Daily Reptile News

Snake causes a little hiss-teria in East Lawrence community

OAKVILLE— A 9½-foot python stretched along a country road in Lawrence County has folks wondering about their fate if they had met the creepy creature before it met its fate.

Fortunately for those who might’ve looked appetizing to the reptile, it died — head on a rock — of apparent natural causes.

That’s the term coroners use when they don’t know what happened. Not that speculation is scarce about the demise of the snake alongside Lawrence County 208 in the Oakville community, near a drainage ditch, where the road winds back into Lawrence County 203.

Shelby Scott Hembree lives nearby. She saw the snake when she stopped late Wednesday afternoon to assist a neighbor, David Hitt. She thought his pickup was having mechanical trouble.

“Come look what we found,” he and his passenger, Donald Miller hollered.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.

By Thursday, Hembree was all about recording python proof. She called my editor. That’s the reason I was in search of a python Thursday morning before I even sat at my desk.

I went to Hembree’s house and found her not only dealing with the snake tale, but Tommy McLemore, owner of McLemore Towing of Moulton. He was pulling her pickup to a dealership because she had lost her ignition key.

The three of us talked about the snake, then I backed out of her driveway.

“Go on down the road,” Hembree told me. “The snake is on the left. I’ll be along in a minute. You can’t miss it.”

But I knew that I could. As I motored along keeping my eyes peeled, McLemore trailed me. I pulled over and he eased up behind.

“Where you headed?” I asked. He replied, “To see that snake.” I was not certain exactly where it was, and he told me he believed it was farther up the road.

Minutes later Hembree, 69, arrived on the scene in her car. She was dressed in her Stetson hat and pink cowgirl outfit. She raises cattle and was on her way Thursday to the Moulton Stockyard. First she planned to stop at a doctor’s office to have a tick bite on her neck checked. But the bite could wait. The snake was more important.

Another neighbor, brick mason Kenny Johnson, spotted her and pulled over. He had no idea what the commotion was about until she showed him. Johnson measured the snake’s length at 9½ feet.

It was easy to spot what appeared to be the final track of the python as it crawled toward the drainage ditch underneath the roads. Its head rested on a rock, as if it had reached that point and died on a pillow.

The death left unanswered questions and speculation. Did someone buy the animal and, tiring of it, release it into the wild? Did it escape from a cage and make an ill-fated bid for freedom?

Hembree has another idea.

“Someone could have brought it home from Vietnam, didn’t want it anymore, and let it go,” she said. “I think it grew up from a baby back there in McDaniel Creek.”

No one in the county has reported a missing python so apparently it lived off the wild.

For whatever reason, it appears the snake left the creek area and headed toward the drainage ditch.

But that oasis was about dry. End of snake. End of tale.

Council lambasted over ‘wildlife crime’ after spraying lizards’ home

RARE lizards living on the proposed site of a controversial waste treatment plant have been put at risk by the spraying of strong weedkiller, campaigners have claimed.

Council officials say they have treated land at the former tannery in Sinfin Lane in a bid to tackle the invasive Japanese knotweed.

But the site is home to common lizards – a species which, despite its name, has declined in number because of destruction of its habitat and which, before last year, was last seen in Derby in 1997.

A campaign group battling plans for a waste treatment plant on the site said it believed the herbicide could have affected the reptile colony by “physical injury, habitat destruction, chemical contact or reduced food source”.

The group, Sinfin, Spondon Against Incineration, accused the council of committing a “wildlife crime”.

And Derbyshire Wildlife Trust said it was “surprised and very disappointed” by the spraying, which took place earlier this month.

Jo Brown, a conservation manager with the trust, said she understood the council had not consulted with experts before spraying.

Mrs Brown said: “We don’t know what impact this chemical would have had directly on the animal because it’s not been tested.

“But clearly, if you are removing vegetation from the site then you are removing the habitat and the food source and we are concerned about that.”

Resource Recovery Solutions is the company behind plans for a waste treatment plant on the site which would deal with 180,000 tonnes of household waste a year, stopping it going to landfill.

Both the city council and Derbyshire County Council have signed a contract for RRS to deal with the county’s waste for 27 years and the plant is a major part of the firm’s plans.

But a planning application was rejected by the city council’s planning committee, a decision the company is appealing against.

The Derby Telegraph previously reported how the lizards had delayed the planning committee’s decision because RRS had to redesign some of the proposed landscaping on the site to cater for them.

Mrs Brown said planners had to take the lizards into account as they are protected by law from being killed, injured or sold.

She said that, if RRS won its appeal, the plan had been to move the lizards into a special zone on the site where they would be safe during construction.

The lizards will now be moved to this area before more spraying takes place.

But Mrs Brown said it was unclear whether this area had been sprayed.

She said: “If it has been the city council may have to re-locate them.”

A city council spokeswoman said the authority had now been advised that the lizard could potentially be affected.

