Daily Reptile News

Reptile trafficker facing house arrest

ST. CATHARINES, Ont.—A Niagara- on-the-Lake man who attempted to illegally import about 1,500 reptiles into Canada last September was sentenced to pay more than $5,700 in restitution and serve six months of house arrest, the Canada Border Services Agency said.

Andrew Fruck, no age listed, was sentenced Friday in Ontario Court of Justice following his April 30 guilty plea to one count of making false statements under the Customs Act and 11 counts under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act.

Border officials recovered the reptiles, which included tortoises, snakes and turtles, in Fruck’s van. Most of the reptiles were returned to the wilds of Louisiana, with the assistance of U. S. agencies.

The restitution covers shipping and care of the animals. He also was ordered to abstain from possessing, importing or exporting live animals, fined $500 and ordered to submit to unannounced government inspections of his home.

Snake bites most common in North Carolina

CHARLOTTE — Copperhead snakes made up nearly half of all snake bites in North Carolina last year. The state topped the country with the most bites, 499 reported to the Carolinas Poison Center.

Grover Barfield was one of those bitten last year. In fact, he’s been bitten twice in the past two decades. Both times Barfield went to the hospital. Barfield’s recent bite, last September, cost the snake expert more than $19,000 for antivenin.

“It sank a fang in my knuckle and within 30 minutes my hand swelled up the size of a softball,” said Barfield. “It burned and stung like a bee sting but about three to five times worse. I could feel the venom as it went through each joint.”

Barfield said the severity of the bite varies, depending on the snakes recent meal, age of the snake and region.

Copperheads are common to North Carolina because they are extremely adaptable. They are commonly found in pine straw, dried leaves and wood piles.

While it’s uncommon to die from a copperhead bite, children, elderly and people with immune deficiencies are at greater risks.

Reidsville resident finds African lizard in backyard

Reidsville resident Charles Lovings didn’t think finding an African lizard would be on his to-do list last week. He said he found a Savannah Monitor taking a snap at one of his cows.

“I had no idea what it was, and it was in the pasture going for one of the cows,” he said. “When the cow was walking up to the lizard to sniff him, he lunged at the cow’s nose.”
Lovings said he grabbed the lizard by the tail and put him in a cage. After speaking with animal control officials, Lovings decided to keep the lizard as a pet.

“He’s a little aggressive, but evidently he got too big to be somebody’s pet and they turned him loose,” he said. “He gave me a hard time but we assume he’s been in the wild for a while now.”
The lizard’s diet consists of small mammals, insects, eggs, birds and dead animal remains, according to animal control. Lovings said a bird fell from a tree in his backyard and that was the lizard’s first meal.

He didn’t say what he was going to name his special pet.

Rescued croc finds new home in Montco

An American crocodile rescued from a warehouse in Milwaukee has found a new home at the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown.

The croc was one of about 230 animals, mostly reptiles, confiscated in May after they were found living in filthy conditions at an operation that called itself the Cullen Vivarium Wildlife Conservancy.

Reputable homes are being sought for the other animals.

The crocodile now at the Elmwood Park Zoo is 6 1/2 feet long and weighs 64 pounds, the zoo said.

“We are proud to participate in this important rescue and conservation effort,” Dave Wood, the zoo’s general curator, said in a statement. “We regret the circumstances in which these animals were discovered and look forward to helping to nurse the croc back to health so it can enjoy a long and healthy life here at the Elmwood Park Zoo.”

A cousin to the American alligator, the American crocodile has a longer, thinner snout and is lighter in color.

It also has two long teeth on the lower jaw that are visible when its mouth is closed.

They can range from 7 to 15 feet in length and weigh between 150 to 450 pounds, the zoo said.

Amador County sees record number of rattlesnake bites

Seven Amador County residents have required treatment at Sutter Amador Hospital for rattlesnake bites this year.

“Six of those victims were admitted to the hospital and required anti-venom,” according to Eduardo Morin, PharmD, pharmacy director at Sutter Amador Hospital.

Dr. Bob Hartmann, Amador County Public Health officer, notes that the emergency department usually sees three to four bite victims per year. “No one keeps official statistics, but the most we can remember in any year is seven. We’re already there and the season’s only half over.”

