic, and when questioned, the most common response is that people felt sorry for the animals in the shop, and the purchase is justified as a type of rescue mission. Many of these creatures have short lives: often there isn’t much known about their husbandry and nutritional needs, and they commonly fall ill and die during their first year of captivity.

It’s said that recent recessionary times have had some impact on the trade, with less money around to pay over-the-top prices for exotic specimens. Some pet shops (such as the Pets at Home chain) have chosen to count themselves out of the trade, instead selling only easy-to-keep reptiles that are ethically sourced, from captive-bred stocks.  But there will always be potential buyers who want to bask in the reflected glory of their own mini-dinosaur or dragon, and when there’s a buyer, there’s always going to be a seller waiting to make a profit.

If you – or your child – want a weird reptile (and the latest dragon movie is guaranteed to push children along this road), make sure it’s from an captive-bred source. If the person selling you the creature slips it out of a money belt from under his shirt, steer well clear.

Humane Society gets 16 dogs, 5 cats after snake farm bust

ROSEPINE—The Humane Society of West Louisiana took in sixteen dogs and five cats after Oakdale snake farm High End Herps was raided by police.

The Allen Parish Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the home of 43-year-old David Beauchemin and 23-year-old Tawni Beauchemin on March 19.

The search warrant was issued after the sheriff’s office received a public complaint alleging the Beauchemin’s were illegally selling animals on the Internet.

Lidnsey Rainer made the public complaint.

Rainer rescued a Blue Doberman and put it on Craigslist so it would get adopted. A woman named ‘Jenny’ contacted her through e-mail stating that she wanted to surprise her husband with a Blue Doberman, according to Rainer.

Jenny turned out to be Tawni Beauchemin from High End Herps.

After giving the dog to ‘Jenny’, three days later Rainer saw the dog up for sale on Craigslist from ‘Happy Hound Rescue’, said Rainer.

Very suspicious, Rainer made the complaint to police on Thursday, March 18.

By Friday Rainer had her dog back.

“I am glad I got my dog back and got the other animals out of there and it all turned out in the end,” said Rainer.

While transporting the animals from Oakdale to the Humane Society in Rosepine, La. one dog died due to malnutrition.

One feline from the group of animals was euthanized due to extreme pneumonia developed by dehydration and poor living conditions according to Rita Bingham, Humane Society of West Louisiana Director.

“I had good people come forward and help me. On Saturday night, in the pouring rain that Deputy stood there and unloaded all of those animals, waited until we dried them, waited until we had them put up and fed them. He didn’t leave until everything was done. I have nothing but the up most respect for that man. They could not have been more corporative in rescuing those animals,” said Bingham.

Wildlife agents cited the Beauchemin’s with 22 counts of illegally possessing pythons over 12 feet in length without the required permit.

Deputies also cited David Beauchemin with obstruction of justice after he allegedly tried to stop the search warrant from being executed.

Ten per cent of world’s major species ‘at threat’

SYDNEY – The “Number of Living Species in Australia and the World” study found 0.9 per cent of the world’s 1.9 million classified species were at threat, including 9.2 per cent of major vertebrate species.

Australia’s government-funded Biological Resources Study, the world’s only census of animal and plant life, found 20.8 per cent of mammals were endangered, as were 12.2 per cent of birds and 29.2 per cent of amphibians.

Of reptiles, 4.8 per cent were considered threatened, along with 4.1 per cent of fish species.

“In Australia and around the world, biodiversity is under huge and growing pressure,” said environment department secretary Robyn Kruk.

“The pressures are pervasive and chronic in many places; invasive species, habitat loss and climate change in particular.”

Australia was found to be home to 7.8 per cent of the world’s known species. Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the study had shown its wildlife was highly unique, with 87 per cent of mammals and 93 per cent of reptiles found nowhere else in the world.

However, the study also showed Australian species accounted for 9.1 per cent of the world’s threatened flora and fauna, and Garrett said vigilance was essential.

“We have a long way to go, we have discovered and named only about a quarter of Australia’s estimated number of flora and fauna,” said Garrett.

“We need this essential information to do a better job of managing our biodiversity against the threats of invasive species, habitat-loss and climate change.”

According to the report there were likely to be some 11 million species on Earth of which only 1.9 million had been discovered, with millions of invertebrates, fungi and other organisms yet to be found and named.

Sssssaving sssssnakes: Elloree woman offers haven for reptiles

ELLOREE, S.C. — Orangeburg County has long had an adoption site for cats and dogs. And more recently, a Pine Hill couple began rescuing and adopting horses. Now add a haven for snakes, lizards and the like.

“Fangs and Scales,” is basically a one-woman rescue operation run by Elloree resident Anne Kirby. It began when Kirby would assist turtles that were crossing the road.

“Then at about age 10 or 11,” she says, “I got into snakes.”

