Daily Reptile News

Dartford lizards are moved to a new log cabin

One hundred common lizards have been moved to a new home at Long Reach sewage works in Dartford.

The viviparous lizards were discovered earlier this year while Thames Water was preparing the site for a £40 million upgrade.

The reptiles were living right where the work was due to take place so were captured and re-housed.

Claudia Innes, Thames Water’s ecologist, said: “The lizards are doing well in their new home.”

Layers of roofing felt were laid near their old home, which warms up faster than anywhere else on the site and the lizards were attracted onto the cosy surface.

The common lizard

The common lizard is a good swimmer

“A wildlife specialist captured them during the early hours of the morning when their energy levels are at their lowest and they are most docile,” Ms Innes explained.

Their new home was made out of logs and soil left over from the constructions works.

They have also been protected with a reptile fence which will remain in place until the project is complete in 2012.

The first phase of the Long Reach upgrade is almost complete.

So far 35,000 tonnes of earth have been moved to create space for the new sewage treatment equipment.

Lucky escape from deadly ‘toy’ snake

IT LOOKED like her son’s rubber snake had been left lying in the hallway — until it latched on to her ankle.Nicole Haynes, 38, had just tucked her son Maison into bed at her home in Winmalee in the Blue Mountains when she stepped on the reptile.

The snake, believed to be an eastern brown, bit Ms Haynes once on her left foot, then latched on to her ankle.

“I was screaming and swinging my leg around, and then it flung off across the loungeroom,” Ms Hayes said yesterday.

The mother-of-two, who is recovering in Nepean Hospital, said she thought she had stepped on her 10-year-old Maison’s toy until she felt it slither under her foot.

“It was surreal, I thought it was a toy with something sharp in it, like a pin, but then it wriggled,” Ms Haynes said.

Realising she had been bitten by a snake, Ms Haynes screamed to her son and daughter Tahlia, 17, to come and help her.

“I was screaming and screaming but the portable phone was in the loungeroom, and that’s where the snake had ended up when I flung it off my foot,” Ms Haynes said yesterday.

Ms Haynes stumbled in to the room and grabbed the phone, and gave it to her daughter, who called paramedics for help.

As she recuperated in hospital, WIRES volunteers scoured Ms Haynes’ home looking for the snake.

“We leave the back door ajar for the dog, so I guess that’s how it got in,” Ms Haynes said.

She has no idea how long it had been in the family’s house, and said she “shudders” when she thinks where it could have ended up if the snake hadn’t been stepped on in the hallway.

“The kids’ bedrooms come off the hallway,” she said.

“I don’t want to even think about it.”

A WIRES spokesman said it was a timely reminder for people to be vigilant about snakes throughout summer.

“Keep doors closed around the house . . . and wear appropriate clothing when outside in snake-prone areas,” the spokesman said.

Rare species may slow park plans for Grays Woods

As new residents move into the growing Grays Woods community, a recent species survey identifies rare flora and fauna that already call the Patton Township development home.

The Eastern Spadefoot Toad, which finds a home in wetlands, is hard to track because it’s often underground. Experts said they live in Grays Woods wetlands.

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Throughout a 43-acre tract reserved for the planned community’s neighborhood park, more than six acres of wetland vernal pools contain teeming ecosystems of insects, amphibians and plants.

An original sketch plan for Grays Woods provided by developers Dan Hawbaker and Bob Poole showed fields interspersed throughout this wetland complex.

Last year, ClearWater Conservancy sent Patton Township a letter asking officials to tread carefully in developing the 43-acre site near Gray’s Woods Elementary School.

Patton Township hired Wilson Ecological Consulting to do a survey of the site. The final report was presented at a Patton Township Board of Supervisors meeting last week.

Wilson observed the site between March and October. The results yielded 120 wildlife species and 235 types of plants, including the nationally endangered northeastern bulrush.

Found in small wetlands, the bulrush’s stem sometimes reaches 47 inches tall and is topped by clusters of brown flowers surrounded by six rigid bristles, according to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources website.

In addition, the site was labeled as a possible habitat for the eastern spade-foot toad, a species on Pennsylvania’s endangered list.

Manager Doug Erickson said the township must now work with the state Fish and Boat Commission to determine an actual presence of this difficult- to-spot amphibian, which spends much of its life underground.

And the supervisors won’t allow developers to “go willy nilly in there and bulldoze everything flat,” said Supervisor Walt Wise.

Because of species concerns, the township will likely find six to ten acres of the land for safe development of amenities such as sports fields and playgrounds, and provide trails through the wetland areas, Erickson said.

Preserving the wetlands provides a learning opportunity for students at the nearby elementary school, said Supervisor Bryce Boyer.

Several planned regional facilities at Hess Field, Whitehall Road and Oak Hall will likely provide ample sports fields to support the population.

“We’ll have to look very carefully at what the need is there,” Boyer said. “This one, cost-wise, would be a lot more beneficial to people to be used as a nature-centered type park.”

A 300-foot buffer between park development and wetlands is sufficient to protect most amphibian species, which spend their lives in and around vernal pools, said ClearWater Conservancy conservation biologist Katie Ombalski.

But the buffer isn’t required by law, she said.

Other species of concern identified in the habitat don’t require any special protection, either, Ombalski said, because they don’t appear on state or federal endangered species lists.