Most bites occur in the hand, when the person is attempting to pick up the snake or working in brush or wood piles. Alcohol consumption is involved in more than 50 percent of bites.

Symptoms are usually pain and stinging at the site, swelling, oozing of blood from bite and bruising. Sometimes, a person will have a metallic or mint taste in the mouth or muscle twitching.

There are about 8,000 venomous snake bites per year in the United States. Only about five to six people die from rattlesnake bites per year.

If bitten, the best thing to do is get to the emergency room right away. Sutter Amador Hospital keeps an adequate supply of anti-venom on hand.

Prevention is the best medicine:

Never handle snakes – dead or alive

Know the habitat where the snakes live: wood piles, brush

Know snake habits – out more at dusk and dawn

Keep rattlesnake enemies around: dogs, cats, guinea hens, and pigs

Wear boots and long pants

Trim bushes and shrubs so you can clearly see underneath

Field treatment

If a bite occurs:

Be calm

Remove jewelry and constrictive clothing

Immobilize limb in level position

Find car keys and cell phone

Get to emergency room

Do not:

Cut and suck

Apply ice

Apply tourniquet

Oldest reptile footprints found

The 318 million-year-old fossilised reptile footprints were found in sea-cliffs on the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada by Dr Howard Falcon-Lang of Royal Holloway, University of London.

The discovery proves the theory that reptiles were the first to make the continental interiors their home.

This is because reptiles do not need to return to water to breed unlike their amphibian cousins.

The rocks in which they occur show that the reptiles lived on dry river plains hundreds of miles from the sea.

These pioneers then paved the way for the diverse ecosystems that exist on land today, the study showed.

The study, undertaken with Professor Mike Benton of the University of Bristol and Canadian colleagues, was published in journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.

Professor Benton said: ”The footprints date from the Carboniferous Period when a single supercontinent (Pangaea) dominated the world.

”At first life was restricted to coastal swamps where lush rainforest existed, full of giant ferns and dragonflies.

”However, when reptiles came on the scene they pushed back the frontiers, conquering the dry continental interiors.”

The same team reported the oldest known reptile footprints from a different site in New Brunswick in 2007.

The new discovery is of similar age, and may be even older.

Dr Falcon-Lang added: ”The Bay of Fundy is such an amazing place to hunt for fossils.

”The sea-cliffs are rapidly eroding and each rock-fall reveals exciting new fossils. You just never know what will turn up next.’

43 rare snakes seized from car: 1 held

JAIPUR: A fitness centre owner and an alleged accomplice of antique smuggler Vaman Narayan Ghiya, Rajesh Kumar Kapoor was nabbed after 43 rare species of poisonous snakes were found in his SUV by Transport Nagar police late on Tuesday night.

It is suspected that Kapoor was using snake products in weight-loss drugs for his clients at his centre, “Get Fat Free” in Adarsh Nagar.

According to reports, Transport Nagar police were informed about a suspicious person in a SUV. During a checkof his SUV, a Xylo, was intercepted andsearched. Police found three bags carrying various species of snakes including eight black cobras, 14 royal snakes and 21 red sand boa.

During interrogation, Kapoor told the police he bought the reptiles for ritualistic purposes (Kalsarp Yog) from snake charmers on the advice of a priest and was going to release them in the forest. However, later he confessed that he was associated with Ghiya and had also been jailed in the past for smuggling antiques. “I have been exporting and importing (smuggling) snakes and antiques to various countries. I did not know that it was a crime,” he said in police custody.

Sources said a fully grown red sand boa might fetch around Rs 25 lakh in the international market. Therefore, the total cost of seizure might amount to crores. As he has been associated with Ghiya, the possibility of smuggling cannot be ruled out, police said.

SP Hawa Singh Ghumariya told TOI that Kapoor was traveling in a Mahindra Xylo (RJ14 UA 1004) when the police intercepted him and found the snakes and two small ashthadhatu idols of Ganesha and Shiva. All the snakes found in the bag were listed in the scheduled list of Wildlife Act (conserved animal), and persons guilty of such crimes could get jail up to seven years, official said. He has been booked under various sections of the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972 and IPC and his car was seized.

Police are searching his residence and fitness centre in Adarsh Nagar. Ghumariya said the police would hand over the snakes to forest department officials through a social organisation and they would be set free.

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