Aquarama

Bad Economy Equals Abandoned Pets

2009-01-27T10:08:00.002-05:00

(by Patricia Mazzei/Miami Herald) Nowhere might the rise of abandoned pets, victims of the slumping economy, be more evident than in the southwest corners of Miami-Dade County. They wake before dawn on Saturdays and Sundays, pack their traps and doggie-treat bait and head to the avocado grove, thick with sawgrass and mud, dumped tires and an old toilet. It is the puppy roundup. The task for these canine rescuers: to hide in the bushes and, using hand signals and treats, lure the feral puppies covered in fleas and ticks. If things go well, they grab them and take them to foster homes to clean, train and vaccinate until they're ready for adoption. If not, they try again the next day. ''It's like a military operation,'' said Pamela Gray, who runs a Doberman pinscher shelter in Homestead and played lookout from a step ladder in her yard during a recent trapping attempt.

Miami-Dade County's animal services department has always taken in thousands of animals a year -- more than 34,000 in 2008, according to Dr. Sara Pizano, the department's director. But as the tanking economy has forced more people out of their jobs and homes, more pets are being left behind. ''We are now receiving weekly calls from police having us go into foreclosed homes with them because pets have been abandoned,'' Pizano said. "That's not something that happened a year or two ago.'' And she said the problem is worse in rural South Miami-Dade, which for years has been the spot where people dumped their unwanted dogs, cats and even horses, thinking they could be turned loose in the fields that line the fringes of the Everglades.

That has left harried dog rescuers from Palmetto Bay to Homestead struggling to cope with the abandoned animals. ''We're seeing more now than ever in the Redland, in Homestead, all kinds of rural areas,'' said Dee Chess of Friends Forever Rescue in Palmetto Bay. "And it's not just big dogs anymore.'' It's also the puppies and their mothers. Sometimes just one or the other; as unlicensed or accidental breeders find fewer buyers for their litters. ''People can just reach over the fence, drop a litter of pups and drive away,'' said Barbara St. Aubin of Homestead, who recently started her This is the Dog! rescue. "I've had nurseries call me, `We've found six, eight puppies here, can you help?''' The answer: Not always.

Shelters are full, and people are reluctant to turn the dogs over to county Animal Services, where they will get put down if they are not adopted.
So many dogs linger in the wild, coming out mostly at sunrise and sundown, the veteran strays focused on hunting for food, the rookies looking slightly lost trying to evade semis and pickup trucks to cross the streets. Some, like the ones in the avocado grove, have formed packs, the result of generations of strays reproducing and fending for themselves. Most just wander the streets and plant nurseries, looking for workers to throw leftovers their way.

Neighbors are used to it, telling stories of dogs that arrived at their doorsteps, hungry and lonely, eventually to become beloved pets.
There's the dog Patricia Fisher's neighbor found abandoned with a box of toys and a blanket. The one with bloodied paws, now christened Slinky; that found its way to the house of Sgt. James Hutton of Miami-Dade police's agricultural patrol. And Solar, whom Dianne Alexander lassoed in the middle of an intersection as the emaciated dog with chain marks and cigarette burns tried to eat the asphalt. ''It gets to the point. . .if you see a dog on the side of the road and he isn't starving and he's not in trouble and he seems to know what he's doing, you leave him alone,'' Alexander said.

County law allows people to own four dogs in a residential property less than an acre and up to eight dogs in two acres or more. Many folks in South Miami-Dade are already at their limit. The solution, as always, would be for people to register, identify, and spay or neuter their pets. Would-be pet owners should also know what they're getting into; from how big their puppy will become to knowing how to select the right pet from a reputable breeder. And, of course, people should stop thinking that domesticated animals will thrive in the rustic edges of the county. 'They say, "Oh, these people have property. They've got room for them,' '' Fisher said. "People down here are animal lovers, but it becomes overwhelming, and you feel so terrible when you have to pass one up.''

Commentary: Two culprits that avoid any criticism in this article are the Puppy Mills that often just throw out the dogs that get too big and too old, and the fact that the people who have lost their homes to foreclosures then have to move to an apartment, and the leasing laws in Florida allow owners to ban pets and most apartments do not accept pets. So people who lose their homes and have to move to an apartment often do not have any choice and must give up their dog one way or another. It is not that easy to find a willing friend or neighbor to take over the care and maintenance of a full grown older dog. This is all very sad for the dogs, they are Man's (and Women's) Best Friends, and yet they end up on the scrap heap of society in every city in every part of the USA. There really needs to be some kind of permit process in order for people to own dogs. Dogs should not just be as disposable as a used diaper.

