tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309Sun, 27 May 2012 02:11:09 +0000TurtleEcologyResearchRainbow SnakeInsectsRants and RavesFriday RoundupReptileGeorgiaFishtortoiseAmphibianCosta RicaHellbenderAlligatorMammalRat SnakeFaranciacrocodileRattlesnakeFloridaCopperheadIndigo SnakeSea TurtleCottonmouth MythsMythsReader QuestionsSquirrelAlabamaTravelSustainabilitye-mailhoaxGuest PostCottonmouthRestorationRat Snake FreakoutConservationSnakeSalamanderhttp://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/noreply@blogger.com (David Steen)Blogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-4690320418879221332Sun, 27 May 2012 02:11:00 +00002012-05-26T21:11:09.695-05:00Rat Snake FreakoutRat Snake Photo Borrowed From Original Article     Friends, colleagues, and loyal readers of this blog will know that I am enthralled and fascinated by Rat Snake Freakouts. Rat Snakes, of course, are large and common snakes that are found throughout eastern and central North America. Rat Snake Freakouts, on the other hand, occur when people panic upon encountering one of these harmless animals. It seemshttp://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/05/rat-snake-freakout-south-carolina.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-1796669604348258772Tue, 22 May 2012 22:42:00 +00002012-05-26T20:10:49.461-05:00Reader QuestionsRat Snake Esteemed Readership,    I implore you to help this concerned e-mail writer from Texas. It appears that there is a snake terrorizing her chickens and she can't get a straight answer regarding the species. I trust you can identify the culprit, which so often appears in my inbox. "Hi, We live in N.E. Texas and have never seen a snake like this. Can you tell me what kind of snake it is? http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/05/readers-write-in-what-is-this-dead_22.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-2326301802633948972Wed, 16 May 2012 01:44:00 +00002012-05-15T20:56:09.139-05:00Guest Post      The following article is a guest post by Brian Folt. Brian is a Ph.D. student at Auburn University, where he studies the community ecology of amphibians and reptiles. He grew up in the Midwest and received a B.S. from Ohio University in 2011. Brian conducted field work in Costa Rica for his undergraduate thesis and is interested in future tropical ecology work. Brian is an avid hiker and ahttp://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/05/spring-bioblitz-2012-hunt-for-plethodon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-3055285308952227791Tue, 08 May 2012 19:23:00 +00002012-05-08T14:23:58.091-05:00Reader QuestionsOkay everybody, you know the drill. I receive photos from people who want to know what snakes are crawling around in their yard and I leave it to you to tell them. As before, do not be shy if you are not a snake expert; if you are wrong, we will tell you why and you'll learn something. When identifying the snake, please indicate how you came to your conclusion. This time, in addition, please http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/05/readers-write-in-what-is-this-dead.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-7592375069049273850Tue, 01 May 2012 21:39:00 +00002012-05-01T16:39:11.208-05:00Most of what you read about here in this blog is based on scientific research. But, that research doesn't happen for free. Researchers must often jump through lots of hoops to get funding for their proposed work and often funding agencies say they're not interested or simply don't have the money. The #SciFund Challenge and Rocket Hub partnered together in response to these obstacles, their goal http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/05/make-turtle-research-happen.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-6877195918093312408Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:08:00 +00002012-04-08T17:28:22.186-05:00Guest PostIndigo Snake  The following article is a guest post by Michael P. Wines. Michael is a graduate student at Auburn University studying the Eastern Indigo Snake, Drymarchon couperi and the Red Hills Salamander,  Phaeognathus hubrichti.  He was a zookeeper at the Memphis Zoo for several years after graduating from the University of Memphis.  When not being made a fool by study organisms (see below), he writeshttp://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/04/snake-escape.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-4055009438491739956Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:45:00 +00002012-04-06T14:37:10.021-05:00RattlesnakeFriday RoundupHellbenderHellbenders re-discovered in northwestern Georgia. A few years ago, I wrote about an unsuccessful trip to northern Alabama to look for Hellbenders, Cryptobranchus alleghaniensis. For a population of these large salamanders to survive over long periods of time, they need clean and undisturbed streams with lots of large rocks. Because of pollution, agriculture, and siltation, there are few of thesehttp://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/04/friday-roundup-hellbenders-in-georgia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-7076307600275455741Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:04:00 +00002012-04-02T19:11:54.772-05:00SnakeGuest PostThe following article is a guest post by Andrew Durso. I would like to feature more guest posts here in the future; please contact me if you're interested in contributing. Want to see more posts from Andrew or other potential future guest bloggers? Encourage them by letting them know what you think in the Comments. Andrew Durso currently lives in Logan, Utah, and is a Ph.D. student at Utah Statehttp://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/04/natural-history-of-neck-banded-snakes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-3113783208218249803Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:42:00 +00002012-03-31T13:03:47.081-05:00Reader QuestionsI was very impressed by the readership a couple weeks ago when I asked everyone to chime in regarding their thoughts on a mystery snake I was sent to identify, so I thought we should make this a recurring feature. I just received the following e-mail. "I can't ID this snake positively. I think its a Black Racer. I live about 60 miles north of Miami. I know it's not poisonous but need to prove http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/03/readers-write-in-what-is-this-snake_31.