Welcome to Lancaster Herpetological Society! ● RESTROOMS : Out the doors to the right. ● TRADING POST : Check out the Trading Post where members can sell or trade herp stuff! ● SIGN-IN : Sign in to make sure you’re on our e-mailing list. ● T-SHIRTS : $5 each while supplies last. (SALE!) ● MEMBERSHIPS : Memberships available through treasurer, Roy, or online. $15/year or $20/family . Current membership sales are for 2017! ● HOSTESS : Thank you Mary Anne for having us at the library!
Lancaster Herpetological Society 2017 Board Members Dave McNaughton, President by day (Superhero by night) Jesse Rothacker, Vice President Roy Mellott, Treasurer Monical Bortz, Secretary Chris Bortz, Website/FB Kent Hartmoyer Pam Hartmoyer Kelsey Frey Carter Farmer Alex Woerner
TONIGHT 7-7:30pm - Business Meeting / Show and Share 7:30 - 7:40pm - Intermission/ Snack Break 7:40 - Kurt Regester: Disease Ecology of PA Amphibians 8:45pm - Clean-up & Highland Pizzeria
Last Month… Jamie Shinksie: e -Dna of Hellbenders Thank you Jamie!
HERPING REPORTS Herping = Looking for reptiles and amphibians in the wild.
Ringneck Snake Feb 8th York County Submitted by Kelsey
Spotted Turtles on Ice 2017 - Dave M.
Kyle Loucks had a Pickerel Frog and 2-Lined salamander in a spring
Meet The Rescue? Dave M.
PET UPDATES & TALES Share stories and photos of your pet herps! Send photos ahead of time to info@lancasterherp.org
Hatched 2 more Mom Mourning Gecko babies (for a total of 4). SO TINY! Two are separated, two are in terrarium with mom. Experimenting to see which grow best/ survive. - Kelsey
Feeder rat pups turned beloved rat pets have multiplied from 4 to 18… rat pets have turned back into feeder rat pups… But boy are they cute! - Kelsey
Kelsey & Critters (Creative Nature Works) visited Pleasant View Retirement Community and St. Anne’s Retirement Community (Follow “Creative Nature Works” on Facebook!)
Additional Pet Stories?
HERPS IN THE NEWS
In the nearly two decades since pythons became established in Famed snake trackers from South Florida, finding them has proved one of the thorniest problems for controlling their spread. The cryptically patterned snakes easily India are latest weapon in disappear into marshes that are nearly impossible to search. Biologists have tried sending out radio-tagged “Judas” snakes to ferret out other Florida war on pythons snakes, trained dogs and even tried poisoning prey. But the number of voracious snakes, blamed for nearly wiping out the population of small mammals in Everglades National Park, keeps growing. This year for the first time, hatchlings were found in Key Largo. In November, one turned up in Biscayne Bay on a water monitoring station. The idea of having Irula snake trackers train to target pythons has been percolating for years among Mazzotti; award-winning herpetologist Romulus Whitaker, a leading conservationist in India and alum of the old Miami Serpentarium; and another Serpentarium alum, South Florida herpetologist Joe Wasilewski. In 1978, Whitaker founded a snake-hunting co-op for the tribe after unregulated snake trading was banned. The tribe now hunts cobras to collect antivenin to battle the nation’s snake-bite problem: about 50,000 die annually and up to 1.5 million are bit. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article1283334 34.html#storylink=cpy Submitted by Mr. Barton
Robo-reptiles spy on their flesh-and-blood counterparts The BBC One nature show Spy in the Wild wanted to get up close and personal with some crocodiles and monitor lizards. Instead of setting up hidden cameras, though, its producers got in touch with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne's famous robotics division. Apparently, they saw Pleurobot, the robotic life-like salamander EPFL made, and wanted machines that can blend in with real reptiles. The team ended up building two remote-controlled robots representing the two species with cameras for eyes. Submitted by Mr. Barton!
