And finally tonight.Earlier this week a section of a dam at the Tempe Town Lake in Arizona collapsed, sending about a billion gallons of water into a normally dry river.The loss of the water means there are a lot of dead fish laying around….And that had city officials trying to figure out how to clean up that mess in desert heat.So, the idea was born to bring in an alligator and let that gator do what it does best… eat!City officials have hired a crew to scoop up fish and those fish will be fed to the six-foot reptile.
Category Archives: Lizards
5 Things PETCO Doesn’t Want You To Know
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Posted in Conservation, Laws, Lizards, Reptiles, Snakes, Turtles, U.S. News
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Posted in Conservation, Laws, Lizards, Reptiles, Snakes, Turtles, U.S. News
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PETCO may put on an animal-friendly façade by not selling dogs and cats—which is a responsible decision considering the dog and cat overpopulation problem—but the company is in business to make money, not for love of animals. Here are five things you should know before choosing to shop at PETCO:
1. Undercover Investigators Have Documented Neglect, Abuse, and Deplorable Conditions at PETCO’s Suppliers: The birds, reptiles, and other small animals that PETCO sells come from breeding mills and animal dealers that typically warehouse animals in crude, filthy conditions without adequate veterinary care or food or water.
An investigator from PETA recently went undercover at Sun Pet Ltd, an Atlanta-based wholesale animal dealer that supplies animals to PETCO, PetSmart, and pet stores. According to the investigator, hundreds of birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, gerbils, mice, and rats were suffering in Sun Pet’s enormous warehouses. The animals were treated as mere merchandise and some were killed in cruel, violent ways. One Sun Pet worker even put live hamsters into a bag and bashed the bag against a table to kill the hamsters.
Sun Pet not only purchased animals from unlicensed dealers, but from the now-defunct U.S. Global Exotics (USGE), the Texas-based warehouse that imported and exported hundreds of thousands of animals a year for eventual sale at pet stores, including PETCO. More than 26,000 neglected exotic animals were seized from USGE following another PETA investigation. (Shamelessly, PETCO even tried to profit off of these animals after they were confiscated.)
2. Sick and Injured Animals Have Allegedly Been Left to Languish in PETCO Stores: Through the years, PETA has received countless calls, letters, and e-mails from PETCO customers and employees who are concerned about animals at PETCO. Some customers claim to have seen live rats and mice lying next to dead ones in feces-covered cages, sick birds, and dead geckos, snakes, and other reptiles, as well as animals left with no food or water for days. A whistleblower at a Houston store revealed that employees there were not trained how to hand feed birds and, as a result, many were injured or died.
Sick and dying animals at many PETCO stores are allegedly not seen by a veterinarian. (Several former employees have even claimed that they were “not allowed” to take animals to the veterinarian.) A “Team Leader” at an undisclosed PETCO location, told PETA, “If an animal is dead or on the brink of it in our store, we are supposed to put them in a holding tank until they do die.”
3. PETCO Paid $1.75 Million to Settle a Lawsuit Over its Animal Care Record and Shady Consumer Practices: Four California counties filed a lawsuit against PETCO, alleging that PETCO failed to notice or treat sick animals, and that it overcharged its customers as well. The company shelled out $1.75 million to settle the suit.
In 2004, PETCO paid more than $850,000 to settle similar charges and was ordered by the court to implement a detailed daily animal care procedure in all its California stores.
After the San Francisco Animal Care and Control found dying and dead birds, a dead turtle molding and left to rot, dehydrated and lethargic iguanas, and a toad “cooked to death” at bay area stores, the city attorney of San Francisco said, “PETCO has proven that it is not capable of caring for the animals it sells in a humane manner. If they can’t treat living things with care and consideration, they sure shouldn’t be in the business of selling pets.”
4. PETCO Has Also Been Sued For Negligent Grooming Practices: A Utah resident sued PETCO for negligence and loss of companionship when her dog was hanged to death from a leash at a PETCO store after employees left the dog unattended and she attempted to jump out of a grooming tub. PETCO’s attorneys argued that damages, if any, should be limited to the dog’s “fair market value,” a position that seems to contrast poorly with PETCO’s claim that it understands that animals are “members of the family.”
5. U.S. Marshalls Confiscated Contaminated Pet Food from PETCO’s Food-Distribution Center: In June 2008, U.S. Marshalls seized pet food from PETCO’s distribution center in Illinois because the FDA suspected it had been contaminated by rodents and other animals. People who purchased pet food from PETCO stores in 16 states were instructed to wash the cans and their hands with soap and water. The food didn’t cause any illnesses that I’m aware of, but the situation did make me wonder: If the company couldn’t even keep food clean and safe, how could it be trusted with living beings”.