PEDIPAWS

2009-01-14T01:24:00.006-05:00

For Christmas, I bought my two dogs a PediPaws so that I could painlessly trim their nails. I have a Jack Russell Terrier and a Shih-Tzu, which are both small to medium dogs. I have trimmed their nails before with those nail trimmers that are sold at most pet shops for under $10. It looks like it is an uncomfortable and sometimes painful experience for the dogs. I want my dogs to be as happy as possible, so I was looking forward to using PediPaws, especially after seeing so many commercials for this product. PediPaws costs $19.99, and I bought this at Walgreens Pharmacy. With much excitement, we all brought the dogs to the living room and began trying to trim their nails. Not much happened. PediPaws seemed to be shining their nails, not trimming them. If you pressed too hard on the sanding head, it just stopped. PediPaws is battery operated, so that means that it has very little power. The motor is probably one of those tiny little magnetized motors that are on the smallest motorized RC vehicles. In short, PediPaws sucked and after trying it on both dogs and all of their nails I boxed it all up and returned it to the store. I cannot really describe how very little the PediPaws did. The sanding head that attaches to the tip was micro-fine paper, which basically did very little to trim a hard nail.

Chinese Christmas Chow

2008-12-26T03:50:00.003-05:00

GUANGZHOU, China – While animal lovers in Beijing protested the killing of cats for food, a butcher in Guangdong province, where felines are the main ingredient in a famous soup; just shrugged her shoulders and wielded her cleaver. "Cats have a strong flavor. Dogs taste much better, but kittens are the most tasty," said the butcher, Ho Huang. It was just this attitude that outraged about 40 cat lovers who unfurled banners in a tearful protest outside the Guangdong government office in Beijing. Many were retirees who care for stray felines they said were being rounded up by dealers. "We must make them correct this uncivilized behavior," said Wang Hongyao, who represented the group in submitting a letter urging the provincial government to crack down on traders and restaurants, although there are no laws against eating dogs and cats, or serving them in restaurants.

COMMUNIST STAND AGAINST PETS: The protest was the latest clash between age-old traditions and the new sensibilities made possible by China's growing affluence. Pet ownership was once rare because the Communist Party condemned it as bourgeois and most people simply couldn't afford a cat or dog. The protesters' indignation was whipped up by recent reports in Chinese newspapers about the cat meat industry. On Monday, the Southern Metropolis Daily, a Guangdong paper famous for its exposes and aggressive reporting; ran a story that said about 1,000 cats were transported by train to Guangdong each day. The animals came from Nanjing, a major trading hub for cats, the newspaper said. They were brought to market by dealers on motorcycles, crammed into wooden crates and sent to Guangdong on trains. A photo showed a cat with green eyes peering from a crowded crate. Another photo showed a roasted cat being served at a popular restaurant in Guangdong. Chinese celebrities often make a point of being seen in public eating cats and dogs in order to curry favor with the Communist Party.

PET STEALING: Some people in Nanjing spend their days "fishing for cats," often stealing pets, the report said. One cat owner in Guanghzou said people are afraid to let their pets leave the house for fear they will get nabbed. "It's never been this bad. Who knows, it might be because of the bad economy. I've heard that there are cat-nabbing syndicates from Hunan that are rounding up cats," said the man, who would only give his surname, Lai, because he feared the cat business might be run by gangsters. Animal protection groups have occasionally ambushed truck convoys loaded with bamboo cages filled with cats bound for Guangdong. In one recent case, hundreds of cats escaped after their cages were opened, though hundreds more remained penned in the vehicle. Lai Xiaoyu, who was involved in the attempted "rescue," said authorities couldn't stop the cat shipment because the traders said the animals were to be raised as pets. "The police did what they could, but there's little they can do to stop or punish those traders from shipping live animals," Lai said.

