The Hyla arborea project..

I am going to try to breed Hyla arborea , European Green Tree frog this year. The project is going to be an outdoor one.

I have recently reconstructed the bathroom in my house, leaving a shower unused, of rather exchanged to a bathtub. Now, this shower is to be made into a hopefully suitable outdoor vivarium for these little frogs. I have never had an outdoor viv before, so this is going to be really exciting to me.

First, I have to make sure that the little buggars don´t get out of there, therefore I am planning to put a meshroof on the top. First I have to build a rim, and then put the mesh in it. The mesh have to be made of stainless steel, not only not to rust, but as a protection against birds. Crows and Magpies, mainly.

There have to be sufficient airflow in the vivarium, so the lower half of the backpiece is also going to be made out of stainless steel-mesh.

In order to make the frogs in the right “matingmood”, there have to be water running from a mouthpiece of a shower for a couple of days. A pump that transtorts the water around, from the little “pond” in the bottom of the shower to the mouthpiece and around again.

I sure hope that my nextdoor neighbours can stand the noise from the calling males, they have good voices and can reach up to 90 decibel..

Hopefully I will find some good plants to put in as well..

Snake bill filed

By Mark J. Armstrong
The Daily Times

Published March 22, 2007

A bill that would require owners of non-indigenous snakes to get a permit from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was pulled from a House committee agenda this week in order to seek more public input, according to a spokeswoman for Rep. Harvey Hilderbran.Hilderbran, R-Kerrville, filed the bill last week. He said the bill would help regulate non-indigenous snakes in Texas and prevent the growth of a feral exotic snake population as has happened in Florida and other states.Non-indigenous snakes that would be required to be permitted under the bill include boa contractors, pythons, black mambas and cobras.“The goal of this bill is to protect public safety and prevent a feral population of constrictors from developing in this state,” Hilderbran said. “Texas should not wait around for the problems to develop as they have in Florida and California.”

House Bill 1309 would require owners of non-indigenous snakes, including constrictors, black mambas and cobras, to have a permit from Texas Parks and Wildlife. It would not make it illegal to own a non-indigenous snake.

Currently, Texas has no restrictions in place for a person importing a snake from a foreign country or releasing the snake into the wild, and some people seem to like it that way.

Chris Wagner of Bulverde said he does not think the bill will accomplish the goal of keeping non-indigenous snakes from the wild.

“Responsible, educated snake owners who would be forced to acquire a permit are already well aware of the consequences of releasing an invasive species into an unprepared environment. Naturally, they would rather give their pet a welcome home rather than release it,” Wagner said. “However, the irresponsible, uneducated minority whom the bill targets is not likely to bother applying with something they are not serious about, rendering them with few options, the worst being releasing their pet to avoid the license fee.”

Hilderbran said the bill has been postponed while an advisory group led by David Barker of Uvalde works on an amendment. Hilderbran said he expects the bill to come back to the committee before the end of the session.

“The people who are objecting to it are mostly people who are afraid that we are going to hurt their business and affect their livelihood. People that are in the public who agree with me don’t feel that motivated to show up and talk about it,” Hilderbran said.

Under the current bill, research facilities and anti-venom production facilities or labs will be exempt from the permit requirement.

Why did the toad cross the road? To find himself a mate

THE ROAD to romance is often rocky – but for thousands of toads in Greenfield it could be fatal were it not for kind-hearted residents.At this time of year the leafy village is awash with toads squelching their way to spawn back at the pond where they were born.

But reaching the pond at the rear of Tanner’s Mill means crossing several roads – including the busy A635 Holmfirth Road – so an army of volunteers have been recruited to make sure they don’t croak it along the way.

Assistance in helping traverse the ‘frog and toad’ came about after Greg Barratt, a local postman, first noticed the amphibians’ plight and promptly enlisted help.