The question - Why did the turtle cross the road? - may sound like the opening phrase of a joke to most people. However, the answer lacks the whitty punch-line that usually follows such a question.
Many people don't understand reptiles and their behavior, so they are typically unaware of why these hard-shelled, prehistoric animals dare to cross roads flooded with stampeding vehicles. Some may think their lost, or maybe they are merely a misplaced pet. But the truth is, every spring season female turtles embark on a journey to find the best possible nesting site to lay their eggs. The common snapping turtle is known to venture up to a mile away just to find a spot that gives it's eggs the best chance of survival. Some may call it crazy, but there is something special about a turtle following it's innate instinct to find a place that will provide her eggs with the best possible chance of survival.
Often people come upon turtles crossing roads when driving through an area where ponds and swamp land are present. Some people stop in amazement, pointing out the wandering turtle to their kids and snapping pictures. However, there are some people who stop with the intentions to help. While we encourage that people stop and help meandering turtles, it is important to understand HOW to help them.
When a turtle sets out on it's journey, whether it is looking to nest or find a mate, they are set on where they want to go. So when people see a turtle starting to walk onto a road, their first thought is to bring the turtle back onto the sidewalk. However, anyone who does so, will come to find that the turtle will persistently continue to walk back into the street. So if people really want to help the crossing turtles, it is important to help guide them across the road safely until they get to where they intend on going. Furthermore, it is important for us to urge everyone who stops to help to NOT take the turtle and bring them to an alternate location to be safe. Research has found that some turtle species, such as box turtles, are almost doomed when being relocated to an unfamiliar location out of their home range.
So keep your eyes on the lookout for road-crossing turtles over the next month. The simple act of helping one nesting turtle cross the road can save the lives of many potential offspring, which in the long run can lead to preserving the fate of a species.
Bill Love's visit to the Northeast was full of great lectures, stories and field-herping!
Written by Harvey Bird
Monday, 30 May 2011 11:59
It isn't every month that you get the chance to have an icon from the herpetoculture hobby visit and give a talk at a herp meeting. That being said, when you have the funds and opportunity, it must be taken advantage of. And that is exactly what MHS & LHS did last weekend when we flew Bill Love into Newark, NJ.
On Friday, May 20th, Bill visited the Lancaster Herpetological Society to give a talk on "Herp Photography." He highlighted some of the techniques that have led to many of his photos being used in REPTILES magazine among other publications. His talk featured some of his best photos and even those that weren't so good. He did a wonderful job explaining the differences between a quality photo versus a mediocre photo.
Upon booking Bill, we had promised to take him out field herping on Saturday before we headed back North to New York to speak for the Metropolitan Herpetological Society. While the previous six days saw lots of rain and thunderstorms, the forecast for Saturday was a perfect Sunny with the high of 78 degrees. A day like that following a long period of rainy days was a herpers dream. While we were skeptic about being too optimistic about our chances, to avoid disappointing Bill, our hopes were high.
The day turned out to be quite a success. Bill had a few species that he was hoping to photograph. While we didn't get to see all of them, we did see the majority of them. The day turned out to be extremely productive as we got to see sixteen different species of reptiles & amphibians. At the end of the day, Bill got a chacne to tour the facilities of Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary run by Jesse Rothacker. We then spent the night at Jesse Rothacker's before heading up to New York in the morning.
The drive back up to New York flew by since the previous two days left us with so much to talk about. We got to the nature center and MHS members were excited to meet Bill and chat with him before we got started. The room seemed to keep filling up with people. Not just the regular faces, but some old ones and even quite a few newcomers. We had approximately fifty people show up to hear Bill speak. His talk on "The Rise of Herpetoculture," which documents the historical events which led to people keeping and breeding reptiles in captivity. It was full of some great stories about some of the pioneers of the hobby and how their efforts changed the landscape of the hobby, from keeping wild caught specimens to having the ability to purchase hundreds of different species being commonly bred in captivity. It highlighted the people who really contributed to captive propogation, the evolution of reptile husbandry literature, and various other contributing factors. He discussed the the role played by Carl Kauffeld, which hits home since Carl was curator of reptiles at the Staten Island Zoo from 1936 - 1973. Bill mentioned how Kauffeld's books, which displayed his passion for field-herping and keeping herps as pets, was influential to so many people on a number of levels, and that influence is part of the foundation of keeping captive bred reptiles and amphibians today. Bill wrapped up the talk by giving credit to all of the people who have made captive propogation of reptiles possible throughout the years.
Bill wrapped up his trip to the Northeast by getting in a rental car and exploring his old stomping grounds from his days growing up in New Jersey. I got to meet up with him one last time before he left to visit the Pine Barrens to photograph some herps. Luckily we were able to meet up with an old friend of Bill's and another excellent herper, Kyle Loucks. We didn't see as many herps as we would have liked, but we did have lots of laughs and got some great photographs. It was a great way to end the trip before Bill headed back home.
Having Bill out to speak to our groups was as exciting as we anticipated. But the unexpected productive field-herping days in which we captured so many exciting moments with our photographs was way more than we had hoped for. Those photos will tell the story of that weekend for a lifetime...
If you scanned your eyes around the room at Blue Heron Nature Center on May 1st, you would be astonished by the various facial expressions people wore. Many children pointed in delight, some tentavely reached out there hand to touch, and others bravely stepped up and had no fear to hold one of the animals. But then there were those who's fearful looks were strong enough to cut right through the armored, scaly body of our animals! However, everyone who was in the room was there for a reason - they were there because they were intrigued by reptiles.
