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READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she A SEVEN FOOT, 87 POUND COTTONMOUTH FROM BALDWIN, FLORIDA The reporters don’t say how they obtained the measurements on this animal (probably because it wasn’t with a tape measure or scale). Despite what is reported in the story, this snake is not seven feet long (1.9 m) and 87 pounds (39.5 kg). For reference, the largest known Cottonmouth (i.e., the World Record) was only a little over six feetlong.
COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America SO YOU SAY YOU SAW A BLACK PANTHER? HERE’S WHY I DON’T A Black Panther (i.e. a melanistic Jaguar). Photo by Bruce McAdam. Black panthers have been part of modern lore in the United States for more than 100 years, despite the lack of any compelling evidence of their existence. As executive director of the Cougar Network, which isthe only research
A GIANT PILE OF SNAKES ON A BOAT Note: People are now saying online (May 25) that this is a picture of Water Moccasins in Texoma, Texas. That is false, read on.Hi there!I have an unhealthy fear of snakes. By unhealthy fear, I mean it has taken away one of my favorite hobbies as I used to love to garden! Mylawn backs up to a
WATCH YOUR STEP: THE MYTH OF COTTONMOUTH NESTS Watch Your Step: The Myth of Cottonmouth Nests. It is hard for many people to imagine something more nightmarish than strolling along the shore of their local lake and stumbling into a nest of Cottonmouths. I believe there is a legend of a water-skier plowing right through one, or perhaps it was a Cottonmouth breeding ball. IT DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW: “A WATER MOCCASIN TRIED Besides the myth that Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus, on right) bask in trees along waterways and plop into boats and the unfounded legend that Cottonmouths are aggressive and attack people, the next most common misconception about the Cottonmouth is that they try to “get into” boats.At first glance this may appear to be a variant of the “falling into boats” myth, but that legend AGING RATTLESNAKES: DON’T BOTHER COUNTING THEIR RATTLES For most snakes, that’s that. But for rattlesnakes, each time an old skin is shed, a new rattle is added. If rattlesnakes always shed their skin once, and only once, a year, you might actually be able to tell how old a rattlesnake was by counting the rattles, but they don’t. Very young snakes grow quickly, some shed for their first time 5 WAYS HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTONMOUTHS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, and Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, are venomous snakes that are closely related and frequently encountered in the United States. Because these two species may seem similar at first glance, they are often confused for oneanother. I
READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she A SEVEN FOOT, 87 POUND COTTONMOUTH FROM BALDWIN, FLORIDA The reporters don’t say how they obtained the measurements on this animal (probably because it wasn’t with a tape measure or scale). Despite what is reported in the story, this snake is not seven feet long (1.9 m) and 87 pounds (39.5 kg). For reference, the largest known Cottonmouth (i.e., the World Record) was only a little over six feetlong.
COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America SO YOU SAY YOU SAW A BLACK PANTHER? HERE’S WHY I DON’T A Black Panther (i.e. a melanistic Jaguar). Photo by Bruce McAdam. Black panthers have been part of modern lore in the United States for more than 100 years, despite the lack of any compelling evidence of their existence. As executive director of the Cougar Network, which isthe only research
A GIANT PILE OF SNAKES ON A BOAT Note: People are now saying online (May 25) that this is a picture of Water Moccasins in Texoma, Texas. That is false, read on.Hi there!I have an unhealthy fear of snakes. By unhealthy fear, I mean it has taken away one of my favorite hobbies as I used to love to garden! Mylawn backs up to a
LIVING ALONGSIDE WILDLIFE Big Grant Announcement – $10,000 for Wildlife Conservation! The Alongside Wildlife Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit charity supported by a grassroots network of people passionate about wildlife. Through research and outreach, we promote. RATTLESNAKES IN MY YARD: IS RELOCATION A DEATH SENTENCE A rattlesnake around the house is a risk that most people just don’t want to take. And, that’s understandable. Inevitably, the topic of relocation is raised as a humane alternative to killing the animal, which is likely just traveling through or was attracted to an abundance of rodents. A TRIANGULAR SHAPED HEAD DOES NOT MEAN A SNAKE IS VENOMOUS This is the head of a venomous Cottonmouth. Compare it to the Cornsnake below. We’ve all heard it. If a snake has a triangle or diamond-shaped head, it is venomous (or poisonous), right? Wrong. This trick just doesn’t work and we should stop using it. Environmental educators: don't tell people NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR LIFERS: HOW TO MAKE HERPING COUNT Photo courtesy of Becky HardmanBy Sean Graham Amateur naturalists and professional scientists alike enjoy being in nature and often go looking for things they haven’t seen before. We mount little hikes, expeditions, and vacations, and have in mind things we’d like to see. These have become A GIANT PILE OF SNAKES ON A BOAT Note: People are now saying online (May 25) that this is a picture of Water Moccasins in Texoma, Texas. That is false, read on.Hi there!I have an unhealthy fear of snakes. By unhealthy fear, I mean it has taken away one of my favorite hobbies as I used to love to garden! Mylawn backs up to a