PETA: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, issued a statement Thursday decrying the cruel treatment. "China has no animal protection laws, and throughout the country scores of cats and dogs are bred or rounded up, crammed onto trucks and driven for days under hellish conditions to animal markets, where they are beaten to death, strangled or boiled alive," said a spokesman for the group, Michael V. McGraw. Guangdong is home to the Cantonese people, famous for being the most adventurous eaters in China. There's a popular saying: "The Cantonese will eat anything that flies, except airplanes, and anything with legs, except a chair." Zhu Huilian, a nutrition and food safety professor at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangdong's capital, Guangzhou, said people usually eat cat in restaurants, not at home. Dogs on the other hand, are often purchased at markets and then taken home and slaughtered. "Most Chinese prefer to gut and clean their own dogs, though it is becoming more common to let the butcher do all the work. This costs more money. In the rural areas, dogs are kept as livestock, and the puppies are grown to be eaten. The meat of a young dog is very tender and sweet."

ANIMAL CRACKERS: "There's a famous soup called 'Dragon, Tiger and Phoenix,'" local cafe owner Wo Feng said. "It involves cooking snake, cat and chicken together." "We like serve soup with animal crackers. All have good laugh," said Cheu Wang, a local chop-shop cook. "In winter more people eat cats as they believe it's extra nutritious. I like cat only in soup. I prefer dog meat for cooking." The wide-ranging Cantonese culinary tastes are on display daily in Guangzhou, also known as Canton, in the Qing Ping Market. Shopkeepers sit behind cages full of writhing snakes, crates with puppies for sale, tubs filled with swimming turtles and plastic basins with mounds of scorpions crawling over each other. That's where the butcher, Ho Huang, sells her meat, sliced on a blood-soaked cutting board in a stall filled with cages of chickens and rabbits.

DOG CHOW: Hanging on a hook from its head — with its snout cut cleanly off — was a skinned dog with a long curly tail, paws with small clumps of fur still on them and black claws. The dog's jaw bone was displayed in a metal tray beneath the carcass. "The cat meat we sell comes from legitimate sources," said Ho Huang. "It's from cat farms. The animals are raised the same way cows are." She said cat meat sold for about $1.32 a pound, while dog meat was cheaper, at about 95 cents a pound. Chicken was the best buy at 62 cents a pound, while lamb sold for about $1.32. Ho Huang said customers had to order cat meat a day in advance because it doesn't sell as well as dog. "Cat tastes a bit like lamb. I don't like it much," she said. "Young cats are tender, but the meat on the older ones is really tough. Usually old people like eating it. I like dogs better. I make very expensive, special dish with dog testicles, and that is powerful aphrodesiac to make men more potent. Next day, men come by and pay extra tip to me if they have great night in bedroom."

NFL Dog Fighting

2008-11-22T22:30:00.011-05:00

Former National Football League quarterback Michael Vick put family pets in rings with pit bulls and thought it was funny watching the trained killers injure or kill the helpless dogs, a witness told federal investigators during the dog-fighting investigation that brought Vick down. In a 17-page report by case agent James Knorr of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said Vick placed pets in the ring against pit bulls owned by “Bad Newz Kennels” at least twice and watched as the pit bulls “caused major injuries.” The witness said Vick and co-defendants Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips “thought it was funny to watch the pit bull dogs injure or kill the other dogs.” Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison and is due to be released from the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas, on July 20, 2009. The report also details the killing of several dogs at property Vick owned on Moonlight Road in Surry County. It says Vick was administered a polygraph test by the FBI in October 2007 and denied taking part in the killing of dogs. When told he had failed that part of the test, Vick recanted his story and admitted to helping hang six to eight under-performing dogs. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, once the highest paid player in the NFL, has been suspended indefinitely by the league and his football future is uncertain. He’s also in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings with $16 million in assets and $20.4 million in liabilities. Peace, who also was convicted in the case, said there were times he suggested that dogs unwilling to fight be given away, but that Vick said “they got to go,” meaning be killed. The dogs were killed by shooting, hanging, electrocution and drowning, and in at least one instance Vick and Phillips killed a red pit bull by “slamming it to the ground several times before it died, breaking the dog’s back or neck.” Vick also said he purchased his first pull bull while a student at Virginia Tech in 1999. Miami Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter commented on the possible reinstatement of Michael Vick when he gets out of prison, "He's already been punished enough," said Porter, who owns a pair of pit bulls. "They gave him his penalty. He paid his penalty. What else should they do to him now? All it was was just dogs. They don't even like pit bulls anyway. That's the funny thing about it. I got pit bulls, I got to put them under a different breed just to travel. So you can't even fly pit bulls nowhere. It's a breed nobody likes and they don't care about. It's not like he was fighting cocker spaniels. They don't really care too much about pit bulls, so what's the bid deal?" Profootballtalk.com has reported that Porter let his pitbull loose and it killed a miniature horse.