The general public's perception of reptiles is usually a negative one. Of course that shouldn't be a shock since we humans are mammals, and it is only natural to identify more with other mammals rather than animals that are drastically different. People fear what they don't understand. We at the Metropolitan Herpetological Society recognize that train of thought, and every year we aim to change some of those perceptions by having an educational reptile and amphibian expo.
Sunday, May 1st, was our fifth annual "Lizards & Frogs & Snakes - OH MY!" event. The amount of people who come out increases annually. Each year we see some of the same faces from years past, but also some new curious visitors. We offer the Staten Island community a "free" day to bring their family and friends to Blue Heron Park to experience a hands-on experience with reptiles & amphibians .
Each year we add some new informational boards and animals. This year our newest addition to the expo was a table that featured dart frogs, which people normally have to pay to see at zoos and museums.
Not only do we host the expo to change peoples' perceptions about reptiles, but to also educate and inform them about their uniqueness and needs. Over the last two decades, the amount of people owning reptiles as pets has increased dramatically. However, we use the expo to teach those who "love" repitles and want to keep them as pets, that there are many factors one needs to consider when purchasing one. It is an expensive ordeal and they have very specific needs that cannot be overlooked.
But we are not just concerned with educating people on husbandry techniques. We want to teach people about our own native species. Many who come out to the aren't even aware that we have close to two dozen species of reptiles and amphibians on Staten Island. That is a large number of species for such a small geographic area. However, many of those species are clinging to life with the continuing development of land on Staten Island.
At the expo, people got a chance to see some of our common native species that are still holding on such as: Northern spring peepers, Eastern box turtle, spotted salamanders, Eastern garter snake and an Eastern milksnake. By using the expo to teach people about these animals, we are hoping it will help to open their eyes to the critical issues they face, and maybe even help to preserve them a little longer.
MHS knows that we cannot change everyone's perception of reptiles. However, if we can educate the children and change the minds of some adults, then reptiles have a much better fighting chance in the future.
The Tiny Summoners of Spring Have Awoken: Spring is on it's way!
Written by Harvey Bird
Wednesday, 09 March 2011 11:28
This past Friday the weather warmed up and it was a spring-like day. Overnight we had a light rain shower that didn't last very long. However, it was just warm enough and that brief period of rain brought the tiny tree dwelling amphibians down into local ponds and vernal pools.
As nightfall came on Saturday night, the spring-like weather gave way to a chilly night, but it was too late. The Northern spring peepers were awake and calling aloud to let their fellow peepers know they were ready for the spring mating season.
I was celebrating my nephew James' eighth birthday at his home in Great Kills, when I heard some sounds coming from outside. So I stepped out into their backyard which borderlines Siedenburg Park, separated by only a chainlink fence, and heard the deafening sound of spring peepers. It immediately brought a smile to my face. Not only do I have an affinity for these tiny little tree frogs, but it also meant that spring is ready to say goodbye to the cold wintery weather.
The thing that I find to be the biggest shame, is that people on Staten Island have heard the sounds coming from the woods, but not many know who it comes from and what it represents. So if you have never had the luxury of seeing them calling for mates in their native habitat, then I suggest you watch the short video I have attached. It might make you appreciate that loud noise coming from the woods...
The Tiny Summoners of Spring Have Awoken: Spring is on it's way! May 18 2011 01:44:56
Hereditary is largely responsible for this loss in which an over production of a male hormone called dihydrotestosterone or DHT, attacks the hair follicles which prevents vital nutrients getting to the hair and stops further growth. It is the hair follicles themselves which determine baldness and not where they are located on the scalp. You will have areas of hair which are termed ‘balding-resistant’. These hairs are located on the back and sides of your head and resemble a ‘fringe’ or ‘horseshoe’ pattern which remains in spite of this hair loss. These hairs follow the hair growth cycle as normal.
For our February 2011 meeting, the Metropolitan Herpetological Society held it's second annual reptile photo shoot at the Blue Heron Nature Center. This year we spiced things up by constructing three naturalistic type dioramas. Harvey, Leslie and Fred gathered as many things as they could to use to make them look as natural as possible. Several local business donated supplies such as Wiesner Brother's Nursery, Hall of Frames, and Perry's Brick Company. Other's who donated some supplies were Jesse Rothacker of Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary and local naturalist and dart frog breeder Richard Lynch. Harvey, Leslie, Janine, Fiona and Andre spent a couple of hours the day of the meeting setting up the dioramas and made them look as natural as possible. They were constructed in the likes of a tropical rainforest, a woodland forest, and a desert.
With the dioramas set up and ready to go, all we needed to do was add some reptiles for photographing. Members of MHS were entitled to bring 2 to 3 of their pets to be photographed by themselves and other members. We had a good turnout, and there was a nice variety of reptiles on hand to photograph. In the tropical diorama we were able to photograph a gargoyle gecko, Chinese water dragon, a jungle carpet python, a crested gecko.
We used the woodland forest to photograph box turtles, corn snakes, pine snakes, and a blue tongue skink. The animals in this diorama proved to be a bit more difficult to pose since they were moving around quite a bit. But after several minutes of working with them, we got them to settle down long enough to snap some nice photos!
We didn't have that many herps to photograph using the desert diorama, but the ones we did have were pretty neat. We had a dwart monitor lizard (yellow ackie), Kenyan sand boa, Western hognose snake and a leopard gecko. Each one was pretty active when placed down, but they produced some of the most interesting photos from the night!
This years photo shoot was definitely an improvement on last years first ever attempt. So we hope to continue to work on making it even better for next year. Be sure to visit our photo gallery to see all the pictures from the photo shoot!
