A California couple returning from a trip to the grocery store Thursday found a 9-foot boa constrictor under the hood of their car.
Animal control workers used a little cooking oil to loosen the red tail boa's grip on the car engine.
It's not clear where the snake came from. But animal control workers said they suspect it broke free from its owner's care.
Source
Photo: AFP - Getty Images
A species of pink land iguana overlooked by Charles Darwin during his visits to the Galapagos Islands may provide evidence of the ancient animals' diversification in the archipelago, scientists have reported.Galapagos National Park rangers first stumbled upon the striking land lizard a few decades ago, but this week's study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first to officially document the iguana.
Source: msnbc
An Israeli health and beauty spa is offering a snake massage for its customers.
Ara Barak claims her pet snakes make the ideal masseurs as their slithering causes a massage sensation when placed on a person's skin.
Ms Barak said she discovered her pet's 'therapeutic value' after noticing her friends became more relaxed after holding them.
No, thanks.
Source: Daily Mail
(via Life in the Fast Lane)
Ara Barak claims her pet snakes make the ideal masseurs as their slithering causes a massage sensation when placed on a person's skin.Ms Barak said she discovered her pet's 'therapeutic value' after noticing her friends became more relaxed after holding them.
No, thanks.
Source: Daily Mail
(via Life in the Fast Lane)
Visitors flock to the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust in the Indian city of Chennai because of the remarkable beauty of Goya, an albino cobra.
Goya, who is a milky color with shades of pink, was a gift from Dehiwala Zoo in Sri Lanka where they specially breed albino snakes.
The three-and-a-half foot reptile was the only one of his albino siblings to survive, and is now kept on his own in a specially constructed enclosure. Goya spends most of his day indoors due to his sensitivity to light, only venturing outside for his daily meal of five live rats.
Source: Telegraph
Goya, who is a milky color with shades of pink, was a gift from Dehiwala Zoo in Sri Lanka where they specially breed albino snakes.The three-and-a-half foot reptile was the only one of his albino siblings to survive, and is now kept on his own in a specially constructed enclosure. Goya spends most of his day indoors due to his sensitivity to light, only venturing outside for his daily meal of five live rats.
Source: Telegraph
Henry the Tuatara, regarded as the last of the dinosaurs, will become a father for the first time in 40 years at the ripe old age of 111.
The indigenous New Zealand reptile - who is regarded as one of the last living descendants of the dinosaurs - has mated with Mildred, a youngster aged between 70 and 80.
The pair produced 12 eggs in mid-July after mating earlier this year at the Southland Museum on New Zealand's South Island, Tuatara curator Lindsay Hazley said.
Tuatara are the lizard-like last descendants of a species of reptile that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say.
Henry has lived at the Southland Museum's special enclosure for Tuatara since 1970 and had shown no interest in sex until he recently had a cancerous growth removed from his genitals.
He is now enjoying the company of three females and might breed again next March, Hazley said.
"With these guys, foreplay might take years. One has to be patient," he said.
Source: Daily Mail
The indigenous New Zealand reptile - who is regarded as one of the last living descendants of the dinosaurs - has mated with Mildred, a youngster aged between 70 and 80.The pair produced 12 eggs in mid-July after mating earlier this year at the Southland Museum on New Zealand's South Island, Tuatara curator Lindsay Hazley said.
Tuatara are the lizard-like last descendants of a species of reptile that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say.
Henry has lived at the Southland Museum's special enclosure for Tuatara since 1970 and had shown no interest in sex until he recently had a cancerous growth removed from his genitals.
He is now enjoying the company of three females and might breed again next March, Hazley said.
"With these guys, foreplay might take years. One has to be patient," he said.
Source: Daily Mail
A mother visiting family on Long Island says was startled when she went to check on her seventh-month-old baby in the middle of the night and found a snake coiled around the baby's leg.Cari Abatemarco, who lives in Troy, New York, was visiting family in Brentwood last week when she says her baby's cry woke her up.
She says the foot-long snake just fell off her baby's leg when she went to grab the infant from the crib.
Her cousin grabbed the snake and held it until animal control officer arrived.
Animal control officials say the snake is a non-venemous California King, that's is not usually found on Long Island. Local police say they are not sure where the snake came from.
Source: Newsday.com
Legend tells that St Patrick rid snakes from Ireland's shores as he converted its peoples from paganism during the fifth century A.D.The Christian missionary supposedly chased the reptiles into the sea after they began attacking him during a 40-day fast he undertook on top of a hill.
An unlikely tale, but Ireland is one of only a handful of places worldwide — including New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, and Antarctica — which have no snakes.
St. Patrick had nothing to do with Ireland's snake-free status, scientists say.
