Animal Realm

A comment amidst the spam

2010-09-28T04:23:00.001-07:00

Looking through some of the old comments and deleting the ones that were spam I saw a comment that someone left thinking that my husband Peter had written some post. It is doubtful that he wrote it since he hasn't written any posts about snakes. Not ever. lol...

But thank you for the remarks anyway. I need to catch up and do some new posts on animals or reptiles.

Any suggestions are most welcome.

Environment - Sea Census

2010-08-03T02:33:00.001-07:00

Some of the world's most unique sea creatures can be seen here courtesy of the guardian.co.uk.

Thanks to the Guardian for sharing this wonderful story.

The post! The post boss!

2010-08-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

Finally back to create a post. I will try to post a bit more often but I won't promise anything. :o)

The animals have been waiting.

2009-12-15T18:07:00.000-08:00

Now that I have finally sorted out a problem with my blogs I can post again.

This blog is in dire need of a few new posts to liven things up so I shall begin that soon.

I hope you all have a very wonderful holiday and please remember to treat our furry and scaly friends too. I give my mice and gerbils extra special nuts and they seem to love the extra bit of attention. Ginger the cat gets his can of tuna which he loves. Sierra my ball python doesn't get an extra mouse but if she is close to dinner day, I do feed her.

Whatever pets you have, give them a treat or an extra cuddle since it's Christmas for them too.

I shall return with a post soon.

Global antidote for snakebite

2009-01-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

Scientists in Melbourne Australia gathered to discuss Global Snake Bite Initiative which will help prevent and treat snake bite. Read the story on Science Daily.

According to the article the number of snake bite victims is staggering and most occur in the poorest countries, many of the victims being children and young adults.

I have long known that the number of bite victims of the Russel's Viper is quite high.

I suspect it is possible that the bite numbers would be higher for that species if more data could be obtained from the outer villages and farms, areas sometimes not included on city reports.

The Russel's viper is only one of the snakes that causes serious injury and death. Check out the important information in the link above on Science Daily site.

Being a responsible snake owner

2009-01-16T21:19:00.000-08:00

Something I want to talk about came up for me yesterday morning when Pete and I took Sierra to Colorado State University Veterinarian Hospital to check about a slight lump we saw on her two days ago. The Vet checked her but found nothing.

I don't know whether to be happy or nervous wondering what it may have been. Regardless, I will be watching her to see if it happens again. Of course IBD is an ever present worry...

Anyway, one of the assistants actually had a great idea – she suggested taking a picture of the area if the lump comes up again. That I can certainly do. Anything to help my little buddy.

While we were talking with the Vet Pete mentioned something I hadn't thought about in a couple of years.

We had taken Sierra in to see the Vet in Dallas for her checkup and someone had brought another snake in that had been left alone in a box with a rat that was a potential meal.

What ended up happening was the poor snake was just torn to bits. It was so sad to see such a beautiful snake torn up so badly. I knew it had to be in great pain with all the serious wounds.

I cried – and even my husband talking about it today reminded me of how badly the poor snake was torn up and I cried today too. I tired to shush him but he didn't realize I would remember how badly the snake was injured so he kept telling them about it. I tried not to cry, to think of something else but it just didn't work.

People... it really does not take that much time for a hungry snake to eat a meal. Always stay with your snake until after it begins eating its meal. If you have to go to work, then wait until you get home and then feed it. Put your pet first. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR SNAKE ALONE WITH A POTENTIAL MEAL. Doing so can and has cost many a beautiful snake it's life.

I simply cannot say that often enough. If you truly love your snake and value them as the gorgeous, necessary animals they are, NEVER NEVER LEAVE THEM ALONE WITH A POTENTIAL MEAL. A rat or other prey animal will fight for their life just like anything else will and as is most often the case the snake has no where to retreat for safety.

That very sad incident ended with the snake being put to sleep by two extremely upset professional Veterinarians that both cried when they saw the state of the poor thing. Needless to say they were both very angry as well. Everyone that saw it was upset. However, I did manage to keep my mouth closed until Pete and I left.

It is a very irresponsible person that would let something like that happen to their snake simply because they did not take the time to stay with their pet while it eats.

Take care of your snake. Treat them with the love and respect they deserve. And please remember what I say in regard to venomous snakes – don't keep them and don't handle them.

Love them, protect them, read, study and learn about them then pass that knowledge on to others so we can conserve them.

Catching Up

2009-01-16T20:57:00.000-08:00

It is catch up time for me with this blog. I haven't posted anything for sometime now so I figure it's time to get back on track. I think a lot of bloggers go through periods much the same in that you either can't think of a specific subject you want to write about or you feel that what you've been writing about is actually in some strange rut of sorts and seems quite boring.

Still I know there are people that know me that may be reading this thinking...”Kate? Bored with animal and reptile subjects? What's up with that?...” It's not actually the reptiles that I get bored of. It's other bits of life that get in the way of my association with animals and reptiles.

Most of the time when I see a snake I feel that same breathless excitement that hit me the first time I really saw how amazing they were. That feeling has stayed with me since. I don't know if all snake lovers feel that way but I certainly do.

If you read the following post and have anything relevant to add, tell me or show me, please feel free to email me at the address below and let me know. If you have something on another page or site that you would like me to add I can either copy it (with appropriate credits given of course) or simply put a guiding post up for others to follow.

In any case I would love to hear from you all.

Email me: k.ford@mindspring.com

Larimer County Search and Rescue

2008-03-22T00:51:00.000-07:00

I will have some photos up here soon of some of the dogs owned by Larimer County Search and Rescue here in Colorado.

I hope to gather enough information about them to let people know how very important these dogs are in saving lives here in Colorado.

I'll keep you all posted.

Russell's Viper

2008-01-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

This post is being written after I read an article about a 21 year old man named Cody Bartolini, young owner of mojavereptiles was caught attempting to sell venomous reptiles over state lines.

Time and time again I have written posts telling and in fact warning buyers/sellers to check local and state laws beforehand

While I myself love and adore the beautiful, fascinating and very necessary animals that snakes are, I am not a professional nor have I been properly trained by a professional herpetologist in the handling of venomous snakes to feel sufficiently confident to do so.

I do love all snakes but I'm not stupid. I do not have a death wish.

All that being said, I would like to begin my post about the Russell's Viper.

According to herpetologist Mark O'Shea there are two types of Russell's Vipers, the Indian Russell's and the Sri Lankan Russell's Viper.

Read Mark O'Shea's article "Blood Sweat & Snakebites" here.

Russell's Viper (Daboia or Vipera Russelli) regarded as comprising five subspecies, russelli, pulchella, siamensis, formensis & limitis,distributed discontinuously throughout 10 south Asian countries. (Warrell 1989)

Studies of Wüster et al. (1992) have rejected the validity of several of the subspecies and supported the concept of western (russelli) and eastern (siamensis) forms.

Previous quoted data from Venomous Snakes: Ecology, Evolution and snakebite by Roger S. Thorpe, Wolfgang Wüster and Anita Malhotra.

The data I quoted seems to support what O'Shea said on there being two major species of Indian and Sri Lankan Russell's Vipers.

The following material cited from:
Population systematics of Russell's viper: a multivariate study
WOLFGANG WÜSTER, SATOKO OTSUKA, ANITA MALHOTRA, ROGER S. THORPE Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 1992 47:1 97

A multivariate analysis of the population systematics of Russell's viper, based on scalation and colour pattern characters, reveals that the populations of this viper constitute two well-defined taxa: a western form, comprising all populations from the Indian subcontinent, and an eastern form, comprising all populations from east of the Bay of Bengal.