Texas family finds rattlesnake in toilet and 24 on their property. A Texas family was surprised to find a large rattlesnake in their toilet. Imagine their shock when two dozen rattlers were found on their property. The snake "found its way" into the toilet from an opening in a relief pipe, according to the removal company. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nation al/texas-family-finds-rattlesnake-toilet-24- property-article-1.2962457 Submitted by Mr. Barton
Newly discovered gecko has a quick-release mechanism for escaping predators Lizards are famous for their ability to detach their tail when a predator grabs it, but a newfound species of gecko from Madagascar takes this ability to the extreme. When a predator goes to take a bite, Geckolepis megalepis gives it a mouthful of scales and flesh instead. If you think this sounds gruesome, you don’t know the half of it. G. megalepis is thought to have the largest body scales of any gecko, which means that even a relatively minor scuffle can result in major armor losses. The paper describing the new species, published Tuesday in the journal PeerJ, includes an image of one of these lizards with nearly every scale removed from its torso. The skin beneath is glistening and pink — like a fresh, uncooked sausage that is, for some reason, wet. Fortunately for the adorably weird-looking little critters, known as “fish-scale geckos,” their bodies can replace lost scales in a matter of weeks, a remarkable example of rapid and good-as-new regeneration. “This regeneration is, as far as we have been able to tell, scarless, and the resulting regenerated scales are indistinguishable from original ones,” said Mark Scherz, a herpetologist at the Bavarian State Collection for Zoology in Munich and lead author of the new paper. “That is not the case of many other geckos, in which the regenerated scales have a distinctly different appearance to the original ones.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science /wp/2017/02/07/newly-discovered-gecko-has-a-quick-releas Submitted by Zach Barton e-mechanism-for-escaping-predators/
Submitted by Bill K.
FORGOTTEN FRIEND REPTILE SANCTUARY UPDATES Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary is a 501(c)(3) reptile rescue and education organization from Amish country, Pennsylvania. Our mission is to give reptiles a chance, by rescuing reptiles that need our help, and by providing fun outreach programs to spread our love of reptiles.
UPDATES OF THE MONTH We got outfits to match our king snakes on our next Good Day PA Segment!
Adoptions of the Month Adopted out ball pythons, corns and king snake. 15 year old Russian Tortoise, York, PA Got in some cool new lizards! 65 pound Sulcata Tortoise, Bucks County, PA
Adoptable Pets at the Rescue -Ball Pythons -Red Tail Boas PENDING -African bullfrog -Russian Tortoise -Bearded Dragon
Adoptable Pets on Facebook.com/forgottenfriend 15 year old Russian Tortoise, York, PA 65 pound Sulcata Tortoise, Bucks County, PA
Upcoming Events ● March - Nixon Park Wetland Herping Field Trip (Do not come to MTPL!) ● April - Toad Migration Walk! ● May - Critter Encounter! ● July - Crocodilians! ● August - Corn Snake Genetics ● September - Kids Night
March 17: Wetland Field Trip! Join us for a wetland adventure on this field trip meeting to Richard M. Nixon County Park, 5922 Nixon Drive, York, PA 17403. Arrive early to tour the world-class natural history museum, then meet in the conference room at 7pm for the meeting introduction and hike safety talk. Bring flashlights and boots to hike through the woods into the newly restored wetlands in search of early spring amphibians. Practice sanitation techniques described by PARS and learn to record data on the spot with PARS phone or tablet mobile mapper. Dip nets and collection jars provided. Dress for the weather!
Any ● That Fish Place Dates: 3/18, 7/16, Additional 8/12, 9/16 upcoming ● PARS Member Meeting 3/25 at 9 a.m. at Ft. Indiantown Gap KCC Events? ● Pinchot SP Camping ● Lancaster Native Plant and Wildlife Festival - April 29th, 2017!
Thank You Kurt Regester
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