Most scientists point to the most recent ice age, which kept the island too cold for reptiles until it ended 10,000 years ago. After the ice age, surrounding seas may have kept snakes from colonizing the Emerald Isle.
Source: National Geographic
For years it was assumed that snakes couldn't hear, that they sensed prey by smell, taste, and in some species, special heat-sensing pits near the nose.
Basic experiments during the 1970s showed snakes could hear, but didn't explain how.
Now we know.
US and German research shows that snakes have two hearing systems, one via their jaws, providing valuable insight into snake evolution.
After a sound is picked up by a snake's jawbones, it travels into the cochlea, where nerves pick up the signal and transmit it to the brain.
By hearing through their jaw bone and through a traditional ear, snakes essentially evolved a second way to hear, say the researchers.
Source: ABC.net.au
Basic experiments during the 1970s showed snakes could hear, but didn't explain how.
Now we know.
US and German research shows that snakes have two hearing systems, one via their jaws, providing valuable insight into snake evolution.
After a sound is picked up by a snake's jawbones, it travels into the cochlea, where nerves pick up the signal and transmit it to the brain.
By hearing through their jaw bone and through a traditional ear, snakes essentially evolved a second way to hear, say the researchers.
Source: ABC.net.au
Shirley Neely, who runs the Jersey-based Tortoise Sanctuary, keeps 75 tortoises in her refrigerator. Her tortoises hibernate for up to three months between December and March, and need steady temperatures between 3c and 8c.The tortoises were given three weeks without food, allowed to complete their toilet needs (tortoises must empty their digestive system before hibernating), then bathed, weighed, wrapped and put to bed - with the odd bottle-of wine or jar of mayonnaise for company.
Next month, she will begin to wake them up in stages. They will eventually move into heated greenhouses.
Source: Daily Mail
(via)
A 16-foot python stalked a family dog for days before swallowing the pet whole in front of horrified children in the Australian tropics, animal experts said Wednesday.
The boy and girl, ages 5 and 7, watched as the scrub python devoured their silky terrier-Chihuahua crossbreed Monday at their home near Kuranda in Queensland state.
Stuart Douglas, owner of the Australian Venom Zoo in Kuranda, said scrub pythons typically eat wild animals such as wallabies, a smaller relative of the kangaroo, but sometimes turn to pets in urban areas.
Source: AP
The boy and girl, ages 5 and 7, watched as the scrub python devoured their silky terrier-Chihuahua crossbreed Monday at their home near Kuranda in Queensland state.
Stuart Douglas, owner of the Australian Venom Zoo in Kuranda, said scrub pythons typically eat wild animals such as wallabies, a smaller relative of the kangaroo, but sometimes turn to pets in urban areas.
Source: AP
The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail and forming a circle. It is one of the oldest mystical symbols in the world. The serpent or dragon appears in Aztec, Middle East, and Native American mythologies, among others. (from Wikipedia)
xenmate at a near life experience has discovered the REAL ouroboros:
This is an Armadillo Lizard, which, if frightened, will grab its tail in its mouth and roll into a ball.
Look how cute and little they are:
xenmate at a near life experience has discovered the REAL ouroboros:
This is an Armadillo Lizard, which, if frightened, will grab its tail in its mouth and roll into a ball.
Look how cute and little they are:
Where is St. Patrick when you need him?
* In East Manatte, a 13-foot-long, reticulated python, nicknamed the "Wal-Mart snake," was caught Monday in a culvert near Morgan Johnson Road off State Road 64.
"Reticulated pythons grow to be the longest snake in the world. Up to 33 feet has been reported," local wildlife rehabilitator Justin Matthews said, adding this female, 13-foot-long snake appeared to be approximately 4 years old. "The snake at this age could be potentially dangerous if someone did not know what they were doing and if it got wrapped around their neck. What it basically adds up to is 30 pounds of squeezing pressure per square inch."
* In St. Augustine, there's a new addition to an alligator farm but it's not an alligator... it's another kind of reptile, a 21-foot, 9-inch python. The snake was captured by villagers on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.
Farm officials say it may be the largest snake in captivity.
In Everglades National Park, a snake wrangling tale sounds like a Three Stooges routine.
A 6-foot python sought refuge by slithering up into the engine compartment of tourist Ron DeLong's Ford Explorer.
DeLong attempted to grab the python with the curved end of his walking cane but failed as the snake slithered through.
With the snake now wrapped around his engine, DeLong drove 15 miles to the park's main entrance to get help.
A park ranger, two biologists and a firefighter opened the hood and tried to yank the snake out, but the python just gripped the engine more tightly.
Tasering the snake proved to be an unsuccessful tactic as the python began to contract and excrete bodily fluids all over the four responders.