The two forms could be considered either as subspecies of one species, or as two separate species, depending on the species concept used. Within the western form, there is no clear pattern of geographic variation. Within the eastern form, the populations from the Lesser Sunda Islands are clearly divergent from the populations of mainland Asia and Java.

The conventionally recognized subspecies of Vipera russelli fail to portray this pattern of geographic variation. There is no clear relationship between the pattern of geographic variation in morphology and the pattern of geographic variation in the clinical effects of the venom in human bite victims: some populations with considerable differences in venom effects are equally distinct morphologically, whereas other populations with equally strong venom differences are morphologically very similar.

The distribution of Russell's viper can be attributed to Pleistocene changes in climate and sea level, coupled with the viper's ecological requirements, which appear to include a seasonally dry climate.

The next post will carry on with the differences in the two species.

Keeping Venomous Reptiles.

2008-01-25T20:22:00.000-08:00

Due to the serious possible consequences of handling such venomous snakes I thought I would do a post on each snake listed from Cody Bartolini of MojaveReptiles impressive list of snakes.

My first post will be information about the Russell's Viper.

I will use information from a few books I have as well as information posted from Universities and notable reptile sites.

In the event that I post some bit of data that is either incorrect or that has been since updated please write and let me know so that I can correct it.

By no means do I totally discourage people from learning about snakes. I think everyone should learn enough to understand that snakes are not the horror show villains they have been made out to be. They are beautiful and necessary to the environment.

Without them we would soon be overrun with disease-ridden, destructive rodents.

Snakes are more afraid of us than we are of them. Usually if given the opportunity a snake will retreat to safety rather than attack.

If you see or encounter any snake, please think before you simply destroy an animal that is only trying to live.

Give it the chance to escape and it likely will.

Be careful where you get snakes!

2008-01-24T21:40:00.000-08:00

According to an article posted on Venomous Reptiles.org, MojaveReptiles owner has gotten himself into some serious trouble trying to sell illegal snakes across state lines.

In most of my posts I tell my readers to check their local and state laws before buying/selling any venomous reptile. In most cases it is illegal to own venomous reptiles unless in a zoo or qualified center.

Personally, I wonder if Mr. Bartolini really understands what happens to the human body with the venom of many of the snakes listed in the article.

The African Boomslang is one of the deadliest snakes on earth and if I am not mistaken it has the most toxic venom in all of the African snakes.

I shivered thinking about some of the effects from bites of the snakes that a 21 year old owns and obviously has to handle or at the least, come in close contact with on a weekly basis.

Cody if you happen to come across this post take it from me, if you love snakes, learn about them first and do all you can to educate others about them and above all else, love, respect and protect them. I do. That being said if you continue to handle deadly snakes it isn't a question of 'if' you will be bitten but 'when' you will be bitten. It is highly likely that you could easily die from many of the snakes you owned.

People please think twice before handling venomous snakes of any kind. Let's leave that to the herpetologists and other properly trained professionals.

Read the story from VenomousReptiles.org below.

Las Vegas resident Cody Bartolini, 21, who went by the name “mojavereptiles” when advertising his snakes for sale on Internet Web sites, recently pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of attempted unlawful sale of wildlife.

Bartolini made the mistake of attempting to sell illegally possessed snakes across state lines.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s plea memorandum, Bartolini was living with 48 snakes of various species, including Tanzanian black mambas, green mambas, king cobras, forest cobras, tiapans, banded Egyptian cobras, Gaboon vipers, West African bush vipers, puff adders, boomslangs, as well as a caiman, Gila monster, and an alligator snapping turtle. The collection was worth almost $11,000.

"I should be dead" By Peter Jenkins

2007-12-08T00:53:00.000-08:00

From Venomous Reptiles.org
read this incredible story of a snake bite survivor.

This graphic photo is the result of a bite from Crotalus Horridus, A Timber Rattlesnake.

Study, admire, love and protect these very necessary, beautiful and fascinating animals but please, give them a wide berth and don't ever handle any snake especially venomous ones! Let's leave that to professionals.

Circus animals, treated well or not?

2007-11-30T02:36:00.000-08:00

For a very long time now I have wondered how circus animals are treated. Are they taken care of and given the space, love, care and attention they deserve?

I think space is out of the question. I believe that in most cases the animals have very little space in which to live. Even with some zoos I have personally visited over the years, I have seen animals pacing back and forth glassy-eyed staring blankly into space.

As for love, I would assume that this would depend on who actually has the animal as well as their personal feelings toward it. I'm sure that not every keeper is cold-hearted and cruel but I'm sure there are some who's primary concern is making money with the animals in their care for as long as they can.

Care and attention is dodgy in some instances as well. It seems very cruel to put an animal in a small cage and expect it to flourish as if still in it's natural habitat.

It's nice to think and hope that all circus animals have it made and are taken very good care of but I personally have my doubts.

Some years ago, I recall seeing some zoo animals in small cages standing in dirty straw that obviously needed to be changed. The animals looked so sad and miserable, I cried.

One of the keepers asked in an annoyed voice what was wrong with me. I explained. He told me again in a rather annoyed voice, that these animals were taken better care of there with the circus than they would have been had they been left on their own in their native lands.

Somehow, his explanation just didn't wash with me. I knew better. I stood staring at him and with a wave of his hand, he dismissed me and walked away without another word. I felt empty somehow and very sorry for the animals.

It's a shame that animals are still often thought of as commodities rather than gifts of nature that we can learn from. But we must take care of them and see then as they are.

There is an interesting article in the Telegraph on circus animal welfare that begins, "A ban on using wild animals in travelling circuses because of welfare concerns is not supported by the scientific evidence, a report for the Government has found."

Read the entire story here.

Stem cells extracted from cloned primate embryos.

2007-11-16T23:53:00.000-08:00

In the news, Nature News has an incredible story about cloning monkeys.

Embryonic stem cell research has been going on for about 25 years or longer. Stem cell research itself has been going on for over 40 years.

Actually, it would be nice to see some of the endangered species show nicely renewing populations because of cloning. If anyone ever gets round to it. Let's keep out fingers crossed.

I know how some religious people feel about this type of science but I feel strongly that we were all given the ability to learn and absolutely magnificent technology therefore we should use both to the best of our abilities.

I also truly believe that when talking about sin it is a sin to waste knowledge and ability sitting around saying things like, We can't do this, God wouldn't like it.

I like to think that God wants us all to use what gifts we were each given including and even especially scientists because what most of them do is of such tremendous value to all of us as well as future generations.

So please, before you write me nasty emails or leave me rude comments about how I am going to hell for even suggesting that embryonic stem cell research might help save soon to be extinct species, do me as well as yourself a favor and do the following:

Read, think, learn. Read, think, learn. Read, think, learn. Read, think, learn.

If this fails to enlighten, then please by all means start again.

Concern grows for smallest bear.

2007-11-16T22:41:00.000-08:00

Check out this story about Sun bears on BBC News.

Habitat loss and commercial hunting have been blamed for a decline in the number of sun bears - the world's smallest species of bear.

That is the statement at the top of the story. It's a very sad one.

As for habitat loss, personally I don't see any way to stop it because of human encroachment into their territory due to the ever-expanding population of homo sapiens.

As long as the world keeps on breeding at the rate it is now, there won't be any territory left for anything other than human beings.

Habitat loss and commercial hunting aren't the only things sun bears have to worry about. We also have poaching to add to the list.

Poaching should carry far stiffer penalties. Maybe that would help to discourage some of it since not only sun bears suffer because of poachers.

Information on Sun bears on:

Wikipedia

Bears.org

For the reptile lover.

2007-08-30T16:45:00.000-07:00

Just for those who don't understand my love of reptiles, snakes in particular, I am writing this is response to a note that was posted by a friend.