Commentary?: What can you say about people that have no conscience? They do not see anything wrong with what they do. They are completely amoral and proud of it. For these guys, killing dogs and other animals is entertainment and fun. Too bad those dogs that were victimized by Michael Vick and others never got a chance to shoot back when they were being killed. Though most dogs are so faithful that they would not bite their owners even if they knew they were going to be killed. Dogs are Man's Best Friend, too bad that sometimes Man is not a good friend to dogs.

Amos Moses

2008-11-13T06:02:00.008-05:00

This is one of my favorite country songs, and I first heard it when my family and I moved down to Florida in 1974. The song was released in 1970, and had been a big hit at the time. In the 1970s, I heard Amos Moses a few times on the radio and never heard the name of the song. I thought the song was called "Alligator Man" but it is "Amos Moses" by Jerry Reed. In the 1970s, Jerry Reed had several hit songs, such as "When You're Hot You're Hot" and "She Got the Goldmine and I Got the Shaft." Primus covered the Amos Moses song, but Jerry Reed sounds a lot more country. Amos Moses is a funny song about the Louisiana Bayou, but to me the lyrics capture the smart-aleck attitude of the 1970s era and also the innocence and naivete of the country folks who never imagined what would happen when the land developers took the swamps of Florida (and Louisiana) and turned them into shopping centers and condominiums. There was a time when you could drive around anywhere in South Florida and find swampland, lots of water, reptiles, turtles, wild birds, gulls, herons, and alligators. The canals had alligators and lots of turtles of all kinds, including snapping turtles. Local kids would swim in the canals and lakes and knew where the alligators were swimming. We used to catch turtles and swim next to water moccasins and coral snakes. If you did not bother the critters, they never bothered you or me or anyone else that I knew. I hope that there are still parts of Florida where there is lots of swampland and open water with turtles and alligators and lots of fish and houses laid out with big yards and very little traffic and over-population.

Man Attacks Dog

2008-11-12T09:59:00.004-05:00

A Palm Beach County man is behind bars after repeatedly punching a 10-pound Shih Tzu and breaking the small pooch's jaw, law officers say. Edward Greiner, 40, who lives in Smith Farms near Lake Worth, was arrested Thursday and charged with cruelty to animals. Seymour, the black and white dog, required surgery to repair his jaw and is recuperating in a West Palm Beach veterinary's office. According to a police report, a witness told Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office detectives she saw Greiner repeatedly punch Seymour in the face with a closed fist. The witness said that she saw Greiner carrying Seymour out his front door when the dog urinated on him. Greiner allegedly drop the dog. The dog scampered across the street with Greiner in hot pursuit, yelling "Kill that dog," the police report says. That's when, the report says, Greiner grabbed the little dog and repeatedly slugged it. According to the police report, Greiner told his girlfriend -- Seymour's owner -- that the dog got the broken jaw and other injuries from running into a wall. Greiner also told police that "everyone is against him and taking sides with his soon-to-be-ex-wife so that she can have sole custody of their children." According to the Palm Beach County Jail website, Greiner is being held without bond.

Commentary: Wow, what a lunatic. I would not want that guy around children. Can you imagine if he had been holding a baby and the baby had urinated on him? Animals depend on people to take them out and for just about everything. In many ways, domesticated animals are alot like children. Anyone who beats and abuses animals is not someone that I would trust around people either!