Why snakes?

“A matter of preference,” she said. “Besides, snakes are easy to care for.”

Kirby recalls some of her earlier rescues.

Her first was about seven years ago when Kirby went to a flea market and came home with a ball python.

“This guy had a python and said that it ate frogs. They don’t. They only eat rodents. Obviously he didn’t know anything about snakes.”

She said, “Pythons are not a short-term commitment.”

According to Kirby, pythons are not aggressive, although they can and will bite, particularly if they are shedding.

She explains another rescue involving yet another python she named “Mr. Hiss.”

“I was in a pet shop in Summerville and I got into a conversation with a man who said that he was there to trade his snake. Then he asked me if I wanted it.

“I took it home.

“Turns out that it had respiratory problems and internal parasites. We did treatments.

“But Mr. Hiss later died.”

“Lucky” was another liberated python.

“She was so limp when we got her. She also had respiratory problems and parasites. Not only that, but she was in the same cage with a red-tailed. That’s a no-no. You don’t mix species.

“And this one had no water and no lights.”

According to Kirby, all her snakes are tame and she will adopt out as many as she can. Her only requirement for adoption is that you have a basic knowledge of snakes. However, snakes are not the only critters that have sought safety in Kirby’s domain. Geckos and iguanas have also been relocated to Elloree.

For further information on “Fangs and Scales,” contact Anne Kirby at vixey_dimera@hotmail.com

Easter Is Lagarteada (Croc Chase) Time In Costa Rica

Vigils, masses and parades are fine for Easter, but in the Ortega de Santa Cruz village in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, the people stick to its own Easter tradition of chasing after crocodiles.

Residents of the remote community in the huge Guanacaste province blame the Comision Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) for destroying the natural habitat of the crocs, as well as giant clam shells, fish, herons, parrots and parakeets, resulting from canalization work on the rivers Palmas and Charco.

During the event, brave “lagarteros” faced enormous reptiles along the Palma river, ending up in a deep cave, where the prey was cornered: a snarling, five-metre female crocodile. It took two hours of struggle to finally tie down the reptile

The lagarteada was supervised by members of the ministerio de Ambiente y Energía (MINAET), the environmental government agency.

The day’s catch was taken on the shoulders of the lagarteros to the village for all to see up the close. The reptile will be on show until today, Easter Sunday, when it will be released back into the wild, unharmed.

The “lagarteada”  has been observed in Ortega since the 19th century without interruption, despite attempts by animal rights groups to have it outlawed by the constitutional court.

Snake on the Loose in Olathe

OLATHE, KAN. – People in one Olathe neighborhood are sleeping with one eye open after a boa constrictor slithered away from a home. Animal control was out Saturday searching for the 6-foot snake, but did not find it.

Neighbors are worried because the snake is wandering around an area filled with kids. They’re keeping an eye on roof tops, trees, under cars, and anywhere a snake could be. The animal disappeared while the owners were moving out. Parents in the neighborhood say they fear the snake could pose a danger to children, who often like to play outside.

“That’s crazy,” said neighbor Cheri Hambleton. “I can’t imagine having that type of pet in this situation, townhouses, lots of kids around.”

The owner of the property said he didn’t know his tenants had the snake and it’s a violation of the lease, and they are out for good. Johnson County Animal Control said the 6-foot boa can pose a threat to small animals or pets.

Animal experts say boas will strike when threatened or bite in defense. As for eating, the snake can go anywhere from a week to a month between feedings.

U.S. Department of Interior turns to Cryptozoology

The study that seeks to prove the existance of unsubtantiated myths such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and now the twenety foot King Cobra/Giant Constrictor Hybrid threat is known as Cryptozoology. The mostly highly regarded scientific work done by the United States Geological Survey, frequently commissions scientist Dr. Gordon Rodda, PHD. Rodda is in it up to his head in suggesting a new “monster” threat may lurk in the Everglades.

Monster Quest is a television program that airs on the History Channel. This show is a mix of the real and the wildest of imagined creatures that live only in the recesses of the minds of TV producers, all for the sake of ratings and sensationalizing the nonexistent.

The show starts out with Gordon Rodda declaring that “some of the worst invasive species are often hybrids.” For balance Dr. Whit Gibbons gives brief comments, “I think the biggest misconception that most people have is that snakes are out to get them… “that they care about people and thats completely false.” This short foray into reality is exited in favor of what creates ratings for TV and not so coincidentally, grant money for the academic community.

Enter Dr. Gordon Rodda with a vengeance.

Dr. Gordon Rodda is the preferred go-to-guy for the United States Geological Survey, which is trusted with generating the science upon which the United States Fish and Wildlife Service bases their recommendations for policy that may regulate the currently unencumbered freedom to keep and breed some of the most common pets kept by Americans today; Reptiles. So the association of Rodda, with what amounts to a tabloid or dime store pulp fiction TV show, is surprising. Or is it?