Our four heroes then disassembled the undercarriage of the vehicle until they could reach the snake. They slapped some duct tape on its mouth and uncoiled the snake from the engine, then killed it.
After putting the car back together again, they brought the snake to the lab for study.
* In East Manatte, a 13-foot-long, reticulated python, nicknamed the "Wal-Mart snake," was caught Monday in a culvert near Morgan Johnson Road off State Road 64."Reticulated pythons grow to be the longest snake in the world. Up to 33 feet has been reported," local wildlife rehabilitator Justin Matthews said, adding this female, 13-foot-long snake appeared to be approximately 4 years old. "The snake at this age could be potentially dangerous if someone did not know what they were doing and if it got wrapped around their neck. What it basically adds up to is 30 pounds of squeezing pressure per square inch."
* In St. Augustine, there's a new addition to an alligator farm but it's not an alligator... it's another kind of reptile, a 21-foot, 9-inch python. The snake was captured by villagers on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.Farm officials say it may be the largest snake in captivity.
In Everglades National Park, a snake wrangling tale sounds like a Three Stooges routine.
A 6-foot python sought refuge by slithering up into the engine compartment of tourist Ron DeLong's Ford Explorer.
DeLong attempted to grab the python with the curved end of his walking cane but failed as the snake slithered through.
With the snake now wrapped around his engine, DeLong drove 15 miles to the park's main entrance to get help.
A park ranger, two biologists and a firefighter opened the hood and tried to yank the snake out, but the python just gripped the engine more tightly.
Tasering the snake proved to be an unsuccessful tactic as the python began to contract and excrete bodily fluids all over the four responders.
Our four heroes then disassembled the undercarriage of the vehicle until they could reach the snake. They slapped some duct tape on its mouth and uncoiled the snake from the engine, then killed it.
After putting the car back together again, they brought the snake to the lab for study.
The sale of small turtles has been banned in the United States since 1975, but the number of these reptiles being purchased for children has been increasing, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Small pet turtles were to blame for 103 cases of Salmonella infection in the second half of last year, mostly in young children, but the true number of infections with the potentially fatal bacteria is undoubtedly much higher.
Many people aren't aware of the risk of Salmonella infections from pet turtles. Only 20 percent of these cases said they were aware there was a connection between Salmonella infection and reptile exposure.
Source: U.S. News
Small pet turtles were to blame for 103 cases of Salmonella infection in the second half of last year, mostly in young children, but the true number of infections with the potentially fatal bacteria is undoubtedly much higher.
Many people aren't aware of the risk of Salmonella infections from pet turtles. Only 20 percent of these cases said they were aware there was a connection between Salmonella infection and reptile exposure.
Source: U.S. News
A leatherback sea turtle recently completed the longest recorded migration of any sea vertebrate: 12,774 miles across the Pacific Ocean.The giant reptile began the trek in Indonesia's warm tropical waters in the summer of 2003 and traveled 647 days just to eat jellyfish off Oregon, in the cool waters of the Pacific Northwest.
Source: National Geographic
Another day, another bizarre world record for Jackie Bibby, the "Texas Snake Man." Bibby spent about 45 minutes in a see-through bathtub with 87 rattlesnakes Monday, fully clothed, shattering his own record by 12 snakes just in time for Guinness World Records Day, which is Thursday. A Guinness official certified the record.
I think last year's feat was better!
Last year he set a Guinness-certified record by holding 10 rattlesnakes by their tails in his mouth at once.
But wait, there's more!
The Texas Snake Man also claims to hold non-sanctioned records for climbing into a sleeping bag head first with 20 rattlesnakes and going in feet first with 112.
I think last year's feat was better!
Last year he set a Guinness-certified record by holding 10 rattlesnakes by their tails in his mouth at once.
But wait, there's more!
The Texas Snake Man also claims to hold non-sanctioned records for climbing into a sleeping bag head first with 20 rattlesnakes and going in feet first with 112.
A 38-year-old Brooklyn woman got quite a surprise when she used her bathroom Monday morning.The New York Daily News is reporting that Nadege Brunacci was washing her hands when she glanced at the toilet and saw a 7-foot python staring back at her.
A worker at a Cocoa, Florida car dealership got quite a surprise, Thursday, an angry alligator underneath one of the new cars.The 7-foot-11 reptile was found hiding under a Mitsubishi up for sale, drawing a crowd and a gator trapper with a warning.
"He could jet out from underneath there quicker than any snake and grab an ankle and do a lifetime of damage," said trapper Bill Robb.
Robb said, while the giant beasts are usually on the move this time of the year looking for a mate, there are more than normal and he believes the lack of rain could be the cause.
"I don't know how it could be much drier. Alligators don't care for it one bit," Robb said.