I do understand why some people fail to see the attraction in regard to snakes. They are cold-blooded. They aren't loving and don't come to you when you call them. They aren't cuddly or cute in the sense that a dog, cat or even a mouse or rat is. Snakes feel no loyalty to those who care for them. There are venomous snakes that kill within minutes.

The Inland Taipan of Australia is one of, if not the most venomous snake on earth. Right here in the United States we have a variety of Rattlesnakes that cause serious illness and death when the bites are left untreated. Eastern diamondback, Western diamondback, Southern Pacific Rattlesnake, Mojave Green Rattlesnake as well as others.

We have the Coral snake which is in the same family (Elapidae) as Cobras and Mambas. While docile and very reluctant to bite, the Coral's venom is highly neurotoxic and can be deadly without proper treatment of a bite. Learn about venom.

Therefore I can understand why some people don't see the attraction for snakes as pets. However, I do feel there is nothing wrong with a person having a python, boa, or most any non-venomous snake as a pet. On the other hand, some of the species of constrictors that grow to be very large, I feel should be left to expert snake handlers and herpetologists since they can be just as deadly as venomous snakes. Ball Pythons don't grow to be a dangerously unmanageable size. They are shy and prefer to stay away from people. That's how Zero was. While he may not have been a cuddly dog, he was shy and gentle and never hurt anyone.

Zero was definitely a real animal. A living, breathing animal. You would have to love snakes and reptiles as I do to understand. But that's just me. I love animals. All animals. Not just a select few that behave in such a way that rewards me. Or animals that are cute, cuddly and playful. But all animals. That includes snakes.

There is much to learn about snakes and so much more to be truly admired about them. Please take time to learn about them and appreciate them as they are then perhaps my love of snakes will become a bit more clear.

Learn more

Reptile search: Herpsearch
Thinkquest: Snakes
Reptile Database
Society for the study of amphibians and reptiles

In tribute to a great herpetologist

Dr. Joe Slowinski's site
Outside Online: Bitten

Gerbil Babies

2007-06-10T03:27:00.000-07:00

I had no idea when we got our gerbil "Annie" that they were so cute. They really are just adorable and have real character that no other rodent I have had shows.

They sit up on their back legs and "prairie dog" their environment to keep tabs on what is going on. Very cute!

After reading more information about gerbils we realized that Annie needed a female friend so she wouldn't get lonely since gerbils are very social animals.

Pete went to Petco and choose a cute little black gerbil that we named "Sofia". All was well in gerbil land. They got on wonderfully.

Actually they got on far too wonderfully and began showing signs of mating behaviour. Needless to say our "Sofia" turned out to be a "Harpo" and we now have babies.

They are separated now, females (does) with their Mom and males (bucks) with their Dad. So far everyone seems happy except Harpo who seems to fully understand what he no longer has easy access to. Sorry buddy!

I am posting one photo of all the gerbil kids and will add some single shots later. Just one last note.

Annie had seven babies but one of the little black males died. It was sad since we had watched them grow up from tiny bald, jellybean-sized gerbils to the little characters they are now.

But I do find it comforting that I can still hear Steve Irwin saying in that soft-hearted way, "Awwww poor little fella, it's natures way".

More at Live Oak, Texas November 11-12, 2006

2006-11-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

Another shot from the latest reptile show. Spiders and furry friends such as Sugar Gliders are also included in that show.

While I am not immediately a fan of spiders I have to admit that they are ecologically necessary and this one seemed to love posing as I snapped away.

And just for the record that is not my hand.

Now that's a big bug!

Hot Show - Live Oak, Texas Nov 11-12, 2006

2006-11-29T16:31:00.000-08:00

This is only one of the photos I took at the last hot show on November 11-12 2006 in Live Oak near San Antonio, Texas.

Please bear in mind that while I love seeing and photographing all the gorgeous snakes especially the venomous ones, I would not buy one nor would I handle one. I do not have the proper education and am not a professional in regard to handling venomous snakes.

I do not support any amateur that handles venomous snakes since it is foolhardy and very irresponsible. I also have very mixed emotions and concerns about the vendors that sell those snakes to just anyone with the cash to pay for them.

After reading much of the material I have read about various venomous snakes I wonder if some of the amateurs would still buy them if they actually knew what the venom was and how it affects the human body. Some of the venoms do positively horrific damage long before killing the victim.

Also, most counties do not allow venomous snakes to be kept in other than a proper zoo with qualified staff so just having them can bring about serious legal problems for an owner.

So, by all means please enjoy the photos as I put them up but please be responsible about snakes. Protect, love and cherish them for the fascinating, beautiful and necessary animals they are but don't handle any venomous snake and please don't buy them.

It could very easily cost you or someone close to you their life.

New posts and a new template design

2006-11-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

This is an interjection post in that it isn't animal/reptile related. I want to apologize for not having posted in such a long time and I plan on posting at least a few great photos from this years Live Oak Texas hot reptile show near San Antonio, Texas this past weekend.

I also want to say that I have been trying to decide how I want to change my blog's looks. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas on that subject please feel free to email me. Once I decide on what style I want to do then it's template time.

Since I am a photographer and graphic artist I have used Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro as well as numerous other such programs for about 12 years, I will create my own graphics for the new blog. Again, ideas are most welcome.

I will be posting several separate bits today along with some really cool photos.

Keep it tuned to this channel people. Peace, love & kiss your reptile.

He prayeth well who loveth well both man and bird and beast.

2006-09-07T23:32:00.000-07:00

After all the years I have watched and admired Steve Irwin I found the news of his death to be very sad and tragic. As a photographer I have always dreamed of visiting Australia to photograph snakes and any other reptiles I might encounter. On that same note, I have long been a fan of visiting Africa for the same reason. To photograph snakes in the wild.

Like Australia I have read and studied quite a lot about Africa in case the opportunity were ever to arise that I would be able to visit. Some of the material I have read in regard to Africa is from Isak Dinesen (aka Baroness Karen Blixen) author of the book and well known movie, "Out of Africa".

Upon reading another book about the life of Baroness Blixen I came across the obituary of her lover Denys George Finch Hatten from The Times, London 1931. The very last paragraph, quoted below, is what struck a chord in my heart on our loss of Steve Irwin.

"He died, as he would have chosen, in the open air, amid the wide spaces that he loved, fearless and free to the end; and the charm of his wonderful personality and companionship is something which those who know him will treasure throughout their lives."

And finally, listed below, the simple lines that were placed upon Finch Hatton's grave taken from "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner".

"He prayeth well who loveth well both man and bird and beast."

While our pain is real to each of us it is only the slightest flick of a flame compared to his family's pain. I found those passages above to be comforting and wanted to share them with others.

She's no friend to Steve Irwin

2006-09-07T23:18:00.000-07:00

As for Germaine Greer's rude and nasty comments about Steve Irwin, this is what I posted to a news site.

Sent to Courier Mail Australia:

Like other's, Greer is jealous of Steve's accomplishments. Her ignorant comments look exactly like they are – a load of media- attention-seeking claptrap. Many years from now it will be Steve Irwin's love of his family and of the animals and nature that he spoke so passionately of and shared so openly. The life of "an ordinary bloke" that shared an extraordinary life with the world will be remembered with love, respect and fierce loyalty forever. Greer however will fade into obscurity as the miserable, unpleasant person she is.

I hope she sees that.

Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin Dead

2006-09-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

My son came and told me that he had heard that Steve Irwin had been killed today. I simply didn't believe him so I checked online. Unfortunately my eyes read what my heart wasn't ready to hear.