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-597815607651977875Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:21:00 +00002012-03-21T20:47:50.377-05:00Rants and RavesRattlesnakeConservationThere never seems to be much of a shortage of articles or blogs about how some animals are truly bizarre, weird, or otherwise outrageous. These discussions never resonated with me. Animals have incredible and diverse strategies, behaviors, shapes, and sizes that allow them to persist and thrive in their environment. It would never occur to me to think of these animals as weird. No, for the http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/03/humans-can-be-bizarre-too.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-5618690088148142483Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:25:00 +00002012-03-14T16:43:10.759-05:00Reader QuestionsToday I received the following e-mail from a reader in Florida: "We had a 5 foot snake in our back yard which our yard man killed and then left it.  My husband did not get the chance to discard of it and today when we went out to remove it there is something that is pulling it into the ground.  It was a good size snake and it fits right into the hole.  We saw the tip of the legs of the animal http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/03/readers-write-in-what-is-eating-this.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-2474212767593019711Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:43:00 +00002012-03-09T08:43:18.078-06:00RattlesnakeFriday Roundup An Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake from Georgia A Scarcity of Rattlesnakes in Texas? This week, a newspaper article about the Sweetwater (Texas) Rattlesnake Roundup caught my eye. Rattlesnake roundups out West are a little different from the roundups in the southeastern United States. First of all, there are more of them (there are only two left in the Southeast) and second of all, they collecthttp://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/03/friday-roundup-western-diamondback.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-7585747557525207734Tue, 06 Mar 2012 02:21:00 +00002012-03-05T20:30:30.753-06:00Reader QuestionsAs you know, I welcome reader questions. The most common question I receive involves identifying snakes found in and around homes  (I previously presented a compilation of these e-mails here). The most recent entry arrived in my inbox last week. I think I have solved the case, but I would like a second (or third, or fourth) opinion. "Can you help me ID this snake? I found my cat playing with ithttp://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/03/readers-write-in-what-is-this-snake.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-7795948042265130041Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:06:00 +00002012-03-02T11:06:16.808-06:00Friday RoundupIn Honor of Leap Year: Deep Sea News presents this compilation of marine creatures leaping out of their oceanic habitats. Photographers with good timing captured these rare moments, allowing us to see animals like tuna, squid, and sharks, in a different light. The picture of the breaching Sperm Whale, Physeter macrocephalus is stunning. No, the last photograph is not real. What's the Frequency http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/03/friday-roundup-tribute-to-leaping.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-2184497193562618287Sun, 26 Feb 2012 16:40:00 +00002012-02-26T16:59:00.200-06:00Friday RoundupTurtle A New York Snapping Turtle Protecting Snapping Turtles in Canada.  The distribution and range of a species is often heavily influenced by climate and habitat. If an area does not have suitable climate or habitat for a species, they cannot occur there. It's that simple. Polar Bears would not be comfortable in tropical jungles and you will not find Green Iguanas basking on icecaps. It gets a http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/02/friday-roundup-eating-roadkill-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-2242465234931423458Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:32:00 +00002012-02-18T14:17:50.973-06:00TurtleGuest PostThe following article is a guest post by Sean Sterrett. I would like to feature more guest posts here in the future; please contact me if you're interested in contributing. Want to see more posts from Sean or other potential future guest bloggers? Encourage them by letting them know what you think in the Comments. Sean Sterrett currently lives in Athens, Georgia and is a Ph.D. student at the http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/02/chemistry-of-turtles-guest-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-1880109230348753933Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:35:00 +00002012-02-17T10:42:20.536-06:00Friday RoundupAre Alabama Turtles the Next Target? A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how Georgia recently enacted new laws to help protect their native turtle populations. By creating limits on the number of turtles one person can catch, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources hoped to regulate the likely-unsustainable harvest. Turtle populations just do not grow fast enough to replace the many individualshttp://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/02/friday-roundup-alabama-turtles-florida.