University of Miami Crocodile Murdered

2008-11-10T22:08:00.002-05:00

(10/03/08)-The butchered carcass of an endangered American crocodile was discovered Wednesday in a canal on the University of Miami campus. A mesh bag with fishing chum found on the canal bank suggests the protected animal was lured to its death, then its head and tail were chopped off, said Officer Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. While large alligator heads are sometimes mounted as trophies, Pino said it would be pure speculation to guess at the reasons for the croc beheading. ''We're hoping that somebody will get outraged enough that they will call and tell us if they've heard or seen anything,'' he said. "Right now, the reality is we have little to go on.'' Crocodiles have been both a curiousity and a concern on the UM campus since 2004, when a couple popped up in Lake Osceola. One, an eight-foot, 200-pounder that students affectionately dubbed ''Donna'' after school president Donna Shalala, was removed and relocated. A second larger one eluded expert trapper Todd Hardwick for months -- despite the launch of the ''Croc-Tanic,'' a floating, 12-foot sun deck rigged with a net designed to ensnare the cold-blooded reptiles -- before disappearing. Since then, other crocodiles have been spotted on the Coral Gables campus without incident. UM issued a releasing saying the school was ''saddened'' by the killing and was cooperating with the FWC on the investigation. ''The university has been an understanding neighbor to this species,'' FWC biologist Lindsey Hord wrote in a statement.

UM worked with the state to develop an online program showing students and faculty how to co-exist with large and scary-looking creatures that are, at least typically, less aggressive than the alligators they are often mistaken for. There has never been a documented crocodile attack on a human in Florida. Biologists now estimate the population, which has expanded over the past decade, to be around 1,400 to 2,000 in South Florida -- with most of them living along the unpopulated coast of southern Florida Bay and Biscayne Bay. American crocodiles are listed as an endangered species in Florida and a threatened species under federal law. Killing them is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Pino said the croc was larger than most typically seen in campus canals and lakes connected to the Gables waterway.

The dismembered carcass, which still weighed several hundred pounds and took three men to handle, was transported to a lab for a necropsy that could reveal clues to the crime. Pino said a service worker made the gruesome find Wednesday afternoon. While it wasn't yet clear when the animal was killed, the remains had not yet begun rotting or bloating, suggesting the killing was recent. There were some signs of struggle along the canal, at the intersection of South Alhambra Circle and Ponce de Leon Boulevard near the campus police station, where the chum bag was found, Pino said. ''It lookes like they used that to lure the croc to come over to shore,'' he said. "Then they they used a sharp object, a machete or hatchet, to do the rest.''

UPDATE: (11/01/08) Donna the endangered crocodile, beloved by University of Miami students; was slaughtered as a thrill kill, university police said Thursday. John Michael Herndon, 16, was arrested as a result of tips about the crocodile's death, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission said in a news release. He faces a number of charges, including felony animal cruelty. The carcass of the 9- to 10-foot crocodile was discovered in a canal on the campus Oct. 1. The head and tail had been removed. "It is really disturbing that this person and his friends could come onto our campus and viciously kill this crocodile, which presented a threat to no one," said Chief David Rivero of the University of Miami Police Department. Investigators said Herndon told them where to find the head. Miami-Dade police divers found it in a pond on campus. More arrests are possible in the case, police said. The American crocodile is listed as an endangered species in Florida and a threatened species by U.S. environmental agencies. Unlike the alligator, which has a wide range in the coastal south, crocodiles are found only in the southern tip of Florida.

Police are also looking for an adult who they say also took part, luring the reptile with fishing chum, tying it down and chopping it up. The crocodile suffered, authorities said. ''They used knives to kill it,'' said UM Police Chief David Rivero. "It was a very disturbing killing of the crocodile.'' Campus police said a tip to Crime Stoppers about 10 days ago led them to a nearby apartment, where authorities executed a search warrant at the apartment of an ''associate'' of one of those involved. ''We were able to find some critical DNA evidence that told us we were on the right path,'' Rivero said. Five people, three of them juveniles, were at Lake Osceola when the crocodile was killed between 2 and 3 a.m. Oct. 1. Police said they were all friends and one had fished in the canal. The 16-year-old and an adult actively participated in the slaying, police said. ''We have an incredible amount of corroborating evidence including video, DNA,'' Rivero said. "We've recovered the knives. We've recovered the chum bag that was used to draw the crocodile close to shore.''

