Had a quick look in the bushes..

Just to see if I could find any Common vipers / adders. And I did. Here´s a couple of pic´s..

Where Have All The Snake Handlers Gone?

The Depression came late and stayed long in rural America.  A curious ritual became popular during this time in certain Holiness and Pentecostal churches:  snake handling.

George Hensley, a former Tennessee moonshiner, became the father of this movement.  While walking through the woods in 1910, he encountered a poisonous snake.  Picking it up, he marvelled that he was not harmed just as the Bible promised(Mark 16:18).  Hensley would go on to introduce this practice in Appalachian churches and its popularity grew rapidly as a test of a person’s faith.

Snake handling is not without danger.  “There are over 100 documented deaths from serpent bites,” says Ralph Hood, professor of social psychology at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga.  ”In every tradition, people are bitten and maimed by them. They risk their lives all the time by handling them. If you go to any serpent-handling church, you’ll see people with atrophied hands, and missing fingers. All the serpent-handling families have suffered such things.”

How do adherents view a person being bitten by a snake?  A variety of explanations are offered from the presence of hidden sin in the person’s life to a lack of faith or anointing of the Spirit.   

Hensley’s death from a snakebite in 1955 combined with many states passing laws against the practice witnessed the decline of snake handling.  Today, only a few dozen churches still engage in this ritual.

Modern Pentecostals explain Christ’s words on taking up snakes without harm by pointing to the Apostle Paul’s experience of being bitten by a viper but not harmed (Acts 28:1-5).  In other words, the sense is the accidental taking up of serpents, not the intentional.

Desperate times create special fervor in religious circles.  Should such times ever return again, the practice of snake handling will hopefully retain its near-extinct status.

Brief history and video of snake handling here!

From Houston Chronicle

OUTDOORS: Snake are important members of the community

Not all encounters with wildlife are pleasant for hunters and anglers. They get stung by yellow jackets, munched on by mosquitoes, bitten by ticks and occasionally attacked by large predators like cougars, grizzly bears and sharks.

But most save a special dose of fear and loathing for snakes, particularly in spring when snakes are more active at the times people are in the woods or on the water. Stephen Secor, an associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Alabama, believes there’s no real reason for that.

‘Snakes don’t want to be found,’ Secor said. ‘People undoubtedly walk by snakes they never see. A person walks by and they’re not going to do anything. To them, a person is a predator and they want to remain camouflaged.’

That reveals pretty good common sense in snakes. Most snakes that bite people die because the person bitten or someone with them usually shoots or clubs it immediately.

On the other hand, few people bitten by snakes die. Health statistics indicate about 7,000 to 8,000 people a year suffer snake bites. That’s a pretty small number considering the millions of hunters, hikers, anglers, farmers, foresters and loggers who slog around in prime snake habitat every day.

A large percentage of those bitten were handling or harassing the snake when bitten. And only about 15 people die from snake bites annually.

It may be their secretive nature that gives the reptiles their bad reputation. For people who aren’t handling a snake, the bite comes as a complete surprise. They view the snake as the aggressor since they meant it no harm.

But snakes bite as a last ditch defense mechanism, Secor said.

‘These are extremely docile animals,’ Secor said.

‘People don’t think about snakes being docile animals. For an animal in the wild that could potentially do harm to you very few ever do.’

Snakes tolerate human handling better than most wild creatures. An experienced person can frequently pick up and handle a completely wild snake without it reacting in alarm.

‘Go out there and grab a squirrel and see what he does to you,’ Secor chuckled.

Secor doesn’t advocate untrained people picking up snakes; in fact, he discourages it. That’s because some can do humans harm. But he notes that there’s no such thing as a ‘poisonous’ snake.

‘They’re not poisonous,’ Secor said. ‘They are venomous. A mushroom is poisonous. Something that is venomous has a delivery system that injects something into you.’

It may sound like a small distinction to someone who fears snake bite. But Secor believes it’s only the beginning of the lack of understanding most people have of snakes.

‘If you see one, all you have to do is back up a couple of feet,’ Secor said. ‘They can’t come after you. They’re heavy-bodied snakes and can’t move very fast. They can’t strike very far.’

West Alabama has three types of venomous snakes and all three belong to a grouping known as pit vipers. Copperheads, cottonmouth water moccasins and timber rattlesnakes or canebrake rattlers inhabit the region.

Of the three, timber rattler bites are the most dangerous to humans because of the snake’s size and the toxicity of the venom. The snake’s size is relevant because it governs how much venom the snake can inject. Copperhead bites are the least dangerous to humans with water moccasin bites falling in between.