According to news.com.au

Quoted from the story:

WORLD EXCLUSIVE by reporters from The Courier-Mail,
Brisbane September 04, 2006 01:56pm

"THE Crocodile Man, Steve Irwin, is dead. He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said. It appeared that he was killed by a sting-ray barb that went through his chest, Queensland Police Inspector Russell Rhodes said"

Read the entire story on one of the world's most well known and loved animal activists.

For the rest of my life I will mourn his loss as an educator and animal conservationist as well as a human being that showed such a love and zest for not only life in general but for the lives of the animals he talked of so often.

I will do my best to do at least one thing in my life that will help to carry on Steve's message of animal conservation and I know that I will never forget him.

Galapagos 'face species threat'

2006-08-31T05:20:00.000-07:00

From bbc.co.uk in the Science/Nature section,

Officials in Ecuador say they are worried about the discovery of foreign species on the Galapagos Islands.

Read the entire article here

Control and Eradication of Invasive Species.

Charles Darwin Foundation

On Wavy News Today: Vet completes emergency surgery while clinic burns

2006-08-17T13:22:00.000-07:00

A gutsy and dedicated veterinarian completed emergency surgery on an 11 year-old dog, even as fire fighters fought a blaze which broke out in another area of the clinic.

None of the animals was hurt and none of the people either. The doctor says it was one successful surgery, and fire fighters had successful life saving operations of their own.

Read the full story here.

Now that is a Vet that deserves respect and admiration. If we move to Virginia Beach that will be the Vet I choose without a doubt.

Snakes on a plane

2006-08-15T02:07:00.000-07:00

With Samuel Jackson's new movie Snakes on a Plane opening Friday, August 18th, I thought I would do a post about it. I can't wait to see what they've done with it. It's likely the snakes will be the bad guys again. This isn't new though.

Normally movies tend to make all the snakes the bad guys. Boo to them. That isn't fair. Personally I think snakes are great. As most of my readers know, I love and respect them. I have a Ball Python, "Sierra" who I love dearly. I find snakes to be beautiful, interesting and very necessary to our world. Still most people are afraid of if not downright terrified of snakes. That's sad.

National Geographic has an interesting article about frequent fliers that some passengers may not know they are flying with.

Black Mamba Video also on National Geographic's news site. Check out the video if you can.

The site also has some links to interesting articles about snakes and snake related topics.

Also, NG.com has a link regarding King Cobras. I respect them as being extremely deadly snakes and I would never handle one. However I do understand that snake charmers use this as a means to earn a living. I do not agree with or approve of the defanging of these snakes. That is cruel and should be outlawed.

Please take the time to read, learn and find out about snakes. If you can't love them perhaps with education you can respect them enough to see their beauty and value and to help other people see that they deserve to be protected.

Photos, links and articles associated with this post are the property of NationalGeographic.com

Joke of the day

2006-08-08T02:49:00.000-07:00

Newsstrip

Gabon, Sierra and other stuff.

2006-08-08T01:30:00.000-07:00

After loading up another photo of my sweet Sierra who is currently in the opaque cycle of a shed so she's not as playful as she normally is. I thought I would finish up my trip entry. It is Tuesday morning and I have finally just finished sending my entry into Reptile Magazine for the Gabon Africa entry. I don't know if I will win but I've certainly given it my best shot.

I wrote an essay as well as sent them several of my photos at a highly reduced size as well as my story about volunteering in Australia. So now we wait.

I kept trying to think what else I might have done to get a better shot at a place on the expedition but didn't really come up with much. I could make really ridiculous promises like singing or rowing a small canoe across the Atlantic if I won but let's get realistic here, I don't have a canoe and my voice isn't what it use to be.

I did consider making myself a snake suit of sorts and before any of you go bonkers, no I don't mean "out" of snake, heaven forbid - I will never approve of snake skin anything and I feel that practice should be outlawed - what I meant was an actual suit to transform me into a walking snake. Then I could sing and dance my way onto the trip since they would hear me singing about how I was just a lonely snake that wanted to go back to Africa to see my home. Ha. Now is that a great idea or what?

Ok fine. Stop with all the "or what's". I'm not doing it anyway. I have no idea how to sew a fabric snake suit and still be able to walk. Not to mention drive plus it would probably be very embarrassing at the airport. Besides, what would customs say, "No pets please" or "Say sister, you can't take that outta the country".

So I'm stuck trying to get a place on the team by actually having to write something of decent -hahaha- quality for a change and take photos of everything that moves. Ehhh, it's a shot.

Sierra the ball python

2006-08-02T23:47:00.000-07:00

This is my snake Sierra who is now just over two years old. I bought her when she was just one month old. She's a very sweet natured little snake, she never bites or strikes at us.

She has a great personality and watches TV with us. She certainly seems to anyway.

I wish other people could know what a nice little animal she is rather than to be afraid of her. I wouldn't trade her for all the cute pets in the world. She's the best.

Chameleon Snake found in Borneo

2006-06-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

A water snake has been found that changes colour something like a chameleon. Dr Mark Auliya made the discovery by accident when he placed the red-brown snake in a bucket of water, and found that the snake had changed to almost completely white a few minutes later.

Read all about it...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5118778.stm

Cool Site GlobalHerp.com

2006-02-10T04:11:00.000-08:00

Check out a site I found via kingsnake.com called Global Herp.

They have beautiful photos of some of the most venomous snakes on earth. I love snakes and I love photographing them but I have a very healthy respect for the venomous ones. I leave the handling of hot snakes to the pros.

Speaking of my photography and gorgeous snakes, I took the photo at the left during the San Antonio Hot Show last November in Live Oak, Texas.

I seem to be having trouble identifying it. I was told that it was an Asian Vine Snake. There are most likely more than one species so this could still be that snake but I want make sure.

If anyone can positively identify this snake and it's venom etc or lack of, please leave me a comment or send me an email.

Best of Friends

2006-01-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

Tokyo zoo have a rat snake called Aochan. One day they gave Aochan dinner, in the form of a Dwarf Hamster.

Instead of eating the hamster - named Gohan - the two have become friends. Gohan even takes naps on Aochan's back.

Read all about it here.

Nov 12 - 13, 2005 Live Oak Photos

2005-12-12T00:38:00.000-08:00

Texas Reptile Hospice and Sanctuary

I have finally posted photos on Flickr of the November 12 & 13, 2005 Hot Reptile Show held in Live Oak Texas just outside San Antonio. There were a lot of really beautiful reptiles there and other than just a few very large Rattlesnakes and a very large Gaboon Viper most of the other "hot" snakes were babies.

I hope everyone takes time to have a look at the photos and please let me know how they load, view etc on Flickr since this is the first time I've used Flickr. Also if you find any photo that I have incorrectly named the animal, please don't hesitate to let me know!

Also, while I have included the Texas Reptile Hospice and Sanctuary photos and one of their scanned business cards, I will shortly be creating a separate Flickr and post just for their site as it is very important for people to learn the beauty and benefits of living with reptiles. Check back for that often and please visit their webpage and donate for the sake of the animals. Remember, reptiles need love too! I thank you and so do all the staff at the hospice not to mention the animals!

Texas Reptile Hospice and Sanctuary

Texas Reptile Expo documentary video is online now

2005-12-09T23:30:00.000-08:00

The documentary video is up and online on vidiLife.com - click here to see it.

Unfortunately vidiLife automatically "re-sizes" the video file so you may not be able to play it properly if you're using a low-bandwidth connection such as a 56k modem dial-up. I looks like vidiLife doesn't give me any control over that. If I can find another hosting service that lets me do things my way, I may move the files there and if I do I will post here to let everyone know.

