Herps--reptiles and amphibians

3 cats and a crocodile on a bed.

https://youtu.be/GQcl4W22XB4

I wish him continued good luck.

Pet alligator worries neighbors.

https://youtu.be/HJqaRzDvZQc

DNA testing has thrown a wrench into the old cogwheels of animal classification. The Machinery doesn't work as smoothly as it once did if it ever did, even if it's more accurate. And with reptiles it's no different. And the only thing consistent is disagreement.

But one Australian, Dr Brian Fry, has really changed the claydistics of lizards and snakes. He claims that all snakes and the majority of lizards evolved from a common ancestor that was venomous and that many of them lost this venom-producing ability because of lack of necessity. They either changed their diet or their means of subduing their prey. For instance, rat snakes, kingsnakes, pythons, and boas became constrictors, therefore, venom was just superfluous, an unneeded cost. But now many snakes that were thought to be completely harmless and venom-free actually contain venom albeit a very mild venom not harmful to humans. Examples are the hog-nosed snakes, the garter and ribbon snakes, and even the tiny ringneck snakes.

Lizards are another matter. The majority of them seem to have descended from the same venomous ancestor as the snakes. And previously only two lizards, the Gila monster and the beaded lizard were thought to be venomous, but now it's discovered that there are quite a few more, but, once again, the venom is, for the most part, very weak and not dangerous to humans.

Iguanas, yes those cute little green, vegetarian pets have a weak venom, as do some of the other lizards in the same family, such as, possibly, the Anolis lizard. The anolis lizard is an American lizard that is what people mistakenly call a chameleon. With that in mind the true chameleons also may be slightly venomous or were at one time. Also venomous are some of the monitor lizards especially the Komodo dragon.

Surprisingly, to me, the glass lizards or legless lizards including the European slow worm and the European scheltopusik are slightly venomous.

Now the agamids are sort of the old world analogs to the iguanids and include the Australian thorny devil and none other than the bearded dragon, which is one of the favorite pets of children. It turns out the bearded dragon has venom glands in its upper and lower jaws though, once again, it's a very weak venom not harmful to humans. And this knowledge shouldn't hurt the pet trade.

This theory about the origin of snakes and some lizards is fairly new and it may take a while the sort out which lizards and snakes actually do have venom and which do not..

This is a phylogenetic tree showing the origin of all the snakes and some of the lizards that have or had venom. At the upper left you'll see the closely spaced red vertical lines. This is toxicofera, the the 170 million year old ancestor of all snakes and lizards shown in that branch.

Serpentes is snakes, Helodermatidae is Gila monster and beaded lizards, Anguidae is glass lizards and alligator lizards, Varanus is monitor lizards, and Iguania is the Iguanids. the Agamids, and the chameleons.

This is a computer rendition of the MRI of a Komodo
head. The dragon has six venom glands on each side of
the lower jaw, shown here as alternating red and pink.
The yellow glands produce the mucus that
gives the Komodo its famous drool.

In the above chart the Iguanids include the agamids and chameleans. Anguimorpha includes the Varanids (monitors such as the komodos) as well as the glass lizards
.

Killing a snake is a risk to your health and the law means it may come back to bite you.

ABC RADIO DARWIN

As growing rural suburbs encroach wildlife habitat, and tree-filled urban areas remain ripe with critters to eat, the wet season in Darwin has been keeping snake catchers busy.

The after-hours snake catcher's phone runs hot when the first rain hits; Tom Parkin's team has been fielding as many as 10 callouts a day, some of which are hosed down when the snake turns out to pose no threat.

Mr Parkin believes that with people spending more time around home during the holidays, it means there's a higher likelihood of running into snakes that might otherwise go undetected.

And while many Top End snakes are non-venomous, local authorities are concerned about the regularity with which people take matters — and shovels — into their own hands and kill intruding reptiles.

"I think the first thing that people will think of when they come across a snake is chop its head off and work out what it is later," Mr Parkin said.

"We see it a lot, but it's often unnecessary because the snake is harmless and it's also a very dangerous practice."
Despite the legal risk as well, images of people holding decapitated snakes are common on social media pages during the hotter months of the year.