She said: “This is why the council has in the past and will in the future work with environmental planning consultants. We have also agreed to work with the wildlife trust on its programme of capturing the lizards.

“Japanese knotweed is a very invasive weed and will spread across the site at an alarming rate if not controlled, engulfing other plant species. It is the council’s policy that Japanese knotweed will be treated where it is discovered on council-owned land.”

See snakes and other reptiles at science show

WHITE SANDS – Take an adventurous look into the world of snakes and other reptiles that live in the Tularosa Basin. See the “Herpetology Simplified Science Show,” a hands-on, interactive education program at 8 p.m. Wednesday Aug. 25 at the White Sands National Monument, 45 miles east of Las Cruces on Highway 70.

Donna Hoidahl will lead the “see-and-touch” program and photos and videos are encouraged. Give the kids a head start on a school science project (justification for staying out late on a school night) and maybe sneak in a dune slide or two.

“She’ll probably have a hognose or bull snakes that people will be able to handle, along with some lizards,” said Becky Wiles, chief of interpretation programs for White Sands National Monument.

The $3 per person admission is good for seven days. Kids $15 and under are admitted free. An annual passport to the monument is $20. The official August full moon is Tuesday, and you might want to spend more than one night enjoying White Sands in all its 3-D fully moonlit glory.

Take picnics and bring your family and friends.

The 2010 White Sands National Monument Full Moon Nights series will venture into an actual 3-D presentation – and 3-D glasses will be provided – at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24.

You’re invited to “fly through the dunes, see a tarantula up close, explore crystal pedestals, cacti, spiders, snakes and more, all in stunning 3-D stereo.”

For information on White Sands programs and events, call (575) 679-2599

Woman Who Hired Alleged Child Porn Suspect Shocked

SCITUATE — When state and federal officers went to a house in Scituate to serve a search warrant in a series of child pornography raids Wednesday morning, they were confronted by “hundreds of reptiles and rodents” and various exotic animals, according to Police Chief David M. Randall.

As a result, David E. Provonsil, town building official, declared the house at 1023 Danielson Pike — home of Shawn Fay, his wife, Beth Ann Kut Fay, and their two children — uninhabitable. Provonsil said the family will not be allowed to reenter the house until it is cleaned up.

The police charged Shawn Fay with possession of child pornography.

Provonsil described an “accumulation of debris” and “pungent odors.” He said when he entered one room, which housed reptiles and other animals, “I couldn’t even breathe in there.” He said the couple were raising “thousands” of rats and mice commercially.

Randall said, “Our main concern was the health and welfare of the family and their being relocated somewhere else.” He said the town offered to relocate the family if they were unable to find quarters on their own, but he did not know the status of that offer by Wednesday evening.

Dr. E. J. Finocchio, head of the state Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who was called in, said the animals were apparently being raised for Fay’s business, Regal Reptiles, 580 Harris Ave., Providence.

“The thing that first caught my eye was a four-foot alligator, two eight-foot snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, exotic lizards, hundreds of rats and mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, and thousand and thousands of crickets in boxes.”

Outside there were a pot-bellied pig, two dogs, a cat, two goats, chickens and ducks, he said.

He said the mice, crickets and worms were apparently being used as a food source for the other animals.

Finocchio said Fay’s business card describes him as an “educational entertainment specialist.”

“I think they go around with some of these animals to different facilities and teach people, and show them these exotic animals,” he said.

Finocchio said that despite the conditions he observed, and the crowded containers in which the animals were being housed — the snakes, he said, lived in a container that was one-third of the recommended national standards — Rhode Island regulations dealing with such matters are so weak that he could detect no violations in relation to the animals.

“The time has come for Rhode Island to get into the 21st century,” the veterinarian said.

Portsmouth Reptile Show should be axed say campaigners

Animal rights activists are demanding a reptile show is axed amid allegations it is cruel and illegal.

Exotic snakes, lizards and frogs are set to go on display at Portsmouth Reptile Show, which has been held at Havant Leisure Centre for the past five years and attracts more than 800 people.

But the Animal Protection Agency is demanding the show is

not allowed to take place because of fears about the commercial trading of reptiles.

By law, the sale of any pet from a market for commercial purposes is illegal.

The agency has written to Havant council, which owns the leisure centre, to demand it ensures no commercial trading takes place – and closes the show if it does.

Organisers admit reptiles are sold, but not by businesses.

They say sales are only made by breeders from clubs who are selling off excess stock.

But Elaine Toland, the action group’s director, said: ‘It’s presented as a hobbyist gathering where animals are displayed and exchange hands.

‘But you walk through that door and it’s a wholesale market.

‘They store these reptiles in takeaway tubs all day. The welfare conditions are pretty appalling.’

Show organiser Lyn Kent, from Portsmouth Reptile and Amphibian Society, defended the event, due to be held on October 24.

She said: ‘They are all members of clubs around the country – they are not shops.

‘We are not allowed to let people in that have imported bought animals. It’s quite strict.’