All three have similar venom. It is a mixture of enzymes which destroys tissue, Secor said. When a human is bitten, the tissue around the bite can die. The body’s reaction to the venom is swelling, which can be painful.

About half of all bites are ‘dry bites’ in which the snake injects no venom. And Secor recommends against field treatment, particularly cutting the wound. Victims should head for the hospital.

A good pair of boots is probably the best defense against snake bite, he said.

‘They’re not going to have the power to penetrate through a leather boot, except maybe in a weak spot or a seam,’ he said.

Defensive bites are not meant to penetrate deeply, Secor said. When a snake bites prey, it wants to sink its teeth in, hold on and inject venom. When it’s defending itself, the snake wants to withdraw its teeth quickly and prepare to strike again.

Copperheads are the most common and live in woodlands and scrub, Secor said. They are generally small snakes of two feet or less with a colorful skin pattern that provides excellent camouflage in the woods.

Copperheads become active during the day at this time of year as things are warming up. During the heat of summer, they reserve most of their activity for night.

Feeding on small rodents like mice and chipmunks, copperheads lay in wait to ambush their prey, Secor said.

‘They’re very well camouflaged in that dead leaf litter,’ Secor said. ‘That matches up very well with the markings on them.’

There is little people can do to avoid copperheads since their location in the woods would appear random to people. But they are usually staking out rodent trails that they’ve scented with their tongues.

All people can do is use common sense precautions like watching where they step. Secor said copperheads aren’t very aggressive.

‘I bet many have been stepped on without even responding,’ he said.

Water moccasins are found wherever there is woody cover along the bank of a body of water. While moccasins are snakes found in water, not all snakes found in water are moccasins. A variety of non-venomous water snakes live in this area and virtually all of the snakes found in water without surrounding woody cover, such as catfish and farm ponds, are not moccasins, Secor said.

Unlike water snakes, which live almost exclusively on fish and amphibians, Moccasins will eat just about anything they can swallow, including rodents, birds and other snakes.

Their color, ranging from almost bronze to very dark, varies with age and the region where they live, Secor said. They typically swim with more of their body out of the water than a water snake.

Anglers are sometimes alarmed by moccasins swimming toward their boats. Secor said that isn’t an attempt to attack people. The snake sees the boat as a piece of dry land it can crawl up on.

Again, common sense will help avoid bites from cottonmouths. Secor recommends against stepping into or reaching into areas in wooded cover around water without looking first.

Timber rattlers are found in much the same habitat as copperheads, preferring hilly woodlands. They’re frequently found on hillsides with southern exposure because they warm up faster.

Timber rattlers have a huge range, stretching from New England to Florida. The largest ever recorded was 6 feet, two inches but most never exceed five feet in length.

Feeding on larger rodents, squirrels and even rabbits, timber rattlers also lie in ambush for their prey, Secor said. Their distinctive rattling serves as a warning that should help people avoid bites. But like copperheads, their location may appear random to people.

Timber rattlers have a habit few people are aware of, Secor said. They climb up to 20 feet up into trees, which could provide a hunter climbing into a tree stand with an unpleasant surprise.

Secor argues against killing snakes, even the venomous varieties.

‘These are one of the master controllers of the rodent population,’ Secor said. ‘They’re part of the ecosystem. They’re important members of the community.’

From Toscaloosa news.

As You Know It’s “The Year Of The Frog.”

And As Part Of Our Continued Attempt To Raise Money To Help

It’s Time For Our Decorative Items Sale.

Decorative Items like: Herp Figurines, Copper Snake, Lizard or Turtle Light Light Switch Plates, One Of A Kind Netsuke Sculpture From Japan Of Snakes, Turtles and Frogs, Frog Napkin Holders, Decorative Frog or Turtle Ceramic Tiles You Can Display Or Use As A Trivet, Decorative Frog Picture Frames, Turtle, Frog, Even Flying Dragon Lizard Trinket Boxes, Items From All Over The World—And Of Course More.

So - From Friday April 18th thru Sunday, April 21st

PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THE DECORATIVE ITEMS DEPARTMENT
AT WWW.HERPARTS.COM (REMEMBER IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE OF A FROG)

10% OF THE PRODUCT’S PRICE GOES TO THE AMPIHBIAN SPECIALIST GROUP

And remember Mother’s Day is around the corner. If you are a mom buy yourself a gift.

Keep in mind a lot of these items are one of a kind.

On behalf of the frogs: rabbit, ribbbit, croak, ribbit. (Thank you for your support.)

Some of the products..