Such species include the great blue heron and several species of dragonfly and damselfly.

“You don’t want to see a species get listed,” Ombalski said. “Although they don’t receive the same level of protection, we are hoping that the township prioritizes those as an important resource, because they are uncommon.”

Python pulled from car’s dashboard after crash

A python that went missing after a car crash in Atascadero, California Saturday has been found safe and sound.

It began when two cars were involved in a rear-end crash.

One of the drivers had to be pulled from his car with broken bones, but before he was taken to the hospital he told officers his pet python was still in his totaled car.

Officers searched for the snake, but could only find the empty bag the python was being transferred in.

They towed the car to an impound lot and warned residents to be on the look-out for the 5-foot-long Ball Python.

Animal Control said the python was not dangerous.

On Monday officers returned to the impound lot to search for the python again, and this time, they found it.

The officer that found the snake used to work at a pet store, and knew about the Ball Python’s tendencies.

When scared, Ball Pythons tend to roll into a ball and hide, and sure enough, the officer found the python rolled up in the dash of the totaled vehicle.

Senior managers more likely to be dog owners

Dog owners are more likely to hold senior management jobs, while snake and reptile owners are most likely to make six-figure salaries, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.

The CareerBuilder survey finds dog owners are more likely to be chief executive officers, chief financial officers or senior vice presidents.

Dog owners tend to be professors, nurses, information technology professionals, military professionals and entertainers

Cat owners are more likely to be physicians, real estate agents, science/medical lab technicians, machine operators and personal caretakers.

Those who have birds as pets are more satisfied with their jobs. The survey finds bird owners are more likely to be advertising professionals, sales representatives, construction workers and administrative professionals

Fish owners gravitate to positions in human resources, finance, hotels and leisure, farming and fishing and transportation

Harris Interactive conducted the online survey for CareerBuilder, questioning 2,301 full-time workers with pets. The survey has a margin of error of 2 percent.

Female crocodile in sanctuary dies

The lone female crocodile at Ramnabagan Wildlife Sanctuary in Burdwan town was found dead on Tuesday. “The 28-year-old crocodile died of cirrhosis of liver. During postmortem, its stomach was found empty. It was not consuming food. The lungs and heart are being sent to Kolkata for further tests,” said veterinary officer Bimal Chattopadhyay.

The crocodile was brought to the sanctuary from South 24-Parganas district in 2006. Though a salt water crocodile, it could have survived till the age of 40, said Chattopadhyay. One such crocodile normally lives for 50 to 70 years. Last year, the crocodile had laid six eggs, but none could hatch.

18 cattle attacked by crocodile at Hlane

HLANE – A herd of 18 cattle have been left with gaping wounds after being allegedly bitten by a crocodile while drinking at Imbuluzana River.

About four of the cattle belong to Hlane Member of Parliament, Mduduzi Magagula.

However, residents and game rangers are mystified why the crocodile has not killed any of the cattle. During a visit to Hlane yesterday, this reporter was shown three cows which had wounds on various parts of their bodies.

Notably, one of them had a gaping wound on its side, close to the shoulder while another had a scar on the leg. The other had its udder (ummbele) ripped off.

Sizwe Mamba, who was herding the cattle on Sunday when they were attacked, led game rangers from Mkhaya Game Park, MP Magagula and a member of the Hlane Bucopho to the river.

Upon reaching the river, formerly known as the White Mbuluzi, which is approximately three kilometres from the MP’s homestead, Mamba pointed where he suspected the cattle might have been attacked.

“We only noticed the injured cattle when they returned from grazing across the river. They had scary injuries,” he said.

Mamba said they heard muffled sounds earlier before the cattle returned from grazing, but did not take note.

“However, I am adamant they were attacked by a crocodile because sometime last week, one of the residents reported that he saw his cow being attacked,” Mamba said.

He said the residents were now afraid of going close to the river because they might fall prey to the predator.

Meanwhile, MP Magagula confirmed that their cattle had been ‘terrorised’ by the crocodile during the past weeks.

He said the grazing fields were too close to the river, which made it easy for the reptile to prey on the cattle.

However, he was quick to say they would soon be moving the cattle to another grazing area because the current one has been earmarked for a sugarcane-growing project expected to commence soon.

Already about 80 homesteads have been relocated to give way to the project.

‘… we won’t take law into our own hands’

HLANE – Residents of the small rural community say they will not take matters into their own hands.

Even though their livestock has been left with serious wounds, residents believe they have to report the matter to the relevant authorities.

One of the residents, David Mpimbili, said he called people from Mkhaya Game Park to assist in catching the crocodile.

However, he was quick to say if he had a gun on the day his cow was attacked, he would not have hesitated to shoot the crocodile.

The area’s MP, Mduduzi Magagula, advised members of his constituency to report such cases to the relevant authorities because they might find themselves in trouble for taking matters into their own hands.

Stay away from rivers, warns expert

HLANE – People have been warned to stay away from rivers because this is the hunting season for crocodiles.

An expert from Mkhaya Game Park, who did not want to be identified, said crocodiles usually feed during summer.

He said the season started from October and will run until February.

“That is when they hunt for food in order to make fat in their bodies for the winter season,” he said.

He said crocodiles usually lay their eggs during the winter season.

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