On the subject of hosting, Kate will probably start using flickr.com as the place to store her animal (and other) photos.

I'd like to thank all those at the show that gave permission for me to use the footage I took in making the documentary. All the names I have are listed in the credits at the end of the video - if you're not there please let me know and I'll fix that.

--Pete

Photos

2005-12-01T01:04:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of the photos from the San Antonio reptile show in Live Oak. I will find a place to host photos so that I can load more and have thumbnails etc rather than posting largish pictures here. I do plan on organizing the ones here a bit nicer tomorrow. For now I just wanted to get some of them posted.

The video is coming along nicely as well so hopefully Pete will have that done soon and a link added for those who wish to see it.

I am also working on a separate piece about the reptile shelter. I hope to give them some press so that they might get a few donations to help with food, care, facilities etc for all the animals they keep. I will try to have that up soon.

All in all it was pretty cool show. I've always wanted to see one of the hot shows and this one was. There were spitting cobras and gaboon vipers and loads of rattlesnakes and a beautiful banded krait.

I got numerous shots but venomous snakes are kept in closed, taped containers so some of the photos are rather hazy. Still, the containers are good because a bite from oh, say, a krait would mean death unless you received fast knowledgeable medical help. Very quickly.

Not to mention the need of an iron lung since the venom stops your breathing. A krait was the same species that killed Dr. Joe Slowinski while working in the field in Myanmar. Very sad loss that was.

Dr. Joe Slowinski's site

Outside Online: Bitten

THE "HOTTEST" SHOW IN TEXAS

2005-11-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

The following information was cut & pasted from an email sent to me by Texas Reptile.com. I hope to see you all there on Saturday!

SAN ANTONIO REPTILE EXPO

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE
http://www.TexasReptiles.com

VENOMOUS as well as NON-VENOMOUS REPTILES FOR SALE

SAT & SUN ~ NOVEMBER 12-13, 2005
10am ~ 5pm

ADMISSION
ONE DAY ~ $6/adults - $3/kids under 10
TWO DAY PASS ~ $10/adults - $5/kids under 10

LIVE OAK CIVIC CENTER
8101 PAT BOOKER RD. @ HWY. 1604
SAN ANTONIO, TX

THIS IS A PARTIAL LISTING OF OUR VENDORS
Tools of the Trade
Millbrook Crickets
Big Cheese Rodents
Glades Herp
Tropical Vision
Specialty Exotics
Mosaic Scales
Designer Atrox
High End Habitats
Preston & Sandy Doughty
Reptile Locators
Lynn's Bearded Dragons
Texas Exotics
EarthTones
Animal Capture Equipment
Custom Reptile Network
The Albino Boa
Derek Moynihan
Sunstar Dragons
Neu World Tarantulas
Wray Page
Bethsheba Reptiles
Michael Price
Gila Ranch
Sterling Reptiles
Snapperville
Brazos Valley Reptiles
Texas Reptile Hospice & Sanctuary
Split Rock Reptiles
Old World Spiders
Herp Land
Toxic Exotics
e-Spiderworld
Wall2Wall Reptile
Terry Walter
Carl Vargas
Critter Shack
Robert Edwards
Brian Williams
Wayne's World of Snakes
Shell Shack

Spammers Suck

2005-11-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

All comments containing spam or spamming site addresses have been wiped off and will continue to be wiped off this site and any other that I have control of. Spam sucks and so do the people who do the spamming.

Not to mention the fact that they are stupid bastards that I would *never* buy anything from. I could care less what they have to sell, what they know or what they want me to do.

So why bother? All the spammers are doing on this site is wasting their time.

One reason I love spaniels

2005-11-02T06:29:00.000-08:00

Michael Bosch's Cocker Spaniel, Honey, turned out to be a real honey when she saved his life, just two weeks after he saved hers by adopting her from a shelter.

Michael reversed his truck just a bit too far and rolled backwards into a ravine. The truck rolled over and he and the dog were trapped inside until Michael was able to open a window. He told the dog to go for help, and the dog ran to a neighbour's house. The neighbour said, "She was bringing me here... she was directing me".

Michael was rescued just in time after six hours. The full story is here.

Makes you want to go out and hug a spaniel.

Amazing! Singing Mice

2005-11-01T14:16:00.000-08:00

Read the full story here:

CNN.com

Science and Space report on a study regarding singing in male mice.

"Male mice can be added to the short list of creatures that sing in the presence of the opposite sex."

"ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- Songbirds may be the Sinatras of the animal world, but male mice can carry a tune too, say Washington University researchers who were surprised by what they heard."

Camera detects fluorescent sea life

2005-09-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

Ocean researchers have discovered glowing shellfish, animals that can see ultraviolet light and a previously unknown species of squid six feet long, in the deep water of the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of Hurricane Katrina:

Source; CNN

Texas Reptile Expo - Arlington

2005-07-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

If you love reptiles and live anywhere in the Dallas area don't miss these shows.
Check back in case there are any changes with the dates of the shows, I'll post them here.

I bought my Ball Python "Sierra" from the one of these shows in July 2004 from Tony Hurt who owns Snake Evolutions Sierra is a beautiful little girl now and has really suprized us with behaviour that I wouldn't have expected from a snake. I highly reccommend his reptiles.

The Elks Lodge is a new location too.

July 16 - 17, 2005

Elks Lodge #2114
601 W. Pioneer Parkway
Arlinton, TX 76010

10 am - 5 pm Both Days
1 - day pass: $6/adults $3/kids under 10
2 - day pass: $10/adults $5/kids under 10

Mark your calendars for September 17 - 18 and December 17 - 18
And don't forget the coolest reptile show in Texas,

The Texas Reptile Expo - San Antonio
The "Hottest" show in Texas
Venomous Reptiles Allowed
November 12 -13

www.TexasReptiles.com

Keeping the living jewelry healthy

2005-07-01T00:15:00.000-07:00

I am currently typing with Sierra wrapped around my right wrist. She looks like a very lovely and wiggly bracelet. Sierra as you probably know is my little Ball Python. These snakes are referred to in Europe as, "Royal Pythons".

"I never knew that snakes could be such characters but she certainty is. She's grown since I got her, she's almost two feet long now. Who says snakes can't be good pets? I say humbug to them!"

I wrote the previous words just over a year ago. We recently celebrated Sierra's 1st birthday and although she is well over two feet long she still enjoys occasionally wrapping herself around my wrist while I type. She actually seems to enjoy it.

Sierra has had a lot of health problems this year. First it was a bout with pneumonia and recently we've been treating her for blister disease. I have taken all substrate out of her tank other than just newspaper and under her cave I put two sheets of paper towels that are changed every two days for cleanliness. I don't add any other moisture other than her water dish which is large with the water being changed every day while she heals.

If anyone reads this and has treated a reptile with blister disease please send me any tips or ideas you may have. Before you ask/comment, she is being properly cared for by a vet and everything I do for her are on the instructions of her veterinarian.

Pete and I take Sierra to be treated with injections of antibiotics every three days. I give her a daily bath with antibacterial soap then rinse her good with clear water then put a thin film of antibacterial/anti-fungal cream after she is dried. It seems to be working but rather slowly.

I will be glad when she heals from this. It has been most worrying.

A conversation to remember

2005-06-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

This may not entirely be animal related but since it did involve a wasp, well ok, part of a wasp, I thought it was close enough.

Below is part of a conversation that I saved between myself and Deek. No matter how often I read it, I never fail to laugh. These are the moments that are best. Spontaneous lunacy.

The Rockford flies says:
Well,

The Rockford flies says:
I found the decapitated head of a wasp.

The Rockford flies says:
Must have been there a day and IT WAS STILL MOVING.