 

 

 

Researchers find rare giant turtle in Vietnam

Biologists have identified a soft-shell giant turtle of cultural significance in northern Vietnam that was believed to be extinct in the wild, researchers said on Thursday.

After three years of searching, Asian turtle experts found, photographed and identified the turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), the only known living such specimen, in a lake west of the capital, Hanoi.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in the United States, which sponsored the research, made the announcement in a statement.

“This is an incredibly important discovery because the Swinhoe’s turtle is one of the most critically endangered species of turtle in the world,” Doug Hendrie, the Vietnam-based coordinator of the U.S. zoo’s Asian Turtle Program, said in the statement.

“This species has legendary status among the people of Vietnam, so this is perhaps an opportunity for the legend to live on.”

Researcher Tim McCormack of Education for Nature-Vietnam, which was involved in the project, declined to provide the name of the lake or give other details of the turtle’s location for fear it would be hunted and sold into the wildlife trade.

The zoo said that only three other specimens of the turtle are known to scientists, two at zoos in China and one in the storied Hoan Kiem Lake (The Lake of the Returned Sword) in the centre of Hanoi.

The turtles can weigh up to 136 kg (300 pounds), measure up to 0.9144 metres (3-3.½ feet) and live more than 100 years.

But researchers say they have become virtually extinct because of hunters who killed them for food, loss of nesting habitats and pollution. The Asian Turtle Conservation Network says as many as 15 million turtles are traded a year in Asia, most of them ending up in China.

The reptile in the Hanoi city lake has a special place in Vietnamese folklore and whose appearance some believe to be a portent of an extraordinary event.

The legend tells how the 15th century Emperor Le Loi used a magic, divine sword to drive out Ming invaders from China.

A giant turtle emerged while Le Loi was boating on the lake and told him to return the sword to the Dragon King. The weapon shot from its sheath into the mouth of the turtle, which disappeared underwater.

Since then, the lake previously called Ho Luc Thuy or Green Water Lake, became known as The Lake of the Returned Sword.

More than seven years ago, Vietnamese zoologist Ha Dinh Duc named the reptile, estimated to weigh about 200 kg (440 lb), Rafetus Leloi, in honour of the emperor. (Reporting by Grant McCool;Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

From: Reuters

Court rules in favour of man and his snakes

An environmental court has overruled both the County Council and Gävle municipality in central Sweden, finding there is nothing wrong with a man keeping 47 snakes–20 of which are poisonous–in his apartment.
According to the court, nothing demonstrates that people feel mental discomfort from living near a neighbor with snakes, according to the legal news website Pointlex.

Gävle municipality had denied the man the right to house the snakes in his apartment because “it is generally accepted that many people in society are afraid of snakes.”

And the fear is also justified as it is not unlikely that the snakes could escape, the municipality contended.

In his defence, the snake-man said that an insufficiently grounded fear shouldn’t constitute a nuisance.

The environmental court found that the man had a great deal of knowledge about snakes and that he seemed able to handle them appropriately. He was aware of all applicable animal protection regulations, and the snakes’ living quarters were escape proof, assuming the outer door was closed.

An examination of the case also failed to provide support for the claim that Swedes in general feel discomfort from having a neighbor with snakes.

And even if the snakes make some feel a bit queasy, their concerns can’t be judged from a medical perspective to affect health and welfare in such a way that the snakes be considered a public nuisance according to Sweden’s environmental code.

From The Local

Scientists find first lungless frog

Researchers working in Borneo have discovered the only known frog with no lungs, the team reported Monday.

National University of Singapore biologist David Bickford, the lead researcher, said in a release that the frog, Barbourula kalimantanensis, has an “amazing ability to breathe entirely through its skin.”

The tiny frog, measuring less than 40 mm and weighing 6.5 grams, was found in western Kalimantan, Indonesia, in August by researchers employing new search methods. 

It lives in cold, rushing water and is so rare that the only previous evidence of the species was reported 30 years ago.

The researchers said the frog receives all necessary oxygen through its skin. Among four-legged creatures, only amphibians are known to breathe without lungs — previously only in two families of salamanders and a species of caecillian, a limbless amphibian.

Bickford said it was a “shock” to discover that the species did not have lungs.

“When we did [find the frog] and I was doing the initial dissections — right there in the field — I have to say that I was very skeptical at first,” Bickford said in a release. “It just did not seem possible. We were all shocked when it turned out to be true.”

The researchers hypothesized that the frog may have evolved without lungs, or lost its lungs, in adaptation to the high-oxygen environment of its habitat and the species’ preference to sink, rather than float, which would have been hindered by lungs full of oxygen.