I might be willing to “give PETCO another chance” with regard to that last one if the company stopped selling birds, reptiles, and other small animals. PETCO could still make money and meet the needs of people with companion animals—PETA members included—if it sold only food, toys, and other supplies—not animals. Until then, PETCO is one place not to go if you care about animals.
Heather Moore is a research specialist for the PETA Foundation.
Gecko thief was on work programme
Hey hey hey – Fat Albert got stolen by a teenager who was on a work programme for previous criminal offending.
Investigations are continuing into whether Justin Howes, 19, has links to gecko smugglers after he stole 23 reptiles from two tourist attractions.
Among the stolen geckos was Northland’s famous Fat Albert, known as the “gecko who ate all the flies” to out-grow his mates.
The burglaries have earned Howes six months in prison and left the Department of Corrections red-faced. Fat Albert and the other geckos were recovered when police raided Howes’ home and found a professionally built compound for the reptiles.
Howes was placed at the Whangarei Museum and Kiwi House for community work after being convicted of previous crimes. It is unknown what he was convicted of or how long his sentence was.
But Howes worked out how to beat the popular attraction’s security system. The theft took place late last month, the day after Howes burgled the Ti Point Reptile Park at Leigh near Warkworth, north of Auckland.
A Department of Corrections spokesman confirmed that Howes had been placed at the Kiwi House to do community work.
Museum director Sue Walters said Howes showed “an awful lot of interest” in the way the attraction operated.
Howes was able to study the security system and staff movements. He had also found geckos in quarantine in an area of the park “that very few people knew were there”.
Walters said: “We have a lot of relations with the Corrections Department. We have acres of grass that need to be mowed.”
The museum had boosted security after a previous burglary, and an increased awareness of the high value foreign reptile collectors placed on New Zealand geckos. It had a top security system and even has a live-in caretaker.
New Zealand geckos are highly sought after abroad – three European men were sent to prison earlier this year for smuggling the reptiles after being caught with about 30 geckos. The haul was valued in excess of $200,000.
Walter said she did not know if Howes was operating alone but was told that he had kept the geckos in a homemade enclosure that displayed “significant carpentry”. “The cages were very well made.”
Ti Point owner Ivan Borich said it was believed that Howes had visited the park as a visitor and used the opportunity to study security. “He knew enough to get around the system.”
Alligator Surprise: Look At This
MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass. —
State police said a local man dropped off an alligator in a bait bucket on Friday night.The man said he spied the alligator in a marshy area of the Nemasket River off Walnut Street in Middleborough.“Obviously we were a little surprised. It’s not every day that someone brings an alligator into the barracks, so we were taken aback,” said Trooper Joseph Baker.The alligator is about 2-feet long, clearly a baby. Police said the find does raise a lot of questions — where did he come from and are there more of them?”We don’t want any children to encounter him if they’re playing down by the river,” said Baker.The alligator was given to a reptile specialist who will determine its origin and, perhaps, how it came to be in the river.It is illegal in Massachusetts to keep an alligator as a pet.
Leave those alligators alone
Whenever I talk to elementary school students about alligators, I point out that these fearsome reptiles have a brain the size of a walnut.
Your average Florida gator, and I’m not talking about the football fan, isn’t half as smart as a second-grader.
Still, every summer, we hear about alligator attacks, most of which could have been avoided if the victim had exercised a little common sense.
Take, for example, an incident July 12 in the Central Florida town of Sanford.
According the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Dirk Alan Willms, 44, spotted an alligator crossing a road and decided to grab its tail. The gator, which measured about 4 feet in length, whipped around and bit Willms, whom law enforcement officials said appeared to be intoxicated.
After chomping down on Willms’ leg, the alligator scurried into some bushes. Willms, wounded but undeterred, pursued the reptile into the vegetation and was bitten again, this time on the hand.
Bloodied but not still beaten, Willms eventually subdued the beast and took it home. A passerby, however, took note of the shenanigans and reported the abduction to authorities, who arrived shortly thereafter and ticketed the gator-napper.
Willms of 501 Lemon St. was charged with possession of an alligator, a second-degree misdemeanor, which is punishable by 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. The state lists alligators as a species of special concern. They can be legally taken only by those with proper licenses and permits.
This gator, meanwhile, was released unharmed into nearby Lake Jesup. Willms, who received minor punctures and cuts, was told to seek medical attention, but it is unclear if he followed the investigating officer’s advice.
Use your head
Florida has more than 1 million alligators and averages about seven alligator attacks a year.
Since 1948, when the state began keeping records, there have been 517 unpleasant alligator-human interactions. Some, like the previously mentioned case, are considered the human’s fault.