Crocodiles have called the UM campus home since 2004, and Rivero said the college community's attachment to the crocodile gave police an "incredible zeal to solve this case.'' A service worker made the gruesome discovery in the afternoon on Oct. 1. There were signs of struggle along the canal at the intersection of South Alhambra Circle and Ponce de Leon Boulevard, not far from the campus police station. Police say the group lured the crocodile with chum, tied it up and then killed it, cutting off its head and tail. There are only thought to be between 1,400 and 2,400 of the endangered American crocodiles left in Florida, said Officer Jorge Pino, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "That's why it hit home,'' Pino said. The pieces are often used as trophies or sold, Pino said, adding, "In this case and cases similar to this, it's all about the rush and it's all about wanting to commit this crime. We're not going to tolerate it.''

Commentary: How sad that sick bastards like these can kill innocent animals that are hurting nobody and doing harm to no one. These sickos who engage in the sadistic ritual killing of animals often move up the sicko ladder by becoming murderers. The Zodiac Killer is a perfect example. That guy used to catch squirrels in order to "disect" them and graduated to serial killer. Too bad that these animal molestors cannot be given Biblical Justice, an eye for an eye.

Animals Euthanized At Record Pace

2008-11-02T23:11:00.004-05:00

Several dozen animals are euthanized daily as population explodes and county lacks space. It was shortly after 11 a.m. when a man walked into the Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control offices Friday and turned in his dog because it was terrorizing his neighborhood. After a computerized background check on the dog, the two parted. What the pit bull didn't know was that he had joined "the list" of animals to be euthanized, then cremated, within days at the county's new $80,000 incinerator. With the pet population soaring, the shelter on Belvedere Road, west of West Palm Beach, has almost doubled its capacity. A lack of space in an old, smaller building forced officials to make life-and-death decisions. "We have nearly 30,000 animals coming in each year, and the old place was built for 17,000. So, if you have no space, a certain number has to be put to sleep every day to make room for those new ones coming in," said Dianne Mercer Sauve, director of the Animal Care and Control Division.

Each year, thousands of dogs, cats, pigs, raccoons, horses, birds and even emus pass through the doors of the animal shelter. Some will be adopted. Most will not. Every animal that enters the facility gets five days. Pet adoption advocates say there's been a rise in the number of animals being abandoned. "It's really terrible," said Jeannette Christos, founder of the Tri County Humane Society, which advocates for pet adoption. "Every day when we come to work, people tie animals to our fence. With the economy the way it is, that contributes to it." She would like to see people keep their animals. "I can never, ever see how anybody could abandon their animal. It's just sad," she said. Animals at the county shelter that show signs of aggression or have bitten before have little chance of adoption and are quickly put on the death list. Officials euthanize as many as 50 animals a day. When county officials built the old shelter 15 years ago, they did not expect it would outgrow the building. In April, county commissioners passed a $1.6 million improvement plan to replace three kennels that had deteriorated and the incinerator. They replaced the incinerator and plan to have the rest of the facility finished next month. The new incinerator replaced equipment built in 1990. It was too small for the workload and ran all day and at nights. The new incinerator is adjacent to the old one, which was in the back of the shelter. "It literally was just rusting apart and not very efficient," Sauve said. (story by C. Ron Allen, South Florida Sun-Sentinel).

Commentary: Very sad that so many people who buy pets do not make a lifetime commitment to these helpless animals. Let's face it, how many people sell their Playstations, TV, etc., before they are down to getting rid of their pets? Sadly, the dog, cat, or other pet is often the first one to be sacrificed when financial problems arise in a household.

Solutions? Personally, I think that half the Puppy Mills should be closed down, and that the sales of dogs should include a major tax to fund the upkeep of abandoned animals. All dog and other larger animal sales should be registered, and the owners should be required to get an annual check-up and tag for these dogs, cats, etc. There needs to be accountability for pet owners. There also should be tax breaks for people that have pets, and less restrictions against pet owners for rental homes and apartments. How many people that are getting their homes foreclosed are moving into an apartment that does not allow any pets?? What do you think?? It is very sad that an endless amount of innocent creatures are dying and being let down by their owners. After all, God created all creatures, not just humans.