COTTONMOUTH MYTHS III: MOCCASINS NORTH OF VIRGINIA Cottonmouth Myths III: Moccasins North of Virginia. Continuing the theme of the many myths and misunderstandings that surround Cottonmouth (AKA, Agkistrodon piscivorous) biology, I am going to spend some time debunking one of the most sacred falsehoods about the species. My hunch is that this piece may attract more aggravatedcomments and
ANIMALS THAT WENT EXTINCT IN 2012 The Japanese River Otter, Lutra lutra whiteleyi, (a. subspecies of the Eurasian Otter) was officially designated as extinct in 2012; it has not been spotted in the wild for thirty years. John Platt provides an excellent summary and also notes that another Japanese subspecies, the Least Horseshoe Bat, Rhinolophus pumilus miyakonis, was also LIMITED-EDITION HELLBENDER ART TO PROTECT THESE IMPERILED Phase 1: Dr. Jeff Briggler has dedicated a majority of his professional career protecting Hellbender populations (primarily in Missouri), and he has developed a unique approach to improve in-stream refuge and breeding habitat for Hellbenders.Dr. Briggler’s invention, which is known as a ‘bender box, is an in-stream, concrete structure that simulates Hellbender cover and breeding sites. READERS WRITE IN: A BLUE SNAKE IN NORTH CAROLINA? AND MORE Below please find a picture of a deceased snake I found on the side of the road while walking this morning. I was struck by the blue color. The snake was pretty small, but probably 1.5′ -2 ‘ long. I am in the foothills of N.C. (Burke County). I did a quick search to identify and found a similar snake – a blue racer – but they are not ARE RATTLESNAKES RATTLING LESS BECAUSE OF HOGS? The short answer:There's no compelling reason to think so.Full column:In the past few months, I’ve received the following e-mail (or some similar version) several times. Generally, the scene is set in Texas (Coleman), but recently the location was switched to Georgia (Ohoopee River, Vidalia, or WATCH YOUR STEP: THE MYTH OF COTTONMOUTH NESTS Watch Your Step: The Myth of Cottonmouth Nests. It is hard for many people to imagine something more nightmarish than strolling along the shore of their local lake and stumbling into a nest of Cottonmouths. I believe there is a legend of a water-skier plowing right through one, or perhaps it was a Cottonmouth breeding ball. IT DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW: “A WATER MOCCASIN TRIED Besides the myth that Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus, on right) bask in trees along waterways and plop into boats and the unfounded legend that Cottonmouths are aggressive and attack people, the next most common misconception about the Cottonmouth is that they try to “get into” boats.At first glance this may appear to be a variant of the “falling into boats” myth, but that legend 5 WAYS HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTONMOUTHS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, and Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, are venomous snakes that are closely related and frequently encountered in the United States. Because these two species may seem similar at first glance, they are often confused for oneanother. I
AGING RATTLESNAKES: DON’T BOTHER COUNTING THEIR RATTLES For most snakes, that’s that. But for rattlesnakes, each time an old skin is shed, a new rattle is added. If rattlesnakes always shed their skin once, and only once, a year, you might actually be able to tell how old a rattlesnake was by counting the rattles, but they don’t. Very young snakes grow quickly, some shed for their first time COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help themavoid cars, but it
READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their WATCH YOUR STEP: THE MYTH OF COTTONMOUTH NESTS Watch Your Step: The Myth of Cottonmouth Nests. It is hard for many people to imagine something more nightmarish than strolling along the shore of their local lake and stumbling into a nest of Cottonmouths. I believe there is a legend of a water-skier plowing right through one, or perhaps it was a Cottonmouth breeding ball. IT DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW: “A WATER MOCCASIN TRIED Besides the myth that Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus, on right) bask in trees along waterways and plop into boats and the unfounded legend that Cottonmouths are aggressive and attack people, the next most common misconception about the Cottonmouth is that they try to “get into” boats.At first glance this may appear to be a variant of the “falling into boats” myth, but that legend 5 WAYS HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTONMOUTHS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, and Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, are venomous snakes that are closely related and frequently encountered in the United States. Because these two species may seem similar at first glance, they are often confused for oneanother. I
AGING RATTLESNAKES: DON’T BOTHER COUNTING THEIR RATTLES For most snakes, that’s that. But for rattlesnakes, each time an old skin is shed, a new rattle is added. If rattlesnakes always shed their skin once, and only once, a year, you might actually be able to tell how old a rattlesnake was by counting the rattles, but they don’t. Very young snakes grow quickly, some shed for their first time COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help themavoid cars, but it
READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help AN 8.5 FOOT EASTERN DIAMONDBACK RATTLESNAKE FROM You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail. “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” -Michael Corleone Sometimes I daydream that the myth of the giant dead rattlesnake has finally been put to rest. I imagine that inboxes will no longer be invaded by dead rattlesnakes with lengths and weights exaggerated to scare the bejesus out of people. TWO SPECIES OF COTTONMOUTHS? THIS SCIENTIST SAYS YES Cottonmouths are a common species in the southeastern United States. Everybody knows about them, even if the details might get a little hazy, and few would consider them a mysterious creature.Yet Frank Burbrink and Tim Guiher just revealed to us something extraordinary about the Cottonmouth. Or, I should say Cottonmouths. These two researchers just publ ished the results of a COTTONMOUTH MYTHS III: MOCCASINS NORTH OF VIRGINIA Cottonmouth Myths III: Moccasins North of Virginia. Continuing the theme of the many myths and misunderstandings that surround Cottonmouth (AKA, Agkistrodon piscivorous) biology, I am going to spend some time debunking one of the most sacred falsehoods about the species. My hunch is that this piece may attract more aggravatedcomments and
ABOUT THAT GIANT DEAD RATTLESNAKE E-MAIL YOU GOT… The snake in the picture is an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, Crotalus adamanteus. This is apparent because of the black and gold diamond-patterning and, of course, the rattle. This species does not reach eight and a half feet long. That would be the world’s largest rattlesnake ever known to NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR LIFERS: HOW TO MAKE HERPING COUNT Photo courtesy of Becky HardmanBy Sean Graham Amateur naturalists and professional scientists alike enjoy being in nature and often go looking for things they haven’t seen before. We mount little hikes, expeditions, and vacations, and have in mind things we’d like to see. These have become SO YOU SAY YOU SAW A BLACK PANTHER? HERE’S WHY I DON’T A Black Panther (i.e. a melanistic Jaguar). Photo by Bruce McAdam. Black panthers have been part of modern lore in the United States for more than 100 years, despite the lack of any compelling evidence of their existence. As executive director of the Cougar Network, which isthe only research
ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their KINGSNAKES KEEP COPPERHEADS IN CHECK **SPECIAL BLOG In any case, one of the areas where Kingsnake declines were the most dramatic was Conecuh National Forest, Alabama, a forest that my new Auburn colleagues had spent a lot of time exploring. When the renowned Auburn herpetologist/professor Dr. Robert Mount had surveyed Conecuh in the 1970s and 1980s, he reported Kingsnakes as one of the most commonly encountered species. WATCH YOUR STEP: THE MYTH OF COTTONMOUTH NESTS Watch Your Step: The Myth of Cottonmouth Nests. It is hard for many people to imagine something more nightmarish than strolling along the shore of their local lake and stumbling into a nest of Cottonmouths. I believe there is a legend of a water-skier plowing right through one, or perhaps it was a Cottonmouth breeding ball. IT DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW: “A WATER MOCCASIN TRIED Besides the myth that Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus, on right) bask in trees along waterways and plop into boats and the unfounded legend that Cottonmouths are aggressive and attack people, the next most common misconception about the Cottonmouth is that they try to “get into” boats.At first glance this may appear to be a variant of the “falling into boats” myth, but that legend 5 WAYS HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTONMOUTHS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, and Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, are venomous snakes that are closely related and frequently encountered in the United States. Because these two species may seem similar at first glance, they are often confused for oneanother. I
AGING RATTLESNAKES: DON’T BOTHER COUNTING THEIR RATTLES For most snakes, that’s that. But for rattlesnakes, each time an old skin is shed, a new rattle is added. If rattlesnakes always shed their skin once, and only once, a year, you might actually be able to tell how old a rattlesnake was by counting the rattles, but they don’t. Very young snakes grow quickly, some shed for their first time COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help themavoid cars, but it
READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their WATCH YOUR STEP: THE MYTH OF COTTONMOUTH NESTS Watch Your Step: The Myth of Cottonmouth Nests. It is hard for many people to imagine something more nightmarish than strolling along the shore of their local lake and stumbling into a nest of Cottonmouths. I believe there is a legend of a water-skier plowing right through one, or perhaps it was a Cottonmouth breeding ball. IT DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW: “A WATER MOCCASIN TRIED Besides the myth that Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus, on right) bask in trees along waterways and plop into boats and the unfounded legend that Cottonmouths are aggressive and attack people, the next most common misconception about the Cottonmouth is that they try to “get into” boats.At first glance this may appear to be a variant of the “falling into boats” myth, but that legend 5 WAYS HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTONMOUTHS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, and Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, are venomous snakes that are closely related and frequently encountered in the United States. Because these two species may seem similar at first glance, they are often confused for oneanother. I