The majority of the attacks, however, are classified as “unprovoked.” But many of these incidents could have been avoided.
Alligators typically grab their prey in the water, or within a yard or two of the water’s edge. In two-thirds of the attacks on humans, the victim never sees the gator coming. In most cases, the gator strikes from beneath the water.
Alligators are opportunistic feeders and eat just about anything — fish, turtles, raccoons, your dog, if you let it get too close to the water. Most alligator attacks occur in residential areas — canals, lakes, golf course ponds — where the reptiles have grown accustomed to seeing humans.
The best advice for someone who wants to avoid being added to the list of the 22 people who have been killed by alligators in the modern era, is to stay out of freshwater at dawn, dusk and at night, when gators are most active.
Act like an ape man
But if you do find yourself tangling with one of these living dinosaurs, think like Tarzan. After watching Johnny Weissmuller battle countless crocodiles, which are much meaner than alligators, it is obvious that the best strategy when under attack is to fight like you were raised in the jungle by a band of primates.
Don’t worry, you won’t make the alligator any madder. Remember, it is a dumb reptile looking for an easy meal. If you struggle, it might just release its grip.
Go for the most vulnerable part on the alligator’s body: the snout. Kick, punch, scratch, yell and scream. If you can, gouge its eyes. Stay above the water, because if the beast gets you below the surface, you will end up part of the food chain.
Whatever you do, never grab an alligator by the tail, and for heaven’s sake, don’t take it home.
Snakes invade children’s museum
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (DRN) – A local museum faces a snake invasion, but it was all a plan to teach survival skills to kids.
Children got the chance to pet and hold snakes at the Terre Haute Children’s Museum this morning.
It is part of Survivor Camp at the museum. Kids learn basic survival skills and compete to earn survivor rewards.
A lot of the lessons involve animal safety and how to react when they see animals in the wild.
“They’ll be learning all about them. They’ll learn that this snake is named Maddy, and that she was rescued. And they’ll learn about what she eats. They’ll get a chance to hold her or touch her if they want,” Director of Education and Exhibits Rachel Nickel said.
The Children’s Museum said they have lots of educational opportunities for the community, and are excited about the new building opening in September.
Two-Headed, Six-Legged Dragon Is ‘Amazingly Cute’
(July 22) — A dragon with two heads and six legs sounds like something out of Greek mythology, not a pet. But for Todd Ray, owner of California’s Venice Beach Freakshow, that’s just what Pancho and Lefty is — or shall we say, are.
The 2 1/2-month-old two-headed bearded dragon arrived safely at Ray’s West Coast doorstep last week, shipped from its birthplace just outside of Dayton, Ohio, through an animal transport company.
As with most of his freak animals, Ray discovered the conjoined-twin lizard on an online forum. And like most of us, the original owner had never seen anything like it. After two months of caring for the remarkable creature, the hobbyist breeder had grown attached to it, but Ray says he persuaded him to make the sale.
“I told him, ‘This is what we do. These are the types of animals that we’re used to taking care of and that we love to bring to the public so that they can see these living miracles.'”
“He was excited about that,” Ray told AOL News. “He didn’t want them to end up in someone’s home or in a situation where they might not make it.”
The immediate payment of nearly $5,000 also helped sway the owner’s decision.
So far, Pancho and Lefty are doing well. Ray closed the Freakshow for several days in order to stay home and ensure the double dragon was adjusting to its new environment. Of course, much of that time was spent just watching the lizard — or lizards — in fascination.
“They’re amazingly cute,” he said. “And their colors are really nice.”
Both heads have been enjoying a healthy diet of crickets and wax worms, and their body has already begun shedding.
They move with relative ease, although sleep can occasionally be a struggle when Pancho wants to rest, but Lefty doesn’t. Lefty will start walking and dragging his twin in a desired direction. When Pancho inevitably wakes up, he’ll start pulling the other way.
But overall, they get along well and never fight.
“It’s like they’re used to having each other there,” Ray said.
He plans to showcase them at the Freakshow once they’ve gotten bigger and are comfortable in front of people. A special terrarium designed to control the high levels of humidity at the beach will be set up for them in their new home.
“I could be making money now, but their value is much more than money,” Ray said. “The typical freak show mentality is to get the money. We’ll get the money, but we make sure we protect these animals because they’re beyond special.”
The find comes just weeks after the showman acquired a two-headed albino hognose snake. Now with 14 live double-headers — not to mention 20 examples of dragon anomalies that didn’t make it past birth, including four-legged conjoined twins and one with two faces — Ray believes his Venice Beach Freakshow is the world’s largest assembly of two-headed creatures.
“One-headed animals definitely seem kinda weird to me at this point,” he said.