Around twenty minutes into the show, Rodda declares as fact, “there are about ten to twelve species of the genus python. In Florida they do occur together. Because they are so closely related, and because in captivity they will breed together, producing offspring gives reason to be concerned about hybridization occurring.” This makes for great comic book TV. You use a few facts and then lead the masses to believe a fallacy. The fact is that a number of captive breedings of the giant constrictors have been accomplished. The offspring in every case have never reproduced and are unhealthy animals that do not thrive even in the lap of luxury of a captive environment. Rodda knows this and has access to this data. If a cross of species did happen to occur in the wild, the resultant sterile offspring would be drive thru window meals for the millions of other critters that we scarf down these weak offspring as soon as they venture out of the egg, if not before. Again, Rodda knows this and has access to this data. The alluded to super Python will never happen. However, the fear that is fed by the fictitious suggestions made by Rodda work precisely to serve both the wishes of the show’s producers AND the animal rights extremists Rodda’s ‘reports’ serve.

The fact is, there is an established population of the South East Asian Burmese Pythons in the Everglades. The only suitable habitat for these large tropical snakes in the United States is in the Everglades. This is proven by the legitimate scientific peer reviewed paper “Claims of Potential Expansion throughout the U.S. by Invasive Python Species Are Contradicted by Ecological Niche Models” written by R. Alexander Pyron, Frank T. Burbrink, Timothy J. Guiher in 2009. This paper was published shortly after the carefully crafted ‘report’ commissioned by the USGS, and written by Rodda et al. Rodda’s second paper on this topic, “Giant Constrictors: Biological and Management Profiles and an Establishment Risk Assessment for Nine Large Species of Pythons, Anacondas, and the Boa Constrictor”.

Both ‘papers’ written by Rodda regarding the Burmese Pythons and other Constrictors in the Everglades have been soundly debunked and criticized. A letter signed by twelve of the world’s leading Reptile Researchers and Educators was introduced in the Senate record stating, “Additionally, we encourage the Committee to review this document not as an authoritative scientific publication, but rather as a report currently drafted to support a predetermined policy.” The twelve do something that is very unusual in the scientific community, and that is to accuse Rodda of having a predetermined outcome and not having done any research at all. Like the butcher putting his thumb on the scale. Still the USGS and the USFWS stand by Rodda’s masterpieces which makes you wonder, who is pulling the strings in those governmental offices. The light of truth can be very bright indeed.

The fact is that developed and or populated areas of South Florida do not offer the conditions that make it possible for a 100 lb. snake to survive undetected. The Everglades offers that protection directly because of the lack of human activity and development. These facts are irrelevant to Rodda who said during the Season Premiere of Monster Quest 2010, “The problem with the Burmese python in south Florida is new in the sense that the population rocketed off… uh became very numerous only quite recently. They were just at the very southern tip but then they were a little farther north and a littler further north and now they are north of Okeechobee and were getting reports up near Tampa. So the evidence is that they are spreading north.” The truth again gets in Roddas way but does not deter him. A number of Python captures have been proven to be deliberate releases of animals by irresponsible individuals north of the Everglades such as an incident in Lakeland FL during the summer of 2010. These captures are scores of miles apart an in no way represent a real expansion north.

Other deliberate releases of animals have occurred at critical times by animal rights extremist groups to effect legislation to limit US citizen’s rights to keep and breed Reptiles as well as other Exotic animals. Cobra Release in North Carolina. The ‘reports’ written by Gordon Rodda have been right up the Animal Rights Extremist group’s alley. He is one of the cornerstone pieces of the puzzle that seek to bring about the animal rights agenda to take people’s right to own and care for the animals they love.

The most outrageous inference is the possibly of a King Cobra and a Python Hybrid. The narrator says, “Snakes that would never meet in their natural habitat, now intermingle in Florida. This causes some to fear a monster hybrid. A snake with the crushing strength of a constrictor, and the deadly venom of a cobra.” Another of the other equally qualified experts on the Monster Quest program said, “there are some scientist that are terrified that they are going to get together they’re going to reproduce and provide some kind of monster snake.” This is an absolute fabrication! This is a classic plant the seed of fear tactic used to illicit the knee jerk reaction from folks who sometimes unfortunately react exactly that way. Everyone involved in this program has a goal in mind, with the willing assistance of the USGS chosen scientist, Dr. Gordon Rodda. One seeks ratings, and the other does whatever it takes for an ideological bent whose character is unfettered by fact or the truth.

Stay tuned. No doubt next Rodda and Monster Quest will be delving into the likely existence of Medusa and her likely attempt to reproduce with unwitting victims between Donnie Osmond Shows in Branson alleys, when the moon is full.

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