AGING RATTLESNAKES: DON’T BOTHER COUNTING THEIR RATTLES For most snakes, that’s that. But for rattlesnakes, each time an old skin is shed, a new rattle is added. If rattlesnakes always shed their skin once, and only once, a year, you might actually be able to tell how old a rattlesnake was by counting the rattles, but they don’t. Very young snakes grow quickly, some shed for their first time COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help themavoid cars, but it
READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help SO YOU SAY YOU SAW A BLACK PANTHER? HERE’S WHY I DON’T There is no compelling evidence that a single wild “black panther” has ever existed in United States. The largest cat in the United States, and in fact the fourth largest cat in the world, is the mountain lion (Puma concolor) – also known as cougar, catamount, painter, and in Florida, panther.Adult cougars are about 120-150 pounds, have tawny or brown coats, and with the exception of the AN 8.5 FOOT EASTERN DIAMONDBACK RATTLESNAKE FROM You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail. “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” -Michael Corleone Sometimes I daydream that the myth of the giant dead rattlesnake has finally been put to rest. I imagine that inboxes will no longer be invaded by dead rattlesnakes with lengths and weights exaggerated to scare the bejesus out of people. ABOUT THAT GIANT DEAD RATTLESNAKE E-MAIL YOU GOT… The snake in the picture is an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, Crotalus adamanteus. This is apparent because of the black and gold diamond-patterning and, of course, the rattle. This species does not reach eight and a half feet long. That would be the world’s largest rattlesnake ever known to COTTONMOUTH MYTHS III: MOCCASINS NORTH OF VIRGINIA Cottonmouth Myths III: Moccasins North of Virginia. Continuing the theme of the many myths and misunderstandings that surround Cottonmouth (AKA, Agkistrodon piscivorous) biology, I am going to spend some time debunking one of the most sacred falsehoods about the species. My hunch is that this piece may attract more aggravatedcomments and
NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR LIFERS: HOW TO MAKE HERPING COUNT Photo courtesy of Becky HardmanBy Sean Graham Amateur naturalists and professional scientists alike enjoy being in nature and often go looking for things they haven’t seen before. We mount little hikes, expeditions, and vacations, and have in mind things we’d like to see. These have become TWO SPECIES OF COTTONMOUTHS? THIS SCIENTIST SAYS YES Cottonmouths are a common species in the southeastern United States. Everybody knows about them, even if the details might get a little hazy, and few would consider them a mysterious creature.Yet Frank Burbrink and Tim Guiher just revealed to us something extraordinary about the Cottonmouth. Or, I should say Cottonmouths. These two researchers just publ ished the results of a ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their KINGSNAKES KEEP COPPERHEADS IN CHECK **SPECIAL BLOG In any case, one of the areas where Kingsnake declines were the most dramatic was Conecuh National Forest, Alabama, a forest that my new Auburn colleagues had spent a lot of time exploring. When the renowned Auburn herpetologist/professor Dr. Robert Mount had surveyed Conecuh in the 1970s and 1980s, he reported Kingsnakes as one of the most commonly encountered species. WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America WATCH YOUR STEP: THE MYTH OF COTTONMOUTH NESTS Watch Your Step: The Myth of Cottonmouth Nests. It is hard for many people to imagine something more nightmarish than strolling along the shore of their local lake and stumbling into a nest of Cottonmouths. I believe there is a legend of a water-skier plowing right through one, or perhaps it was a Cottonmouth breeding ball. AGING RATTLESNAKES: DON’T BOTHER COUNTING THEIR RATTLES For most snakes, that’s that. But for rattlesnakes, each time an old skin is shed, a new rattle is added. If rattlesnakes always shed their skin once, and only once, a year, you might actually be able to tell how old a rattlesnake was by counting the rattles, but they don’t. Very young snakes grow quickly, some shed for their first time 5 WAYS HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTONMOUTHS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, and Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, are venomous snakes that are closely related and frequently encountered in the United States. Because these two species may seem similar at first glance, they are often confused for oneanother. I
COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help themavoid cars, but it
A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she A GIANT PILE OF SNAKES ON A BOAT Note: People are now saying online (May 25) that this is a picture of Water Moccasins in Texoma, Texas. That is false, read on.Hi there!I have an unhealthy fear of snakes. By unhealthy fear, I mean it has taken away one of my favorite hobbies as I used to love to garden! Mylawn backs up to a
ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America WATCH YOUR STEP: THE MYTH OF COTTONMOUTH NESTS Watch Your Step: The Myth of Cottonmouth Nests. It is hard for many people to imagine something more nightmarish than strolling along the shore of their local lake and stumbling into a nest of Cottonmouths. I believe there is a legend of a water-skier plowing right through one, or perhaps it was a Cottonmouth breeding ball. AGING RATTLESNAKES: DON’T BOTHER COUNTING THEIR RATTLES For most snakes, that’s that. But for rattlesnakes, each time an old skin is shed, a new rattle is added. If rattlesnakes always shed their skin once, and only once, a year, you might actually be able to tell how old a rattlesnake was by counting the rattles, but they don’t. Very young snakes grow quickly, some shed for their first time 5 WAYS HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTONMOUTHS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, and Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, are venomous snakes that are closely related and frequently encountered in the United States. Because these two species may seem similar at first glance, they are often confused for oneanother. I
COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help themavoid cars, but it
A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she A GIANT PILE OF SNAKES ON A BOAT Note: People are now saying online (May 25) that this is a picture of Water Moccasins in Texoma, Texas. That is false, read on.Hi there!I have an unhealthy fear of snakes. By unhealthy fear, I mean it has taken away one of my favorite hobbies as I used to love to garden! Mylawn backs up to a
ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
RATTLESNAKES IN MY YARD: IS RELOCATION A DEATH SENTENCE A rattlesnake around the house is a risk that most people just don’t want to take. And, that’s understandable. Inevitably, the topic of relocation is raised as a humane alternative to killing the animal, which is likely just traveling through or was attracted to an abundance of rodents. IT DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW: “A WATER MOCCASIN TRIED Besides the myth that Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus, on right) bask in trees along waterways and plop into boats and the unfounded legend that Cottonmouths are aggressive and attack people, the next most common misconception about the Cottonmouth is that they try to “get into” boats.At first glance this may appear to be a variant of the “falling into boats” myth, but that legend WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help SO YOU SAY YOU SAW A BLACK PANTHER? HERE’S WHY I DON’T There is no compelling evidence that a single wild “black panther” has ever existed in United States. The largest cat in the United States, and in fact the fourth largest cat in the world, is the mountain lion (Puma concolor) – also known as cougar, catamount, painter, and in Florida, panther.Adult cougars are about 120-150 pounds, have tawny or brown coats, and with the exception of the HERE’S A SHOCKER: AN ELECTRIC EEL VERSUS AN ALLIGATOR A video of something that looks like an alligator attacking an electric eel has been recently pulsing through the worldwide web like the shockwaves ofwell, an electric eel. Although several sources identify the reptile as an alligator, this isn’t actually the case. There are two species of alligators in the world, the American Alligator, Alligator mississippiensis, and the Chinese ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their A GIANT PILE OF SNAKES ON A BOAT Note: People are now saying online (May 25) that this is a picture of Water Moccasins in Texoma, Texas. That is false, read on.Hi there!I have an unhealthy fear of snakes. By unhealthy fear, I mean it has taken away one of my favorite hobbies as I used to love to garden! Mylawn backs up to a
ANIMALS THAT WENT EXTINCT IN 2012 The Japanese River Otter, Lutra lutra whiteleyi, (a. subspecies of the Eurasian Otter) was officially designated as extinct in 2012; it has not been spotted in the wild for thirty years. John Platt provides an excellent summary and also notes that another Japanese subspecies, the Least Horseshoe Bat, Rhinolophus pumilus miyakonis, was also ARE RATTLESNAKES RATTLING LESS BECAUSE OF HOGS? The short answer:There's no compelling reason to think so.Full column:In the past few months, I’ve received the following e-mail (or some similar version) several times. Generally, the scene is set in Texas (Coleman), but recently the location was switched to Georgia (Ohoopee River, Vidalia, or WATCH YOUR STEP: THE MYTH OF COTTONMOUTH NESTS It is hard for many people to imagine something more nightmarish than strolling along the shore of their local lake and stumbling into a nest of Cottonmouths. I believe there is a legend of a water-skier plowing right through one, or perhaps it was a Cottonmouth breedingball. In any case
WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America AGING RATTLESNAKES: DON’T BOTHER COUNTING THEIR RATTLES A big rattlesnake with a long rattle is an impressive animal (assuming a hog hasn’t eaten it), one persistent myth suggests the older the rattlesnake, the more rattles it has (although the entire structure is called a rattle , it is made up multiple rattles ). COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up to about eight feet long), the Eastern Diamond-back Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus), is known from North Carolina (see range map); historically they occurred in the coastal regions.But, today they are extremely rare and most (all?) of the snakes that are left 5 WAYS HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTONMOUTHS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, and Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, are venomous snakes that are closely related and frequently encountered in the United States. Because these two species may seem similar at first glance, they are often confused for oneanother. I
WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? I imagine I’ve heard this question one hundred times if I’ve heard it once. Perhaps this situation is familiar to you: sitting alongside the road, a squirrel’s big black eyes go wide as a car barrels down upon it. Suddenly, seemingly just moments before the vehicle passes the small mammal, it A GIANT PILE OF SNAKES ON A BOAT Note: People are now saying online (May 25) that this is a picture of Water Moccasins in Texoma, Texas. That is false, read on.Hi there!I have an unhealthy fear of snakes. By unhealthy fear, I mean it has taken away one of my favorite hobbies as I used to love to garden! Mylawn backs up to a
READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their WATCH YOUR STEP: THE MYTH OF COTTONMOUTH NESTS It is hard for many people to imagine something more nightmarish than strolling along the shore of their local lake and stumbling into a nest of Cottonmouths. I believe there is a legend of a water-skier plowing right through one, or perhaps it was a Cottonmouth breedingball. In any case
WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America AGING RATTLESNAKES: DON’T BOTHER COUNTING THEIR RATTLES A big rattlesnake with a long rattle is an impressive animal (assuming a hog hasn’t eaten it), one persistent myth suggests the older the rattlesnake, the more rattles it has (although the entire structure is called a rattle , it is made up multiple rattles ). COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up to about eight feet long), the Eastern Diamond-back Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus), is known from North Carolina (see range map); historically they occurred in the coastal regions.But, today they are extremely rare and most (all?) of the snakes that are left 5 WAYS HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTONMOUTHS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, and Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, are venomous snakes that are closely related and frequently encountered in the United States. Because these two species may seem similar at first glance, they are often confused for oneanother. I
WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? I imagine I’ve heard this question one hundred times if I’ve heard it once. Perhaps this situation is familiar to you: sitting alongside the road, a squirrel’s big black eyes go wide as a car barrels down upon it. Suddenly, seemingly just moments before the vehicle passes the small mammal, it A GIANT PILE OF SNAKES ON A BOAT Note: People are now saying online (May 25) that this is a picture of Water Moccasins in Texoma, Texas. That is false, read on.Hi there!I have an unhealthy fear of snakes. By unhealthy fear, I mean it has taken away one of my favorite hobbies as I used to love to garden! Mylawn backs up to a
READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up to about eight feet long), the Eastern Diamond-back Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus), is known from North Carolina (see range map); historically they occurred in the coastal regions.But, today they are extremely rare and most (all?) of the snakes that are left IT DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW: “A WATER MOCCASIN TRIED Besides the myth that Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus, on right) bask in trees along waterways and plop into boats and the unfounded legend that Cottonmouths are aggressive and attack people, the next most common misconception about the Cottonmouth is that they try to “get into” boats.At first glance this may appear to be a variant of the “falling into boats” myth, but that legend RATTLESNAKES IN MY YARD: IS RELOCATION A DEATH SENTENCE A rattlesnake around the house is a risk that most people just don’t want to take. And, that’s understandable. Inevitably, the topic of relocation is raised as a humane alternative to killing the animal, which is likely just traveling through or was attracted to an abundance of rodents. HERE’S A SHOCKER: AN ELECTRIC EEL VERSUS AN ALLIGATOR A video of something that looks like an alligator attacking an electric eel has been recently pulsing through the worldwide web like the shockwaves ofwell, an electric eel. Although several sources identify the reptile as an alligator, this isn’t actually the case. There are two species of alligators in the world, the American Alligator, Alligator mississippiensis, and the Chinese WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? I imagine I’ve heard this question one hundred times if I’ve heard it once. Perhaps this situation is familiar to you: sitting alongside the road, a squirrel’s big black eyes go wide as a car barrels down upon it. Suddenly, seemingly just moments before the vehicle passes the small mammal, it SO YOU SAY YOU SAW A BLACK PANTHER? HERE’S WHY I DON’T A Black Panther (i.e. a melanistic Jaguar). Photo by Bruce McAdam. Black panthers have been part of modern lore in the United States for more than 100 years, despite the lack of any compelling evidence of their existence. As executive director of the Cougar Network, which isthe only research
ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their ANIMALS THAT WENT EXTINCT IN 2012 The Pinta Island Tortoise, Chelonoidis nigra abingdonii, was a subspecies of Galapagos Tortoises, native to one island (you can probably guess which one). The subspecies was relatively famous because for about the last forty years it has been represented by a A GIANT PILE OF SNAKES ON A BOAT Note: People are now saying online (May 25) that this is a picture of Water Moccasins in Texoma, Texas. That is false, read on.Hi there!I have an unhealthy fear of snakes. By unhealthy fear, I mean it has taken away one of my favorite hobbies as I used to love to garden! Mylawn backs up to a
