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 - ? Wetland Walk 8:45pm - Clean-up & Highland Pizzeria
Last Month… Kurt Regester: Amphibian Disease Research in PA. Thank you Kurt!
HERPING REPORTS Herping = Looking for reptiles and amphibians in the wild.
Spotted Turtle Lebanon County
Spotted Salamander 4-Toed Salamander Schuylkill County
Schuylkill County Common Ribbonsnakes
Meet The Rescue?
PET UPDATES & TALES Share stories and photos of your pet herps! Send photos ahead of time to info@lancasterherp.org
Mom Rankings Dragon New addition to Zach classroom
Bortz Family Tri-colored Hognoses
Additional Pet Stories?
HERPS IN THE NEWS
Pennsylvania road closing to spare mating amphibians EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) — The National Park Service has been closing a road in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Pennsylvania so mating amphibians don’t get squashed by vehicles as they seek out mates. Park Ranger Kathleen Sandt tells WNEP-TV that River Road was closed for the first time in February due to the mild, rainy weather that prompts salamanders, wood frogs and spring peepers to mate. The park service has closed part of River Road overnights during mating season since 2003 so the amphibians can safely cross the highway to breeding pools. http://fox17online.com/2017/03/02/pennsylvania-road-closing-to-spare-mating-amphibians/ Submitted by Zach Barton
NEW 10-year FIshing Licenses available! This year, in addition to 3-year and 5-year licenses, you can lock-in both convenience and savings for a longer period of time with the new 10-year fishing license. As always, if you've already purchased a fishing license to fish in 2017, we THANK YOU for supporting both aquatic resources and recreational fishing in the Keystone State. Buy your multi-year fishing license at more than 900 issuing agents across the state or online at: GoneFishingPa.com.
Living with Lizards in Thailand (Water Monitors) Urbanization threatens Coexistence HERPDIGEST - VOL. 19 ISSUE #11 NHK World, Asia, - 2/23/17 by Thanyadol Khamkhoksung DATE-2/23/17 People in Thailand have always lived alongside wildlife, and one species of lizard in particular has had a close relationship with its human neighbors. But urban development is now threatening this coexistence. Located in a marshy district in the suburbs of Bangkok is a small village of around 1,000 people. The village also has a nickname that refers to a water monitor, a lizard that can grow as long as 3 meters. Water monitors live in the marshlands of Southeast Asia. They have a gentle nature and are protected under the Washington Convention. Traditionally, villagers in the area live in harmony with the lizards. The villagers say that if the lizards get enough leftovers, they won't attack livestock or steal other animals' eggs. "We give them things that are useless to us, so we get rid of our waste and benefit the lizards at the same time," says Surang Ohnyim, a local resident. These days, you can even see the creatures in central Bangkok. Rapid urbanization has destroyed much of the lizards' habitat, and they've even started going into restaurants. The lizards are popping up all over the city, in search of a suitable place to live. Local authorities have launched measures to scale back the lizard population. A special capture team is joined by wildlife protection experts. They use fish, the animal's favorite food, to attract them and catch them, releasing them in a wildlife sanctuary far from urban areas. Since Bangkok started the project, the number of lizards has gone down from over 400 to around 230. "It's important for us to prevent accidents. We're doing our best not to destroy the balance of the ecosystem. We're also trying not to catch too many lizards," says Suwanna Jungrungrueng, director of the environment department at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
HERPDIGEST - VOL. 19 Venezuela crisis: population eats lizards, pigeons and anteaters to survive ISSUE #11 In the midst of a severe economic crisis, desperate people flee from the drama of hunger by eating any animal. "The diet of Maduro makes you hard". The comic phrase in Spanish spoken by the President of the Republic in September last year, when he mocked the thinness of a Venezuela, does not awaken today a humorous tone for the rest of the population of the country. In the midst of a severe economic crisis, with inflation in the three digits, famine has been severely scourging the Venezuelans. According to Encovi, an institution that verifies living conditions in the country, on average, Venezuelans lost 8.7 kg of their weight, uncontrolled only in the last year. To escape the drama of hunger, the population has been feeding on any kind of animal: dogs, cats, lizards, donkeys, anteaters and even flamingos, which are protected by law in order to survive. Not infrequently, one finds carcases of these animals in the garbage of the city. "Sometimes we only find heads, guts and legs of the animal. We are used to seeing a bit of this in the past, but now this practice is out of control and on the rise, "Robert Linares, a waste disposal worker, told the Miami Herald. The lack of food has gained the name of 'Mature Diet'. In the words of Doris Rubio, CEO of the Association for the Protection of Animals, there is a synthesis on the suffering of the population subjugated to the notorious diet: "We find these deaths grotesque, but how can we be critical of someone who hunts a pigeon, a dog, a cat or any other animal because he or she is hungry People used to hunt lizards for sport.Now they do it out of necessity. The collapse of the country's economy has made it difficult to import basic goods such as food and medicines, creating scarcity across the country. Faced with a lack of resources, the population has been looting supermarkets in desperate search for food. Besides the opprobrium experienced by the population, there are still risks of consuming wild animals unfit for human consumption, where the ingestion of bacteria from these animals are human health hazards. ______________________________
Recommend
More recommend
