A huge blemish on the South, Southwest. The Rattlesnake Roundup is an ecological nightmare.

It's that time of year again. About six states still hold rattlesnake roundup events each spring where thousands of rattlesnakes, mostly Eastern and Western Diamondbacks, are hunted and then brought into these weekend long festivals to be slaughtered. Proponents of these hunts argue that the culling of rattlesnakes is necessary each year to keep the population in check. They claim if they didn't do the hunts overpopulation would result in more snakebites on humans, pets and livestock. But there is no data anywhere that supports this and there hasn't been a report of any livestock being bitten in the last twenty years. With the Eastern Diamondback especially, populations are dwindling from loss of habitat so the added pressure of thousands of snakes being taken each year puts these reptiles at great risk. Sweetwater, Texas boasts the biggest roundup. Here is a link to the Sweetwater Jaycees' website calander on this year's event.
http://www.rattlesnakeroundup.net/roundup.html

Despite ongoing efforts to ban these barbaric hunts they are still going strong. Texas, Alabama, Kansas, Georgia, Oklahoma and New Mexico hold annual festivals promoting the slaughter of these iconic snakes. For several months prior to the event, hunters go out and capture as many snakes as possible. Many techniques used in these hunts are harmful to the environment. A popular method is pouring gasoline down the burrows to drive them out. Since many other animals use these same burrows they are adversely affected too. In the Southeast the critically threatened Gopher Tortoise digs burrows where Diamondback rattlers like to reside as well. Gassing, as it is called, is devastating to these tortoises.

The Center for Biological Diversity is one group that is fighting hard to ban the roundups.
Here is a link to information on their efforts to stop this gruesome tradition. http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/outlawing_rattlesnake_roundups/
Their work has had some successes. Due to pressure from them and other conservation groups some towns have transformed the roundup into a festival that celebrates nature and promotes conservation. The rattlesnake is still the big draw but they are alive and well and used to educate people on their important place in the ecosystem. Hurrah for Claxton, Georgia! They are one such town that now has a wonderful weekend long festival celebrating not only the rattlesnake but wildlife in general. Follow this link for that story.
http://savannahnow.com/news/2012-01-28/claxton-rattlesnake-roundup-gets-makeover#

Help spread the world on this destructive practice. These little towns claim these roundups bring in much needed revenue to hard hit economies but I'm willing to bet a more eco-friendly festival on the wonders of nature could put a lot of butts in the seats.

Let's turn this...


Into this...

March 13th SLHS General Meeting. Jonathan Micancin PhD will speak on "Tiny Frogs in the Dark: a study of communication and conservation in syntopic cricket frogs in the Atlantic Coastal Plain."

Who doesn't love the Cricket Frog? With its distinctive call and diminutive size it is certainly worth our attention. Come hear Dr. Micancin's talk on these wonderful creatures. He will cover how they communicate along with other aspects of their natural history and what is being done to conserve them.
Meeting will be held Sunday March 13th at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with presentation to start at 7:00.

Due to the weather, THE FEBRUARY 14TH SLHS GENERAL MEETING AND TALK HAS BEEN CANCELLED!

We are working on rescheduling Ed Bielik's talk on New World Rat Snakes for later this year. Please check back for details.

February 14th, General Meeting. Ed Bielik will be speaking on New World Rat Snakes.

Ed will be giving an informative talk on these fascinating snakes and their natural history and habits. New World rat snakes include the well known rat and corn snakes indigenous to the United States along with the western fox snake pictured above. Ed is encouraging anyone who keeps these snakes to bring one to the meeting this Sunday. It is always fun to see live snakes!

For anyone interested in reading how Old World rat snakes dispersed to the New World here is a link to an interesting article on the subject.
 http://www.reticulatedpython.info/me/papers/how%20old%20word%20ratsnakes%20disperseds%20into%20the%20new%20world.pdf

See you Sunday and Happy Valentine's Day!

Resonant frequencies cause patterns in sand on a Cymatics plate that reflect a tortoise shell's natural patterning.

January 10th, General Meeting.

We are excited to have Leslie Brinkman as our guest speaker this month. Leslie is a MSc in Biology at Missouri State University and she will be presenting her work studying the history of the Bolitoglossine Salamanders of Central America. Part of her work includes the conservation of this species too. Learning more about the animal in its natural habitat can give us an understanding on how best to protect it. Please join us this Sunday, January 10th, at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Rd. This month's meeting will be held in room
201 a/b on the 2nd floor. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the meeting starting at 7. It is a bit chilly out but that is how the salamanders like it! Hope to see you there.

 

Hellbender Conservation Efforts in Indiana and Missouri

The St. Louis Zoo has been working on breeding Hellbenders for several years now with the first successful breeding in 2011. Since then the zoo has been enjoying much success breeding these unique amphibians. Our state is the only state to have both Hellbender subspecies. The animals reproducing at the zoo are from three different rivers in Missouri so their offspring can eventually be released into their specific water systems. For more information on the zoo's breeding efforts click on this link. http://www.stlzoo.org/conservation/wildcare-institute/hellbendersinmissouri/

Our zoo is not the only institution working on Hellbender conservation. Since 2013 officials from Indiana's Columbian Park Zoo (located in Lafayette) along with scientists from Purdue University have been working on breeding Hellbenders in hopes of releasing them back into the Blue River. This river is the only place Hellbenders occur in Indiana. After successfully breeding about 200 of these giant salamanders the next step is to make this waterway habitable once again. For more reading on the project follow this link. http://wbaa.org/post/purdue-hellbender-researchers-focusing-endangered-salamanders-habitat

The Hellbender is very specific in its environmental needs. As is the same old story,  they have declined drastically throughout their range because we humans have altered their rivers to the point where they are no longer suitable habitat. It is heartening to see efforts from these two zoos to try and restore the rivers and reintroduce these amazing creatures so we may see healthy populations thriving once again. If they succeed, they will not only save this species... it will benefit us all.