ARE RATTLESNAKES RATTLING LESS BECAUSE OF HOGS? The short answer:There's no compelling reason to think so.Full column:In the past few months, I’ve received the following e-mail (or some similar version) several times. Generally, the scene is set in Texas (Coleman), but recently the location was switched to Georgia (Ohoopee River, Vidalia, or WATCH YOUR STEP: THE MYTH OF COTTONMOUTH NESTS Watch Your Step: The Myth of Cottonmouth Nests. It is hard for many people to imagine something more nightmarish than strolling along the shore of their local lake and stumbling into a nest of Cottonmouths. I believe there is a legend of a water-skier plowing right through one, or perhaps it was a Cottonmouth breeding ball. WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America AGING RATTLESNAKES: DON’T BOTHER COUNTING THEIR RATTLES For most snakes, that’s that. But for rattlesnakes, each time an old skin is shed, a new rattle is added. If rattlesnakes always shed their skin once, and only once, a year, you might actually be able to tell how old a rattlesnake was by counting the rattles, but they don’t. Very young snakes grow quickly, some shed for their first time 5 WAYS HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTONMOUTHS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, and Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, are venomous snakes that are closely related and frequently encountered in the United States. Because these two species may seem similar at first glance, they are often confused for oneanother. I
COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help themavoid cars, but it
READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their ARE RATTLESNAKES RATTLING LESS BECAUSE OF HOGS? The short answer:There's no compelling reason to think so.Full column:In the past few months, I’ve received the following e-mail (or some similar version) several times. Generally, the scene is set in Texas (Coleman), but recently the location was switched to Georgia (Ohoopee River, Vidalia, or WATCH YOUR STEP: THE MYTH OF COTTONMOUTH NESTS Watch Your Step: The Myth of Cottonmouth Nests. It is hard for many people to imagine something more nightmarish than strolling along the shore of their local lake and stumbling into a nest of Cottonmouths. I believe there is a legend of a water-skier plowing right through one, or perhaps it was a Cottonmouth breeding ball. WORLD’S LARGEST SNAKE THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION BY…HIKERS Imagine my surprise and interest when I noticed a newspaper article about an anaconda population crash in Bolivia. Anaconda's are the world's heaviest snake and these impressive animals can be found swimming through the swamps of South America AGING RATTLESNAKES: DON’T BOTHER COUNTING THEIR RATTLES For most snakes, that’s that. But for rattlesnakes, each time an old skin is shed, a new rattle is added. If rattlesnakes always shed their skin once, and only once, a year, you might actually be able to tell how old a rattlesnake was by counting the rattles, but they don’t. Very young snakes grow quickly, some shed for their first time 5 WAYS HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTONMOUTHS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, and Copperheads, Agkistrodon contortrix, are venomous snakes that are closely related and frequently encountered in the United States. Because these two species may seem similar at first glance, they are often confused for oneanother. I
COTTONMOUTH MYTHS II: COTTONMOUTH BREEDING BALLS Cottonmouths, Agkistrodon piscivorus, are so feared and misunderstood that perhaps the most terrifying thing the average citizen can imagine is these snakes in the process of making even more Cottonmouths. I would guess it is a combination of fear, rural folklore, and maybe just the fact that Cottonmouth biology is not often brought up in school, but there is a lot of inaccurate information WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help themavoid cars, but it
READERS WRITE IN: I FOUND A BABY RATTLESNAKE, ARE THERE Hi David,My partner and I are in the process of moving to Placitas, New Mexico. We haven't moved our dogs yet because we wanted to prepare the yard for them with fencing, etc, anyway, my partner was leaving the house this evening and when she A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their ARE RATTLESNAKES RATTLING LESS BECAUSE OF HOGS? The short answer:There's no compelling reason to think so.Full column:In the past few months, I’ve received the following e-mail (or some similar version) several times. Generally, the scene is set in Texas (Coleman), but recently the location was switched to Georgia (Ohoopee River, Vidalia, or A 24-FOOT RATTLESNAKE FROM BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA 3) This snake is unlikely to be 24 feet long. It is a lot closer to the camera than the back-hoe so our perception of size is skewed. My guess is the snake is 10-12 feet long. Still a big snake. 4) Bladen County, North Carolina isn’t exactly ground-zero for giant rattlesnakes. The world’s largest species of rattlesnake (up toabout eight