Kate says:
Eww...

The Rockford flies says:
Exactly.

The Rockford flies says:
So of course, I gave it a lecture about death

Kate says:
HAHA...

Kate says:
What was the lecture?

The Rockford flies says:
1. When u die, DON'T wave your antennae around. 2. When your head gets separated from your body, DO TRY to give up the ghost all at once. 3. Just because you died horribly there's no need to take it out on the rest of us by being so damn scary.

Escape from mousetag 13. Film at 11.

2005-06-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

This is an emergency news broadcast of the mousetag system. We have been alerted that a jail break has occurred within the mousetag system. Attached is a

recent photo.

If you see this highly dangerous criminal, do not approach her. We have had a report that she went totally round the bend after realizing that a "wheel" had yet again been removed from the camp.

Developments as they happen,
The mouse news team

Joke of the day

2005-06-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

An excellent Veterinarian clinic in the Dallas area.

2005-06-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

If you live in the Dallas area and have pets, I highly recommend the Summertree Animal & Bird Clinic for great veterinarian care. I had quite a time finding vets in our area that care for reptiles but I got lucky and found this one. I'm so glad I did!

As most of you know from a previous post, my ball python, Sierra has been sick with pneumonia for the last couple of weeks. She's much, much better now and is eating again and seems more like her normal self. Pete and I have given her oral antibiotics twice a day since she saw the Vet.

When I first realized she was sick with some kind of respiratory illness, I started looking for veterinarians in our area. After calling half a dozen, I called Summertree Clinic and set up an appointment. I was so worried about Sierra and doubly nervous since I hadn't had any of our pets to this clinic before. It was needless worry.

Right from the start, the Vet we saw was great. Dr. Jennifer Wells has taken such excellent care of Sierra. Dr. Wells made both of us feel so at ease about Sierra's treatment. She is friendly, professional and it is very obvious that she loves animals. Huge relief for us!

If you live around the Dallas area Summertree is definitely a great animal clinic. They take great care of reptiles and birds too. From myself, Pete & Sierra, "Thanks Dr. Wells and everyone at the clinic"!

Animal Rights Links

2005-06-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

"Until he extends his circle of compassion to all living things,
man will not himself find peace." - Dr. Albert Schweitzer

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Listed by state, Anti-Cruelty Statutes

Animal Protection Institute, Pet Shop Laws.

Yahoo! Directory for Animal Rights

Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Feminists For Animals Rights

International Society For Animal Rights

The Philosophy of Animal Rights

The Animals Voice: of Animal Rights and It's Defenders

SPCA of Texas

Animals need our love, care and protection.

More on boycotting Petco.

2005-06-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

The Petco boycott link listed gives details on the following information. Information listed here is the work of the webpage owner and not myself. I am posting this due to the seriousness of the problems associated with the poor care of Petco animals.

When you look at the link listed you will see that it is dated in September 2003. I have personally seen infested animals in Petco stores in 2004 and 2005 so it is still going on now and more than in just California, here in Texas too.

Boycott Petco

If you have a Petco in your area, please look carefully at the little animals, furry ones as well as the reptiles in their store. Most parasites are easy to see especially if the animals are infested as badly as the ones I've seen are.

The following is taken from the webpage that I linked. Please click on the "Boycott Petco" link above to read more of the details. This is very serious in regard to the health and welfare of innocent animals. Please help.

The PETCO Boycott

PETCO's Partners
BLOOD MONEY
Recipients

Resources

Pet Store Laws
Find the laws for your state

Anti-Cruelty
Statutes
by State

PETA Files Shareholder Resolution Asking PETCO to End Animal Sales
September 3, 2003

PETA is asking PETCO's board of directors to issue a report reviewing all operational costs and liabilities associated with the sale of animals in order to determine the viability of a policy to end such sales.

Read more here

What is a boycott?

A boycott is a form of protest whereby people abstain from buying or using the goods or services of a particular company or organization in order to cause a change. During a boycott, those who are protesting refuse to purchase or use anything from the company being boycotted.

Who is boycotting?

A group consisting of individual animal lovers and representatives from different animal welfare organizations has begun a campaign to stop the sale of live animals at PETCO stores across the United States. Members of the "PetNo" group are involved in letter-writing, petitioning, distributing flyers, protesting, and investigating and reporting their findings through a "neighborhood watch" of local PETCO stores.

Why boycott?

Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. Is the second largest chain of pet superstores in the United States. While Petco does not sell cats or dogs, they do sell many other species of animals. For years, animal lovers have complained to local Petco management and Petco's corporate headquarters regarding the treatment of the animals in Petco stores. Petco's corporate headquarters refuses to acknowledge any problem with their policies, blaming incidents of neglect and abuse on individual stores and store management, despite the fact that these are not franchised operations. A complete boycott of all Petco stores is the only way to get the attention of Petco's policy makers.

I spent what must have been 20 minutes talking to at least 3 employees and both the store managers, and they wouldn't DO ANYTHING! I asked at least 3 times if they would PLEASE sell me the rat so I could get him to the vet myself. They refused, citing their policy NOT TO SELL SICK ANIMALS!

The complaints against PETCO include, but are not limited to:

Obtaining and selling animals from pet mills
Keeping animals in overcrowded and inadequate housing/enclosures
Failure to separate sexually mature male and female animals
Failure to provide veterinary care for sick or injured animals
Your dollars speak for you! If you truly love animals and care for their well-being, don't support their needless suffering and death by patronizing Petco stores.

What you can do:

Show PETCO that the lives of all animals (not just cats and dogs) are more important than bargains or convenience.

Boycott PETCO! Buy your pet supplies elsewhere.
Consider adopting a pet in need of a good home.
Sign the Petition to PETCO to stop the sale of live animals in their stores, online at:The Petition

Write a letter to PETCO's CEO
Brian Devine
9125 Rehco Road
San Diego, CA 92121
Tel.: 800-765-9878
Mr. Devine's Secretary: 888-583-6044 x3046

Tell others! Put a bumper sticker on your car!
Order the new "PETCO kills birds" bumper sticker from the PETA Mall)

Other sites that address the boycott:

PetcoCruelty.com

KindPlanet.org

Visit the PetNo Home Page to learn more about the campaign.

Animal lovers unite - Boycott Petco

2005-06-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

This is an important post. Important for all of us that love our animal friends. As some of you know, I have several pets. I have Sierra the ball python, Ginger the tabby cat, Velvet the rat, and two mice named Stewart and Minnie. If I had the room and money to take proper care of them I would have quite a few more reptiles since they are my favorite.

About three months or so ago I went into the Petco store not far from here to look around. Any time I visit a pet store I like to visit all the little animals and see what they have for sale. They had a few small ball pythons in a tank. As I looked at them I realized that they were literally covered with mites. You could actually see the mites crawling all over the little snakes.

First of all my heart went out to the poor little pythons who were obviously miserable since one of them had mostly submerged itself to try to rid itself of the parasites. Knowing how gentle and sweet natured Sierra is, it seriously pissed me off too. She has never had anything like that and if she did, I would have treated her immediately and never allowed anything like that to get to the point that I saw on the animals in Petco.

My husband Pete (Read Pete's article about Petco too at Augmented Reality) was looking for another place to buy Sierra feeder rats/mice since I've also stopped buying rats from Plano Pets (another pet store in this area) as well because I found parasites crawling on one fuzzy-size rat. That store is suppose to be USDA approved too.

So where the hell is the USDA people to check on those animals? Oh wait -- that's right -- the government doesn't actually do anything other than give that title to a store. They don't actually send representatives out to keep check on the conditions the animals live in. THEY SHOULD. Animals are getting sick and dying because of the neglect and poor care of the people that buy and sell them.