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-3491113798765213579Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:35:00 +00002012-02-04T20:58:05.489-06:00Rat Snake FreakoutFriday RoundupMaking Strides in Georgia: In recent weeks, there have been many news stories coming out of Georgia that demonstrate how committed individuals and organizations have been making great strides in reptile conservation. I have written previously about rattlesnake roundups in the southeastern United States (as have others). These events encourage people to catch rattlesnakes over the course of the http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/02/friday-roundup-rattlesnake-festivals.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-3263048296824569543Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:16:00 +00002012-01-21T10:29:08.659-06:00Costa RicaTurtle A respectable haul With my first week of trapping turtles in Costa Rica coming to a close, I think it’s an appropriate time to take stock of the results. I set my traps on Monday and left them there all day and night before checking them on Tuesday morning. Although I had high hopes for five traps all full of turtles, the reality was a little less rewarding. Nothing. In the language of turtlehttp://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/01/trapping-turtles-in-costa-rica-week-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-1937967694232662165Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:04:00 +00002012-01-19T08:33:04.542-06:00Costa RicaTurtleSnake            Some animals, like turtles, can live for decades. But most turtle studies only last a few years (one big reason is that many studies are conducted by graduate students and, contrary to popular belief, students do in fact want to graduate quickly). So, because turtles live for decades and most studies are completed after just a couple years, that means that much of what we know about http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/01/trapping-tropical-turtles-today.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-2105584945774492350Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:08:00 +00002012-01-14T17:55:55.411-06:00RattlesnakeReader QuestionsA reader recently wrote to me in the hopes of shedding some light on a rattlesnake mystery from northern Wyoming. The original e-mail is below (I have edited for length and clarity). I was involved in a rescue event in late August in N. Wyoming.  For reasons too complex to go into here I found myself in knee-to-waist high mesquite brush in pitch-black darkness, wearing nothing but shorts, http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2012/01/readers-write-in-grey-ghost.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-7507783860011958350Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:45:00 +00002011-12-09T14:45:19.688-06:00Friday Roundup1. Snowy Owls Venture South. I would venture a guess that many people in the United States would say the closest they will ever get to a Snowy Owl, Nyctea scandiaca, is a Harry Potter Movie. They might be surprised. It has long been known that Snowy Owls from northern Canada periodically venture far south (here's one filmed in Tennessee in 2009). Last month, a Snowy Owl was photographed outside http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2011/12/friday-roundup-arctic-owls-in-united.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-5584907665495558176Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:32:00 +00002011-12-03T13:00:31.263-06:00Friday RoundupHellbender1. An Octopus Takes a Stroll. Perhaps you've come across the video of the octopus laboriously pulling itself out of the water and making its way through the intertidal zone. The Octopus was found in the James V. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve on the California coast. By the sound of the voices in the video, it was spotted by a family exploring the area. Katherine Harmon (in her blog, the Octopus http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2011/12/friday-roundup-octopus-invasion-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-1763963439293674912Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:33:00 +00002011-11-28T11:27:19.137-06:00FaranciaRainbow Snake A Georgia Rainbow Snake (courtesy D. Stevenson) A few weeks ago I wrote about how the South Florida Rainbow Snake, of which there are only a handful of known specimens (and not to be confused with the "normal" Rainbow Snake), was officially declared extinct by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Not so fast, say the Center for Snake Conservation and the Center for Biological http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2011/11/is-south-florida-rainbow-snake-really.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6899864228713172309.post-5045937049923502709Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:22:00 +00002011-11-25T10:33:40.298-06:00Snake   When eating a large meal, consuming something that weighs more than you do isn’t simply a matter of whether you want to do it; there are also some physical concerns. In other words, even if you wanted to eat more than your body weight in food (on some Thanksgiving pasts, I’ve certainly given it a fair shot), how can you possible fit it into your body? Something that weighs more than you do is http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2011/11/this-thanksgiving-dont-be-hog-nosed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (David Steen)0