Snakes regularly killed despite risks to wallet, health
All native wildlife is protected, meaning killing an intruding snake may land you in breach of the Territory Parks and Conservation Act.

What do you do if you get bitten by a snake?

That means snake killers theoretically put themselves up for heavy penalisation; in the Northern Territory the maximum penalty is up to five years behind bars or a $77,000 fine.

But according to senior Parks and Wildlife ranger Alice Donne, exemptions exist when a snake absolutely poses imminent danger to a person or their pet.

"So it's got to be, say, in the kitchen and there's no other option [but to kill it]," she said.

"It's one of those things where we're not putting wildlife above human safety."

However, the Act also states that exemptions can be applied for when the snake is within 100 metres of an occupied property.

This means that killing snakes is in fact legal on most urban properties but may be illegal in the outer areas of some rural properties.

Still, wildlife experts strongly advise against killing snakes, warning people who do so put themselves at risk of a more serious penalty — severe illness and/or death.

"Statistically speaking, the vast majority of people bitten by snakes in Australia are attempting to catch or kill the snake at the same time," Mr Parkin said.

"A snake will never go out of its way to try and attack a person without a reason."
We asked what you do when you come across a snake. Read the comments below.
Will I actually get charged?
So why aren't prisons full of people who unwittingly beheaded a backyard snake?

"We've had prosecutions for people killing snakes, but it's usually in among other wildlife that's been killed as well," Ms Donne said.

Mr Parkin agreed, saying any potential charges could easily be dropped if a person could prove they were in danger.

"I'm pretty sure there isn't a judge in Australia that would convict a person for killing a snake that they felt like they were at risk from, so I don't think it's a law that would be strictly enforced," he said.

"Maybe if someone was killing snakes for commercial reasons or wide-scale killing purposely they would get a conviction.

"But if anyone was that scared of a snake on the property and they killed it, the likelihood of a conviction would be quite small."

But even if prosecutions are rare, Ms Donne said the threat to a person's safety should be the greatest deterrent.

"When you get the shovel out or get the rake out, you're in its strike zone.

"It's just a good way to get yourself bitten."

The number of species of snakes in the world.

The number of species of snakes in the world is changing due to the reclassification of snakes using DNA analysis. Not indicated are the many subspecies or geographical races of snakes.

Often, it's difficult to decide whether to consider a snake as venomous or non- venomous. Many snakes have venom that is very weak and only effective toward prey animals and are not dangerous to humans.

Many herpetologists get their dander up when they hear people referring to venomous snakes as poisonous snakes, insisting that poisonous only refers to eating or touching, whereas venomous refers to toxins delivered through a bite. I think the point is merely pedantic as the Webster dictionary defines poisonous and venomous as synonymous.

Still, here are some approximate and temporary figures.

Species of snakes in the world-----3,400
Venomous species of snakes in the world----600

Species of snakes in the United States----116
Venomous species of snakes in the United States----19

Species of snakes in Australia---172
140 species land snakes
32 species sea snakes

Venomous species of snakes in Australia---100

Don't worry, I won't bite: A cheeky snake slithers into a baby crocodile's mouth as the pair play together in the grass

By Peter Devlin For Daily Mail Australia
06:50 EST 02 Jun 2016, updated 09:22 EST 02 Jun 2016




As it sat quietly in the grass, the baby saltwater crocodile appeared to enjoy the company of the flat-nosed pit viper, as it slipped along the young croc’s nose.

But the fearless snake didn’t stop there, and decided to poke its head between the crocodile’s razor sharp teeth.

The placid crocodile seemed unperturbed by the curious viper, as it dangled its head centimeters from the roof of the croc's mouth.

Saltwater crocodiles are the world's largest reptiles and adult males of this species can grow up to seven metres in length.


The extraordinary images were captured by photographer Tanto Yensen, 36, at a crocodile breeding centre in Medan, Indonesia.

If good friendship is based on trust, these reptiles make a great pair, because there's nothing more risky than sticking your head between the powerful jaws of a crocodile.

A symbiotic [mutual symbiotic] relationship has been observed only between Nile Crocodiles and Egyptian plover birds

Nile Crocodile and Egyptian Plover by Emily Martinez
`
The Crocodile opens its mouth and the Plover flies in - it may not always do this, and eats bits of food stuck or leeches in its teeth.

