Updates around the house...

Early morning, going to get coffee, the mail, and the newspaper, and this is what we spied on our back door:

                                                    Grey tree frog

We then went to see how the Morelets crocodile  was doing.  Found him basking in the morning sun, looking quite at ease with his new surroundings.

He's not as big as this picture would indicate, probably around 6 feet at the most.  But if you ever want to make something look bigger in a picture (attention fishermen) hold the object out in front of you!

Keep crocs?

They can be a handful.  They grow big.  They are mean (for the most part).  They require space!  But to own one is to love one, I suppose.

We have a couple, and we've been working on building outside enclosures so they can bask in natural sunlight in the summertime.  Of course everything takes time and money...the former we have enough of, the latter, not so much!  This project is ongoing.

Anyway last year we put our Morelets crocodile outside and he had a tendency to crawl out of his pond, and get behind it.  He scuffed himself up a bit, and we didn't want that to happen again, so we had to reinvent his enclosure.

First we had to get a new pond.  We had been using large Rubbermaid horse troughs, which we were quite fond of, until they sprung leaks/cracks, and rendered themselves useless.  After researching how to fix them, on the internet, and finding no good answer, we did find that Rubbermaid seemed to just shrug off complaints.    Since these ponds can cost upwards of over $300, we were not amused.  We did find a suitable pond, made by Tuff Stuff, Glenco, MN, in the US of recycled materials (!), at a reasonable price, that seems quite adequate for the Morelets.

We then made a platform for him to get up on, and covered any "holes" he might try to dive down, to get behind the tub.  We have been using dog enclosures made by PetSafe, from Lowe's and they worked quite nicely, but since we saw the Morelets climbing the side of the enclosure last year to get into his tub (even though there was a ramp), we decided to put a cover on it, of chain link.  He does have a grassy area he can get to, if he wants to.

So we finally got him out there this summer.  No pictures of the struggle as we were both occupied.  Here are a couple of shots after we got him situated.

Of course if you're not up for all this work and cost, you can always get yourself one of these, and the effect sometimes, on the neighbors, is just as dramatic! (He's actually "longer" than the Morelets!)

Small world...

As a follow-up to our adventure at the Nature Center, showing off our animals, and fielding questions, we had one woman who came through and asked about the "tools" we use.  (We had a hook and a pair of tongs on the table, for show.)  She said she thought they were "invented around here" in her words.  I said there were "Pillstrom Tongs" that were invented by Dr. Larry Pillstrom in Arkansas.  She said indeed that was the man she was talking about and that he was her children's pediatrician!  She knew the whole family!  We then discussed Dr. Pillstrom for a short while. 

          Pillstrom tongs came in varying sizes; we have two shown here. 

For you younger herpers, Dr. Larry Pillstrom invented the Pillstrom Tongs in the early 1950s.  He even had a paper published about them in, I believe, Herpetologica (publication of the SSAR).  Pillstrom tongs were the snake handling equipment for the ages, along with a good snake hook, usually made from a golf club.  We were lucky enough to have Dr. Pillstrom come to a herp show/sale we held years ago, and it was quite exciting for everyone there to meet this legend.  Unfortunately he was in poor health, and has since passed away, but we treasure our tongs.  His sons were trying to find someone to keep manufacturing them, but to no avail.  There are many other tongs available now, good substitutes,  but not of the same configuration.  Suffice it to say, our original set is over 40 yeas old, and work as good as new.

As for Dr. Pillstrom, I never knew he was a pediatrician!  Never asked actually, always assumed he was in the scientific world of herps and/or biology in general.  So herpers come in all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds, with one common interest...the welfare of their animals.  Let's hope Dr. Pillstrom delivered a whole lot of baby herpers, or at least herp-loving individuals!

Civic duty

We were invited to the Nature Center, in Springfield, to show off some of our animals, namely the local venomous and non-venomous, to coincide with the Venomous Snakes of Missouri program, put on by one of the naturalists.  For a variety of reasons, they do not have their own venomous animals for display.

The naturalist, Kim Banner, gave a wonderful power-point presentation to a packed auditorum, and then we ushered interested parties to a separate room to view the animals, ask questions, and gather literature.  We had well over 200 people come to the program, and afterwards even more, who just came to see the snakes.

We like doing this to try to persuade, even if its just one person, to not kill each and every herp they see.  We try to show the extreme difference in patterns between prairie kingsnakes and copperheads.  We try to differentiate between watersnakes and cottonmouths, although when in the water, that's a close call for a non-herper, but the majority are just watersnakes.

Is it time consuming?  Sure!  Is it a hassle, as outside temps were in the 90s?  Sure!  Do we get paid?  No!  Would we do it again next year?  Yes!  If it saves one snake's life, it's worthwhile!  And if it brings us one customer who wants to buy some rats or mice to feed their own herps, well, we're there for that reason too!

Accident or not...

On the news this evening, there's a story about a "pet Burmese python" that got out of it's cage and strangled a toddler.  We've probably all heard about this sort of incidence before; a true tragedy, but totally avoidable.

Of course if you have venomous snakes, your cages should be absolutely, positively escape proof.  There are some out there!  Of course you have to close the cage to make it escape-proof; however, when it comes to non-venomous, we all tend to be a little more lax or nonchalant.   How many of us would raise our hands if someone asked if we kept them in sweater boxes? 

This particular snake was obviously a large python, and should have been housed properly.  After a certain size, they can be dangerous, even to adult humans, and kept in appropriate cages.   Those cages should be absolutely escape-proof, and checked to see they're locked, each and every time we work around them.

We don't breed or sell large pythons any more.  We own some, but they are all rescues, save for one African Rock python who, after 17 years, is only about 10 feet long!   Part of the reason is that when these snakes get big, we get them back, and we don't "rent" snakes!  Another reason is that we would hear stories like the above (not from our customers), or hear that people were letting these snakes "sleep" with them, or "run loose" in the house as they didn't "have a cage big enough."   We decided we wanted to sell to people who wanted a snake because they like the animal, knew how to properly hosue it, and not interested in the sensationalism that a big python might give them.

I feel sorry for the couple, but either they were not given proper information on how to take care of such an animal, or they chose to think they knew more than the "experts."  In the above mentioned story I believe they were charged and convicted, of child endangerment, and third-degree murder. Their lives have been changed forever, and not for the better.

Voyeurism...

We have a "man-made" pond next to our house, or actually attached to our house.  Long story about an addition that's taking longer to finish than we anticipated.    Anyway the foundation holds water!  We had tadpoles in there earlier in the year, and just as they were getting legs, something waded in and ate all of them.  Probably a raccoon? 

So it rained hard last night (for a change as it's been very dry lately) and the frogs were calling like mad.  When we went out this morning, we found these two in amplexus!  Do frogs breed more than  once a year?  We thought not, but we'll watch for eggs.  Unless this was purely recreational sex, and/or a "rain dance."

 Sorry for the poor shot; it's hard to take pictures under water!  Or rather, when the subjects are under water!  These are grey tree frogs.

Gotta keep your eyes peeled!

Going down the road, for morning coffee at Mickey D's, when we spotted what seemed to be just too perfectly symmetrical to be a rock!   Stopped, looked, and sure enough, this is what we found!



This is a baby three-toed box turtle.   Already has a growth ring, so probably last year's hatch!  Approximately the size of a 50 cent piece!  We just had a friend say he'd never seen a baby box turtle.  We'll keep this guy to show him, and then repatriate him (the turtle) somewhere on our 20 acres.