She added a vet was present to check welfare standards.

Les Glass, environmental health team leader at Havant council, said: ‘We have written to Havant Leisure Centre advising that should this event go ahead they are to ensure that the selling of any animals does not take place and they should take steps to “police” the event.

‘Environmental health officers and animal welfare officers will also carry out inspections on the day to ensure that the law is being complied with.’

Home of suspect ‘uninhabitable’

SCITUATE — When state and federal officers went to a house in Scituate to serve a search warrant in a series of child pornography raids Wednesday morning, they were confronted by “hundreds of reptiles and rodents” and various exotic animals, according to Police Chief David M. Randall.

As a result, David E. Provonsil, town building official, declared the house at 1023 Danielson Pike — home of Shawn Fay, his wife, Beth Ann Kut Fay, and their two children — uninhabitable. Provonsil said the family will not be allowed to reenter the house until it is cleaned up.

The police charged Shawn Fay with possession of child pornography.

Provonsil described an “accumulation of debris” and “pungent odors.” He said when he entered one room, which housed reptiles and other animals, “I couldn’t even breathe in there.” He said the couple were raising “thousands” of rats and mice commercially.

Randall said, “Our main concern was the health and welfare of the family and their being relocated somewhere else.” He said the town offered to relocate the family if they were unable to find quarters on their own, but he did not know the status of that offer by Wednesday evening.

Dr. E. J. Finocchio, head of the state Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who was called in, said the animals were apparently being raised for Fay’s business, Regal Reptiles, 580 Harris Ave., Providence.

“The thing that first caught my eye was a four-foot alligator, two eight-foot snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, exotic lizards, hundreds of rats and mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, and thousand and thousands of crickets in boxes.”

Outside there were a pot-bellied pig, two dogs, a cat, two goats, chickens and ducks, he said.

He said the mice, crickets and worms were apparently being used as a food source for the other animals.

Finocchio said Fay’s business card describes him as an “educational entertainment specialist.”

“I think they go around with some of these animals to different facilities and teach people, and show them these exotic animals,” he said.

Finocchio said that despite the conditions he observed, and the crowded containers in which the animals were being housed — the snakes, he said, lived in a container that was one-third of the recommended national standards — Rhode Island regulations dealing with such matters are so weak that he could detect no violations in relation to the animals.

“The time has come for Rhode Island to get into the 21st century,” the veterinarian said.

Big snakes may be near Ft. Eustis Boulevard project

This VDOT photo of Senior Ranger C. McCartney holding this canebrake rattlesnake was shown to construction crews to help them identify the snake. (VDOT, Daily Press / August 16, 2010)

Sometimes a hard-hat just isn’t enough.

Workers at a Virginia Department of Transportation construction project on Ft. Eustis Boulevard have a unique hazard to watch out for: canebrake rattlesnakes, an endangered species known to inhabit the area. In fact, just to visit the site you have to sign a release — not that you understand the risks, but indicating that you won’t harm a snake should you encounter one.

So far none have been spotted at the work site between Newport News and York County.

Nora Chivers, a VDOT spokeswoman, said the work isn’t expected to disturb the reptiles and that workers receive special training in case they encounter a snake.

But some homeowners whose houses border the construction area are disturbed that they were not informed by VDOT that the venemous snakes were in the area.

“Any time you have construction you upset the habitat,” said Brenda Counts, who lives off Aspen Boulevard near the work site. “And when you do that, the creatures go on the move.”

Neighbors said they already see a fair number of snakes, but none reported seeing any of the rattlesnakes.

“My wife’s going to put up a for-sale sign,” joked Mike Garrelts,43, as his wife, Laurel, clutched him upon hearing the snakes could be in the area. Garrelts said he was concerned. “There’s a lot of children around here,” he said.

Alan Savitzky, a professor at Old Dominion University who has studied the canebrake rattlesnake since 1992, said the snakes should be left alone.

“They’re extremely docile towards humans,” Savitzky said. “They rely heavily upon their camouflage and generally assume you can’t see them.”

He said the snakes do not bite humans unprovoked. “Most of the time they won’t even rattle,” he said.

Savitzky said it’s controversial in scientific corners whether or not ground vibrations caused by construction would cause snakes to move outside of their normal territory. “These snakes cover a great deal of territory in the course of the year,” he said. “It’s unlikely in my opinion.”

Savitzky said a greater concern is loss of habitat, and if any of the reptiles have made their homes in areas being cleared by VDOT, they may be at risk.

Chivers said as far as she knew the Peninsula work site is the only VDOT project that may have a dangerous, endangered species on the premises.

Thomas Druhot, Peninsula area construction engineer for VDOT, said that if a snake is spotted by a worker the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries would be called to safely remove it.

The canebrake rattlesnake, which can grow to five feet, appears in several spots across the Peninsula including the Oyster Point area of Newport News and a section of woods near Sandy Bottom Nature Park in Hampton.

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