Back to Pete. While googling for another place to get rats, he came across an article about Petco.

Follow this link:The Petco Boycott The neglect and poor treatment and care of their animals is simply atrocious and should not be allowed. Where is the government to intervene and put a stop to this? Why don't they care? Does it take people raising so much hell about it that someone finally gets sick of hearing about it then they do something about it? I for one will never buy anything else from Petco since they feel that money is more important than animals that depend on them for care.

If you care about animals, please check out the link and do not spend one cent in any Petco store. I live in the Dallas Texas area and from the information on the boycott page this is a nationwide problem with that entire chain. The only way to stop abusers like that is to stop giving them business and turn them into any and all government agencies. If one won't listen, call another one. And another and another and another. And I think this needs help from the SPCA. If anyone affiliated with the SPCA reads this, please contact me immediately.

Oven ready Ginger

2005-06-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Ginger our cat sleeping on the bed. I can't see how he lays this way. He looks like one of those oven ready chickens. It seems unfair that he gets more comfortable than we do on our bed.

The Hyatt Rodency

2005-06-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

After reading about a little bastard mouse on another blog, I thought I would repost this story. I have tried to be kind to the mice but still rid my house of them. Fortunately there aren't mice here anymore or the cat would eat them. Anyway, enjoy!

Well folks, it’s time for yet another commentary on what I consider to be an interesting or unique find. I think this one leans more toward the interesting as it isn’t terribly unique. The object I’m writing about is none other than a “humane” mouse trap. I have a problem with those nasty snap traps because I feel uncomfortable about killing the mice.

There are glue traps that aren’t much better. You place the sticky trap down and the unknowing rodent is drawn to the bait and once he/she steps onto the sticky gluck, they are there to stay. Unless you want to remove the rodent’s feet and I personally feel that this isn’t the best of options. I would then feel really guilty because I would have footless mice roaming the house on tiny crutches. Well crutches until someone designed prosthetics for mice.

This humane, miracle of the new age trap consists of a see through plastic tube/box with a swinging door that allows the rodent in and once he/she enters and retrieves the tasty prize of bread, cannot exit and is trapped until it is released totally unharmed as well as fed, into the wild again. This sounded great! Finally, an easy, safe way to rid my house of the unwelcome guests.

I “armed” the trap with a small piece of cheese. The packaging suggests smearing peanut butter around the outside of the door in order to attract rodents. Since this was too messy and we all know how much mice love cheese, (at least in cartoons anyway) I smeared a small amount of cheese on the trap door in order to lure the tiny beast into the trap. Now comes the hard part, the wait for an occupant. After a couple of hours, what I got when I checked was nada. Now for those of you who don’t know what “nada” means, it means “nothing”. And that is exactly what I got- nothing.

Disbelieving, I peered into the box and lo and behold, my eyes were not deceiving me, it was empty. No rodent, no cheese, no nothing. I picked the box up and inspected it but found neither defects nor any large holes gnawed in the sides where a jail break may have occurred. The tiny escape artist had apparently left the way he/she had come, through the trap door.

I was amazed that what I thought to be a trap was in reality, a small rodent dining car. Rather like a Hyatt Rodency. Accept that little Harry Rodini had vacated the dining car while dragging along a hunk of cheese. I couldn’t believe it. The furry little bastard had ripped me off again! I put the trap down and threw my hands into the air and pretty much gave up on even the slightest chance of any successful rodent removal.

Later that evening once my frustration had subsided, I decided not to give in to the fact that I would be “rodentized” regardless of my good intentions, so I gave it one more try. I re-armed the trap and placed it back in the same spot. Hopeful that yet another member of the Rodent Club would venture in for a midnight snack at the bar, I went to bed.

I slept that night and dreamt of large mice with hacksaws sawing their way to freedom from a cage with plastic bars. There was a big bar/club in the middle complete with tattooed (bearing the word “Mom”) bartender serving several rodents who were having drinks, smoking big cigars and chatting. This was to say the least, an odd dream. Upon wakening, I decided that mouse or not, this day was the end of it.

Sleepy-eyed I walked into the kitchen and opened the cabinet and there in the Hyatt Rodency sat a calm and collect rodent still clutching and nibbling the cheese he/she was lured in there with. Now I don't know if the mice sensed my agitation at having one escape and simply felt sorry for me and decided to stay, but in any case, there it was. I could almost see the outline of a map to get back to the house in its tiny little pocket.

That the rodent might come back didn’t deter my glee at having captured one of the annoying beasts. If anything it had given me a jump-start on capturing more. The mouse was taken to a location of relative safety far away from the house and set free to roam the fields and begin a new life. Hopefully one that doesn’t include my house or me. I went home and replaced the cheese that Harry Rodini had taken to tide him over until his crops come in and began the long wait for another dinner guest.

These are the times that animal lovers dream of. A safely released rodent and the knowledge that more would follow. It made me feel good that my plan to use a humane mousetrap had indeed succeeded and that I could help relocate wayward rodents and their families into a new life of rural farming.

That’s it for now on the home front of the strange and unusual, until next time.

Volunteering in Australia

2005-04-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

I was sitting here looking through a student travel site and found a section on volunteer work. To my surprise, the age limit for this particular volunteer work is 18-70! Even at 46 I could volunteer to do something nice sometime. I noticed that Australia was listed so I thought, "Great! I'll have a look at that." A dear friend's family is in Tasmania and I have a few other Aussie friends so a volunteer visit might be really nice sometime. Once I looked through the site though, I really had to laugh.

What Australia is in need of are people to do "Conservation" work. And can you guess why? That's because no Aussie I know would be stupid enough to go out into the blazing Australian sun to conserve anything. So they kill two birds with one stone. I have to hand it to the Aussies it's certainly a brilliant plan - avoid the poisonous livestock and get rid of pushy Americans at the same time. Australians sit in air-conditioned houses having a Foster's while they watch telly or they surf the Internet while we Americans go out and fry under the lethal sun wearing Kevlar underwear while running away from 99.9% of the most venomous of everything on earth. Now I ask you, is that a plan or what?

The site lists volunteer activities:

1. Reforestation. Where the most deadly funnel web lives, even MORE deadly than the regular old not-quite-so-deadly funnel web.

2. River and creek reservation. Where the huge salt water crocs live and are regularly fed everything. Especially irritating Yanks, conservationist and tourists.

3. Walking trails. This gives wombats and Tasmanian devils ample opportunity to tear large hunks out of your legs as you try to run away. I understand running away only infuriates them. Then there is the wildlife data collection.

In my minds eye, I saw myself walking along roasting in my Kevlar underwear to keep all (Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers guide to Australia volumes 1-42, "What's poisonous in Australia" comes immediately to mind) the various poisonous things away from me. I also saw a flash of my diary of field notes from observing the fauna... that being the final trailing off of my writing as I describe the deadly snake that has just given me a less than friendly love tap to let me know how very unhappy it is that I happened to be "observing" in it's neighborhood.

Let's see now, lovely, rather darkish... a tiger snake? King brown perhaps? Or is my eyesight failing from the copious amount of neurotoxic venom the snake just harpooned me with and maybe it was actually a lovely iridescent Taipan? Who can tell? And it doesn't really matter because I have no anti-venom to inject and wouldn't know how to if I did. So much for that $2.49 Walmart snakebite kit I brought with me.