RATTLESNAKES IN MY YARD: IS RELOCATION A DEATH SENTENCE A rattlesnake around the house is a risk that most people just don’t want to take. And, that’s understandable. Inevitably, the topic of relocation is raised as a humane alternative to killing the animal, which is likely just traveling through or was attracted to an abundance of rodents. IT DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW: “A WATER MOCCASIN TRIED Besides the myth that Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus, on right) bask in trees along waterways and plop into boats and the unfounded legend that Cottonmouths are aggressive and attack people, the next most common misconception about the Cottonmouth is that they try to “get into” boats.At first glance this may appear to be a variant of the “falling into boats” myth, but that legend WHY ARE SQUIRRELS SO STUPID? It’s not that squirrels are stupid; it is just that the behavior that’s worked for them for so long isn’t much help in avoiding new threats. Given enough time, we may find that some day in the future squirrels are beginning to run in straight lines. This may help HERE’S A SHOCKER: AN ELECTRIC EEL VERSUS AN ALLIGATOR A video of something that looks like an alligator attacking an electric eel has been recently pulsing through the worldwide web like the shockwaves ofwell, an electric eel. Although several sources identify the reptile as an alligator, this isn’t actually the case. There are two species of alligators in the world, the American Alligator, Alligator mississippiensis, and the Chinese ARE BITES FROM BABY VENOMOUS SNAKES MORE DANGEROUS THAN You can follow me on Twitter and/or subscribe to this blog by e-mail.The short answer: No.Full Column:For all the fear and hatred they evoke, snakes inspire fascination like no other group of animals. Those that kill snakes on sight will eagerly take every opportunity to share stories of their SO YOU SAY YOU SAW A BLACK PANTHER? HERE’S WHY I DON’T A Black Panther (i.e. a melanistic Jaguar). Photo by Bruce McAdam. Black panthers have been part of modern lore in the United States for more than 100 years, despite the lack of any compelling evidence of their existence. As executive director of the Cougar Network, which isthe only research
A GIANT PILE OF SNAKES ON A BOAT Note: People are now saying online (May 25) that this is a picture of Water Moccasins in Texoma, Texas. That is false, read on.Hi there!I have an unhealthy fear of snakes. By unhealthy fear, I mean it has taken away one of my favorite hobbies as I used to love to garden! Mylawn backs up to a
ANIMALS THAT WENT EXTINCT IN 2012 The Japanese River Otter, Lutra lutra whiteleyi, (a. subspecies of the Eurasian Otter) was officially designated as extinct in 2012; it has not been spotted in the wild for thirty years. John Platt provides an excellent summary and also notes that another Japanese subspecies, the Least Horseshoe Bat, Rhinolophus pumilus miyakonis, was also ARE RATTLESNAKES RATTLING LESS BECAUSE OF HOGS? The short answer:There's no compelling reason to think so.Full column:In the past few months, I’ve received the following e-mail (or some similar version) several times. Generally, the scene is set in Texas (Coleman), but recently the location was switched to Georgia (Ohoopee River, Vidalia, or Skip to content Menu Close LIVING ALONGSIDE WILDLIFE* About David
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BIG GRANT ANNOUNCEMENT – $10,000 FOR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION! __ admin __ July 25, 2019 __ Uncategorized The Alongside Wildlife Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity supported by a grassroots network of people passionate about wildlife. Through research and outreach, we promote…Read more →
FROM REDUCING CONFLICT BETWEEN CATS AND PEOPLE IN ARGENTINA AND PANAMA TO UNDERSTANDING ANTS IN PENNSYLVANIA, THE ALONGSIDE WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES NEW GRANT AWARDS __ admin __ July 20, 2019 __ Uncategorized In 2018, The Alongside Wildlife Foundation started a small grants program to support wildlife conservation projects around the world. In just one year, we…Read more →
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2019 __ Uncategorized In her poem, “How I go to the woods,” Mary Oliver included the lines, … “when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit onthe top…
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2019 __ Uncategorized Parts I, II, III, and IV The valley of the shadow of death The last chapter of our California journey brought us to a very…Read more →
CONGRATULATIONS TO JASON WARD – THE FIRST WINNER OF THE ALONGSIDE WILDLIFE FOUNDATION OUTREACH AWARD __ admin __ March 15, 2019 __ Uncategorized The Alongside Wildlife Foundation Outreach Award recognizes effective and innovative science communicators that go above and beyond to engage and educate non-scientists about wildlife and…Read more →
SUPPORT THE ALONGSIDE WILDLIFE FOUNDATION JUST BY SHOPPING ON AMAZON __ admin __ March 10, 2019 __ Uncategorized Do you Agree with The Alongside Wildlife Foundation‘s mission of promoting research and outreach that helps us share landscapes with wildlife? Appreciate that we awarded…Read more →
ANTARCTICA: A CONTINENT AT A CROSSROADS — GUEST PHOTO ESSAY — __ admin __ February 28, 2019 __ Uncategorized Travel to Antarctica takes about four days from leaving your house to first sight of land. As a photographer traveling there for the firsttime,…
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CALIFORNIA WATERS: FROGS OF THE FROZEN REACHES —GUEST POST— __ admin __ February 13, 2019 __ Uncategorized Part I, II, and III. More than an experiment Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged Frog (Rana sierrae). Photo courtesy Gary Nafis In the 1990s, researchers embarked on an ambitious…Read more →
THE KING COBRAS OF NORTHEAST THAILAND — RESEARCHING LIVES AND THREATS — GUEST POST — __ admin __ February 10, 2019 __ Uncategorized Across the globe there is a tendency for people to view snakes in a negative light, a fear born of unfamiliarity. It is difficult to…Read more →
MAYBE SPARROW
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21, 2019 __ Uncategorized By Sean Graham Maybe sparrow you should wait The hawks alight till morning You’ll never pass beyond the gate If you don’t hear mywarning…
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