snakes

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Nightsnake 'Lost' for Decades Is Rediscovered

Original sighting on Mexican island was long written off as mistake

(Newser) - The Clarion nightsnake is hard to spot, so hard to spot that for decades, the only sighting of the species native to one of Mexico's Revillagigedo Islands—the original sighting—was assumed to be a mistake. A joint US-Mexico team, however, managed to rediscover the species found by American...

An Albino Snake Is Plaguing the Canary Islands
An Albino Snake Is
Plaguing the Canary Islands
in case you missed it
May 3, 2014 7:00 PM CDT

An Albino Snake Is Plaguing the Canary Islands

There are as many as thousands per square mile ... underground

(Newser) - Pet snakes have led to big problems in the Canary Islands, quite literally: Biologists say an albino variety of California kingsnake, bred in captivity in San Diego, is now obliterating native animal populations after some of the snakes came to the islands as pets and escaped. The snakes are 30%...

What Coots Was Thinking When He Held That Snake

Dead pastor wasn't under the impression he was safe

(Newser) - If your reaction to the death of the snake-handling Kentucky pastor killed by one of his own snakes on Saturday was "he must have been delusional," WBIR digs into why the exact opposite is, in one way, the case. It spoke with a range of religion professors about...

Snake-Handling Pastor Killed by Snake Bite

Jamie Coots refused medical help after snake sunk its teeth in

(Newser) - A snake-handling pastor in Kentucky died yesterday after he was bitten during a church service and refused medical attention—not an unusual attitude for a snake-handling pastor, apparently. Jamie Coots, who starred in the National Geographic show Snake Salvation, went home after being bitten by a poisonous snake and told...

Hundreds of Dying Snakes Found in 'House of Horrors'

Rodents had turned cannibal inside Calif. hoarder's home

(Newser) - A horrific find in California as China's Year of the Snake draws to a close: Santa Ana police discovered hundreds of dead and dying snakes in the home of a teacher who moonlighted as a snake breeder, reports the Los Angeles Times . The 53-year-old man was arrested on charges...

2K Dead Mice Dropped on Guam's Snake War

They're packed with Tylenol to kill invasive creatures

(Newser) - Guam has a new weapon in its war against brown tree snakes : an army of Tylenol-filled dead mice. The creatures have been dropped onto a US Air Force base using miniature cardboard parachutes, NBC News reports. The snakes, an invasive species, feast on exotic local birds and cause power outages,...

20K Rats, Snakes So Abused Rescuers Needed Counseling

Bosses charged with 106 counts of animal cruelty

(Newser) - Following what PETA is calling the biggest animal seizure in California history, rescuers were so disturbed by what they saw that they needed crisis counseling. A warehouse near Los Angeles was full of some 20,000 rats, snakes, and other reptiles who faced long-term mistreatment; many were dead and maggot-ridden,...

Pretoria Hunt for Missing Snake Goes High-Tech

Zoo using infra-red cameras to find dangerous black mamba

(Newser) - The Pretoria Zoo says it is turning to technology with infra-red cameras to search for a 6.5-foot-long black mamba snake that escaped from its enclosure a week ago. Zookeepers in South Africa's capital think the snake probably is in the roof of a service building behind its terrarium,...

US to Shower Guam With Dead Toxic Mice

PETA not pleased with snake-minded move

(Newser) - The US has a plan to deal with Guam's overwhelming snake population , and it's not sitting well with animal rights activists: In April or May, dead mice stuffed with acetaminophen will be parachuted into Guam. As the AP explains, the plan is built around the brown tree snakes'...

19% Reptiles at Risk of Extinction
 19% of Reptiles at 
 Risk of Extinction 
New Study
Feb 15, 2013 6:59 AM CST

19% of Reptiles at Risk of Extinction

Study reviewed 1,500 species

(Newser) - Farming and logging are destroying the habitats of the world's reptiles, putting nearly one in five in danger of extinction, reports AFP . The new study—in which 200 experts examined 1,500 species of snakes, turtles, lizards, crocodiles, and other reptiles—claims to be the most comprehensive made of...