They noted that deforestation and illegal gold mining in the area is threatening both the species and further research into its reproduction, feeding and life. Further studies “may be hampered by the species’ rarity and endangerment. We strongly encourage conservation of remaining habitats of this species,” they said.

The researchers said they tried to be as non-invasive as possible, dissecting only four specimens completely and four partially to confirm the lack of lungs.

The findings are published in the April 8 edition of the journal Current Biology.

From CBC

Rare Toad Spotted Locally

Updated Tuesday, 1pm: THERE was a rare sighting of the European Smiling Toad (Bufo-Wusso) in Middle Rasen this morning, Tuesday.

It was spotted by a group of early risers fishing in the River Rase.

One of them ran home to fetch his father, keen photographer Clem Rassall, who took this close up shot.

By noon it has slunk back into its hole.

The toad is similar in appearance to the UK common toad, Bufo-Bufo, but has a strange, almost human mouth.

It is believed that local holidaymakers returning from the continent, brought it back with them but were put off by its rather pungent smell and released it back in the wild.

It hopped back in the bushes shortly after the picture was taken and expert Olaf Priol said that it was sadly, not expected to survive beyond noon without a mate.

If you h ave seen anything equally rarified, drop us a line as Malc Sellars did with this story.

From Market Rasen Today

“Living Dinosaur” Is Fastest-Evolving Animal

New Zealand’s “living dinosaur,” the tuatara, hasn’t changed its look in millions of years. But the reptile is actually evolving faster than any other animal studied so far, new DNA analysis reveals.Scientists recovered DNA from 8,000-year-old tuatara bones and compared it with DNA in blood samples from living tuatara. The modern species is the only surviving member of the order Sphenodontia, which flourished around 200 million years ago.

The results showed that tuatara evolve faster than bears, horses, and many other warm-blooded vertebrates.

(Related: “‘Instant’ Evolution Seen in Darwin’s Finches, Study Says” [July 14, 2006].)

Slowpokes

“Tuatara do most things slowly,” said study lead author David Lambert of New Zealand’s Massey University. He and colleagues published the findings in the March issue of the journal Trends in Genetics.

Tuatara “have a very low metabolic rate. So you would be forgiven for thinking that they haven’t been doing very much over 200 million years of evolution.”

But Lambert said the reptile’s ancient anatomy hides the rapid evolution of DNA within the animals’ cells.

“What [the research] is telling us is that the processes that govern anatomical evolution are quite different from those governing molecular evolution.”

Axel Meyer, of the University of Konstanz in Germany, agreed.

“There can be a real disconnect” between an animal’s physical and genetic evolution rates, said Meyer, who was not involved in the research.

“Fast [evolution] does not necessarily imply ‘good’ or ‘adaptive,’” he added.

He also cautioned against an assumption that so-called living fossils are somehow backward.

For example Meyer’s work on the coelacanth—a 300-million-year-old fish species thought to be extinct until 1938—showed that the fish do not evolve more slowly than “normal” species.

(See a picture of a coelacanth captured in 2007.)

Genetic Vigor

Lead author Lambert said the tuatara’s genetic vigor came from the structure of its mitochondrial genome. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell.

“When the molecule actually replicates itself, the two DNA strands separate from one another—this region on the genome is single-stranded for lot of the time,” Lambert said.

“And when you are single-stranded, you tend to accumulate more change.”

However, the tuatara’s dynamic DNA is not the secret of its extraordinary survival through millions of years, Lambert said.

“The tuatara of today is not some supercharged model of what was here 8,000 years ago. It’s the same tuatara—its survival is related more to where it lives.”

New Zealand split from the supercontinent of Gondwana 80 million years ago—before the advent of mammals. As a result, tuatara were not hunted by swift, smart predators until humans brought rats to the islands of New Zealand around a thousand years ago.

While the tuatara’s evolutionary rate beat out a field of living and extinct animals, Lambert said the differences were not that huge.

“This is because the mitochondrial genome—and the processes that govern it—is very similar in a lot of those animals.

“The big surprise in all of this is that tuatara are evolving as quickly as they are.”

New Survival Challenge?

The hardy reptile may face another survival test as human-induced climate change takes hold, experts say.

Conservationists are concerned that climate change may upset the sex ratios of hatchling tuatara, as warmer temperatures result in the birth of more males.

Lambert said the section of DNA his team studied would not help the lizard to adapt any better to global warming.

But he said tuatara populations had survived countless ice ages, possibly simply by shifting north or south as temperatures fluctuated.

“That’s important, because it illustrates how behavior can control evolution—not to cause animals to change, but to remain the same throughout climate change [events].”

From National Geographics