While you may begin to feel that nothing else lives there except deadly snakes, they certainly aren't the only things to worry about. There are vicious birds as well. Let's not even think about the cassowaries. Well, ok, we have to think about them since they also roam the forests of Australia. Cassowaries are enormous VW-sized birds with heavy armor plating on their heads and the largest toenails in the solar system. They are very angry birds with bad attitudes especially when you look at their toenails. They either head butt you or they use their razor sharp toenails to rip you open like a big sack of Idaho potatoes. Who knows, maybe they head butt you THEN use the potato-sack openers. In any case, I think a very large pair of nail clippers is in order for the "Things to take to Australia" list.

The site also says that equipment and training are supplied at each project. The equipment being sticks, large pieces of pipe, a hammer, extra-jumbo toenail clippers, and fluorescent tape. Sticks, pipes, and the extra-jumbo toenail clippers are very obviously for protection. Everyone knows this. The hammer is to knock yourself in the head with after you realize what you've really gotten yourself into. The fluorescent tape is so the Australian forest rangers can find your withered body complete with snakebite, cassowary head butt bruises and a wombat hanging from your Kevlar underwear. All after only a few hours of observing the interesting wildlife.

Unlike throwing a few more shrimp on the barbie, this certainly isn't the most cheery way to end an almost one day stint of Australian wildlife observation but at least they have part of a page in an otherwise empty field diary for posterity. I wonder if a nice funeral is included.

After thinking it over, I believe I may hold out for the possible future invitation from a friend to visit lovely Australia rather than risk life and limb to visit under the pretence of a volunteer conservation visit. To all my Aussie friends and everyone else, please forgive my jests, this is meant in the spirit of laughter. I adore Australia and the animals there but neither my Kevlar underwear nor me wish to encounter quite that much wildlife in one day.

Alfred Hitchcock and "The Birds"

2005-04-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

Over the years I've often wondered how Alfred Hitchcock came up with the idea for his movie, "The Birds". Maybe he had a nightmare or maybe something else happened that gave him the idea. Personally I think he visited Texas and experienced the evil treachery of birds first hand and decided that it would make a great movie.

The treachery I am referring to are the winged demons that inhabit every available nook and cranny around North Dallas. It seems there are huge hordes of birds this year, more so than normal and besides making some of the residents very ill, they crap on absolutely everything. Nothing is sacred.

I think they fully understand and enjoy making pests of themselves. You can see them looking at each other as if to say, "Hey Carl! Watch me!" while dive bombing anyone foolish enough to wander innocently into the yard. Even Ginger the cat runs away in terror.

About a week ago, I saw him slinking along the patio after a bird. Slinking that is, until he got within viewing distance of the fifty or so birds that were all lined up on the fence watching him. The cat's ears perked up and he turned, looked at me with a distinct "Oh my god, help ME!" look, then escaped blasting past me at warp speed.

The birds also use the swimming pool as a giant birdbath and screech at us if we make any attempt to actually get into the pool. I briefly considered equipping the pool with a smallish alligator. While that thought had obvious appeal, the plan was quickly vetoed since it could make swimming a tad on the tricky side. Then there are the cars.

Sometimes the cars look as if they have custom paint jobs. You end up with solid color cars with paint splattered all over them. People pay big bucks for those kind of paint jobs. But of course what we get isn't paint. It's bird crap deliberately deposited by the tweeting, feathered cretins just to irritate me. I regularly try to squirt them with the garden hose so I know they watch me and want to get even.

Now you may be thinking that I'm being unreasonable or unfair to the birds but in reality, they only have themselves to blame. If they would just fly next door and use my neighbors pool and crap on his Lexus, I wouldn't have any problems with them at all. But they don't. They do all that at my house. This is why I think the birds have it in for me after all the hosing incidents.

I suppose I should give them a break and maybe the car (and everything else) will be crap-free sometime in the near future.

Cat Operas

2005-04-29T05:08:00.000-07:00

I have developed what I like to refer to as "Cat Operas". A few days ago, Ginger the cat came wandering into the bedroom like he normally does to have a rest in his comfy hammock. I normally talk to him - Yes, yesss I talk to the cat - with the standard cuddly cat-type comments. I can do a fair imitation of a cat meowing so I usually meow at him so he can feel that we are at least making an effort to learn cat language.

This time I was sitting at my desk writing. When I started meowing at Ginger it just sort of turned into the tune of the Blue Danube so I continued. The cat really seemed interested in my cat song and came over rubbing around my feet. Normally the only time he rubs around my feet is when he plans on biting one of them. This is frequent. This time though, he just loved on my leg. That is until I changed tunes to the Barber of Seville. Now that one he didn't like. He laid down on his hammock and went to sleep.

I think I may be on to something with my cat operas. I want to record a few numbers and sell them for big bucks. Of course the cat will have to get his share since he is the one being entertained and I think his meowing is ©. I can see my cd cover being added to the page of the worst album covers of all times someday with people saying, "look at this -- some imbecile made cd's meowing operas and look how stupid it looks!"

But at least it would make the cat happy. Or maybe he was just humoring me. It's possible I suppose. He has that kind of attitude. He's the sort of cat that will lay there relaxed until you get within easy attack/bite distance then he grabs for your foot or leg. Sometimes both. But Pete is more often the recipient of the double grab move. Those moves could be his way of getting even with us for all the stupid things we've done to entertain him over the last seven years.

Trashing snakes and other reptiles

2005-04-23T00:25:00.000-07:00

I just realized that this website has put snake-related ads at the top of my blog. Ordinarily I wouldn't have a problem with that except that the products are for "Snake Away" which states, "Safe for Humans & Animals. Protect Your Yard from Unwanted Visitors!" This might be true but what does it do to the snakes? Information on the ad says that it affects the snakes sensory perception. Is this safe for the animal? Are there lasting affects to the health and well-being of the animals? If anyone knows, please let me know.

Not all and in fact very few snakes are really dangerous. Snakes help rid us of the omnipresent large rodent population which, left unchecked would easily overflow and cause serious health risks. Not to mention the damage rodents do to food crops etc.

The other ad is for "Texas Rattlesnakes" which boasts, "Real Head and Tail Keychains Full Rattlesnakes." The sale of this sort of thing makes me sick. I do realize that rattlesnakes are highly venomous and should always be given a very wide berth, however there is still no real reason to exploit these animals in this way. It's sad and cruel.

I wish some of the important people of wildlife could see some of the garbage that is allowed in regard to snakes in this part of the USA. Maybe they could actually help get something done to stop this stuff from happening or at the very least, educate more people about snakes so that the desire to harm them is greatly lessoned.

One thing I know is that if people adamantly refuse to buy things like keychains bearing a rattlesnake head or tail dangling from it, then there won't be as much of a demand for that sort of garbage. That practice is a sad, sickening waste of a beautiful and fascinating animal. It's not only snakes that are in danger from exploitation, but alligators as well.

Last June I saw an ad in a local sale paper for a well known chain of sporting good stores. Right in the center of the ad there was a page that explained how to enter their "contest". The prize was a trip to hunt and kill your own alligator. Afterward,you could have your own custom cowboy boots made from the skin. I was sickened and appalled that *anyone* would host such a horrid thing!

I don't understand what the attraction is to destroy an animal. I see no glory or manliness associated with it either. With the exception of hunting for food. If it is really necessary, I have little problem with anyone hunting to feed themselves or their family. That however is quite a different matter. The sport of it just isn't in me.

Exploitation of reptiles and animals in general won't stop until people become more aware of what they are losing when those animals are finally extinct. Please, think before you buy animal-related products. Don't buy snake skin items or anything else that causes animals to suffer. It's a waste of a beautiful animal.

Appreciating Reptiles

2005-04-23T00:11:00.000-07:00

Animal Realm

2005-04-22T23:54:00.000-07:00

This is the first post for the new animal related blog. I will be posting many others from my original blog, Kate's World Blog.

Do check back to see what I've added.