Pastor to Tenn.: Give Me Back My Snakes

Pastor needs confiscated creatures for worship services

(Newser) - A Kentucky pastor uses snakes in his worship services, and would like the snakes that Tennessee recently confiscated given back to him, thank you very much. Gregory "Jamie" Coots went to Alabama last month to buy three rattlesnakes and two copperheads, but was stopped in Knoxville while driving home...

Florida's Challenge: $1K to Killer of Longest Python

State tries new tactic in bid to deal with invasive species

(Newser) - Florida has an interesting way of dealing with the invasive Burmese pythons colonizing the Everglades: dangle cash prizes in front of would-be hunters. Next month's 2013 Python Challenge, run by the state wildlife commission, will award $1,000 to the hunter who kills the longest snake, and $1,500...

To Save Troops From Deadly Snakes, US Relies on ... Iran

Despite sanctions, we buy antivenin through middleman

(Newser) - The US leads the charge when it comes to economic sanctions against Iran—but when American soldiers' health is at stake, the military is willing to do a little business with the Islamic republic. Iran produces antivenin against the poisonous snakes of Afghanistan; our own antivenins are toothless against such...

First Snakes, Now Spiders Take Over Guam

Tree snakes devoured most of the spider-eating birds

(Newser) - First it was two million snakes . Now spiders are taking over Guam. The tiny island is experiencing a population explosion of arachnids because a vast, invasive army of snakes ate most of the native birds, the spiders' natural predator. Biologists say Guam's jungle currently holds 40 times more spiders...

Record Find in Everglades: 17-Foot Python, 87 Eggs

Well, 17 feet, 7 inches to be exact

(Newser) - It's going to take more than a brutal cold snap like the one in 2010 to wipe out the tens of thousands of Burmese pythons in the Florida Everglades, say scientists dissecting the largest one ever found in the area. The 17-foot, 7-inch snake was carrying 87 eggs, also...

Newt Lauds Romney: He's Like Eisenhower

Plus: Gingrich reveals his favorite snake

(Newser) - Sure, during the campaign he wasn't Mitt Romney's biggest fan—but it looks like Newt Gingrich is ready to let bygones be bygones. In an interview with Chris Matthews last night, Gingrich hailed the "organized" and "methodical" Romney for being "a lot like Eisenhower,"...

Tiny Guam Battles 2 Million Snakes

Brown tree snakes are killing native species and biting humans

(Newser) - Two million snakes have taken over the tiny island of Guam, with devastating consequences. Described by the BBC as "one of the most successful invasive species ever," the the brown tree snake is believed to have first slithered onto the 30-mile-long US territory 60 years ago, likely carried...

PMS Helps Women Spot Snakes

 PMS Helps Women 
 Spot Snakes 
study says
Mar 8, 2012 3:11 PM CST

PMS Helps Women Spot Snakes

Hormones can boost fear response: researchers

(Newser) - If you're planning a walk in the woods, you may be safest just before your period. A preliminary study suggests that women in the luteal or premenstrual phase of menstruation are quickest at spotting snakes. That could be because the hormones involved can influence the amygdala, part of the...

Pythons Squeezing Life Out of Everglades

Invading snakes blamed for drastic decline in mammal populations

(Newser) - The native mammals of the Florida Everglades have been all but wiped out by huge numbers of pythons and anacondas descended from released pets, a new study finds. After nearly a decade of night-time road surveys in the 1.5 million-acre national park, researchers found that raccoon and opossum sightings...

Meet the World's Newest Snake: Matilda

Matilda's Horned Viper, to be precise

(Newser) - A brand-new species of snake sports yellow and black scales, two spiked horns, and a pretty cool name: Matilda's Horned Viper. Scientists discovered it in Tanzania two years ago and it got introduced last month as the world's newest snake species. It's only the third new snake...

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