So, the Plover gets a meal and the Crocodile gets a free teeth cleaning.

The crocodile also receives one other service from the crocodile bird. Whenever the bird senses approaching danger, he gives his sharp warning call and flies off. The crocodile, now warned, can quickly slip into the water where virtually no animal can get the best of him. They have this relationship because it benefits both species.

Advertisement for chewing gum.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UIDdCihh5hU

The Crocodile

Lewis Carroll, 1832 - 1898

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws!

This crocodile isn't eating its own young, it's transporting it from the nest to the relative safety of the water.



When the young crocodilians are hatching they start grunting, and the mother uncovers them in the mound.





Alligators do the same thing.

The Australian eastern brown snake Pseudonaja textilis. Pseudonaja means false cobra and textilis refers to its scalation "which resembles textiles". This snake is responsible for most of the deaths from snake bites in Australia, which averages only one or two a year, a very small number considering that there are about 3,000 snake bites a year in Australia and considering that Australia has so many dangerous elapid snakes.

I couldn't find the actual number of snake bites from the Eastern brown snake, but I expect they are quite numerous, because the snake often invades urban areas in search of shelter and its favorite food, the house mouse.

In Australia there are about 3,000  snake bites per year, of which 200 to 500 receive antivenom; on average one or two will prove fatal. About half the deaths are due to bites from the brown snake; the rest mostly from tiger snake, taipan and death adder.

The Brown snake caused 23 of the 35 deaths recorded between 2000 and 2016.


This brown snake appears to have either laterally flattened its neck or inflated it, a type of defense mechanism that makes it look more dangerous. I've seen this behavior in harmless American snakes.

I've seen more pictures of the brown snake with its neck flattened in a dorsal/ventral manner like cobras do.
The eastern brown snake when in a defensive mode raises its body and forms an S coil. This means it's preparing to strike. Because it raises the anterior part of its body off the ground a large number of the strikes occur on the thighs






Range of eastern brown snake in Australia.

Brown Water python--Liasis discus. Northern Australia and New Guinea. Grows to about 5 feet.

The brown water python above is Liasis fuscus, not discus. That was a mistaken "correction" by spellcheck.

My pet is a six foot crocodile.

https://youtu.be/i8nGW-qiqjk

This is a short advertisement I posted once before advertising some type of chewing gum that looks like dentyne. Plover birds are cleaning the teeth of a crocodile. One of the plover birds plucks the gum out of the boy's mouth from a space between his teeth. How that is done, I have no idea.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UIDdCihh5hU

There is a relatively new word, venomoid, which means a venomous or poisonous snake that has had its venom glands surgically removed, thus rendering it harmless. This is done by people who wish to handle venomous snakes with impunity usually for shows or educational purposes. Herpetologists and snake fanciers view this practice with distaste or even disgust. The idea is that there is no reason to freehand a venomous snake, and the viewing public, especially children, may over-rate the bravado of the handler and even be encouraged to imitate the behavior.

I have nothing against free handling poisonous snakes any more than harmless snakes provided the handler is intimately familiar with the behavior of the actual snake he's dealing with. Because a snake possesses venom does not necessarily mean that it has a hotter temper than a harmless snake. Some snakes simply have milder tempers then others regardless of whether they're venomous or harmless. Species of snakes have reputations for being hot-tempered or mild- tempered, but there are also the individual personalities to consider. Snakes just like other animals and people have individual personalities and varying moods. Snakes undergo a periodical shedding process preceded by what is called a blue phase, the bluish dulling of the skin and eyes, making it difficult for the snake to see and thus becoming more nervous. Any snake in this phase is bound to be more defensive, and the keeper must bear this in mind.

I recently posted a video of somebody calling himself Snake Man who was free handling a rather large Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake. He handled it with his hands and then it draped around his his neck in what appeared to be a show of bravado rather than affection. After observing the snake for a while it's behavior appeared to be unusual, and I finally concluded that the handler had cooled the snake down in the refrigerator thus lowering its metabolism and behavior. The snake was sluggish, shaky, and slow to respond, and that's why I came to that conclusion. Therefore, I deleted the video.