Man Fights Shark to Save Dog

2008-10-01T09:53:00.006-04:00

A man has saved his pet dog from a shark attack by jumping into the water and punching the fish in the neck. Greg LeNoir and his rat terrier Jake were swimming at a Florida Keys marina when the attack happened. The 53-year-old carpenter said: "I saw a big, dark green shape, which I realised was a big shark's head. It zoomed up from under Jake. "Jake screamed - a death scream - and it sucked him under. I dove straight down like a battering ram, and I drove my fist under the water into the shark. "And it pushed him down - it felt like concrete on my hand." The shark's teeth punctured Jake's skin and some muscle on the dog's abdomen, chest and back. Jake also suffered lacerations on his right side and front left leg. The incident happened on Friday afternoon when Mr LeNoir took Jake to the Worldwide Sportsman's Bayside Marina pier in Islamorada, Florida for the dog's daily swim. Mr LeNoir said he was terrified when he saw the shark, but his only thought was saving Jake, who he described as a fast and fearless swimmer, often retrieving jellyfish and coconuts. "Jake is such a big part of mine and my wife's life - we don't have children," he said. "This is what she considers the closest thing to a child. And I couldn't abandon him." Mr LeNoir's brother, Phillip, told the Miami Herald: "Jake's doing great. And I still can't believe my brother jumped in the water and punched a shark."

Comments: WOW! It is great to read about someone who loves his dog so much he was willing to put his own life on the line!! But then there is this SAD NEWS from Australia:

Dog Burned to Death: A dog has died after being badly burned in Sydney's west yesterday, police said. The male terrier cross was found by a man walking his own dog along Orchardleigh Street at Old Guildford about 5.30pm, police said. Police said the man took the dog to the RSPCA at Yagoona but its injuries were so severe it was put down. Inspector Slade Macklin from the RSPCA said it appeared the dog had been set on fire deliberately. "Unless the dog was in a house fire or if someone turned around and said 'the dog jumped in an open fire', it's sort of unlikely that a dog would [do] something like that," Inspector Macklin said. But a police spokeswoman said Bankstown investigators were following a number of lines of inquiry and had not ruled out the possibility the dog's injuries were accidental. It is believed police last night made contact with the dog's owner, who lives in the Yagoona/Old Guildford area. Inspector Macklin said the dog, which was "only a couple of years old", was in shock when it was delivered to the RSPCA.

Dog Hanging From Tree: Yesterday a dead dog has been found hanging from a tree in Sydney's west, the RSPCA says. RSPCA NSW is appealing for witnesses to what it has labelled a shocking case of animal cruelty. The female cattle-dog cross was discovered this morning in RAAF Memorial Park, on the corner of Belmore Avenue and Woodstock Road in Mount Druitt.
The tan-coloured dog, thought to be no more than five years old, was probably hanging there for at least a few days, the RSPCA said. RSPCA NSW Inspector Matt Godwin said it was not clear if the animal was already dead before being strung up in the tree, but there were no other obvious injuries. "It is without a doubt, the worst case of cruelty and the most disturbing that I have ever seen," Inspector Godwin said. "We're appealing to anyone who has any information or who may have seen people acting suspiciously in the area over the weekend, to come forward. "The dogs' owners might still be looking for their pet." Anyone with information is urged to phone RSPCA NSW on (02) 9770 7555.

Stupid Pet Tricks

2008-07-03T01:45:00.002-04:00

Alligator Bites Guys Arm
WARNING: Blood - An animal trainer is doing a trick where he sticks his arm into an alligators open mouth. I guess the gator did not like the trick so he bites down on the guys arm and starts spinning around.

This video is a perfect illustration of a Darwin Awards winner at work. I have never been a fan of alligator wrestling, or any shows involving alligators or for that matter turtles, dolphins, whales, penguins, etc. I think that those animals are God's creatures and they should be appreciated and respected accordingly. Too bad that most of the natural habitats for these creatures are either being eliminated or polluted or otherwise destroyed.

Gator Bites Swimmer

2008-06-30T01:51:00.002-04:00

Okeechobee - Kasey Edwards said he never paid "too much mind" to alligators swimming in canals in Okeechobee County. But early Sunday morning, an 11½-foot alligator had his full attention as Edwards, 18, struggled to free his left arm from the jaws of the reptile. "It's a very surreal feeling. You know, feeling like you're about to die here and you know, praying to God," Edwards said. "I have to give all the credit to God for keeping me out there." He got away with his life and the gator with his left arm. Edwards admits he and his friends were drinking before he decided to jump in the 25-foot-deep canal in Nubbin Slough in Okeechobee County. "I've heard different rumors of what was involved and there were no drugs involved, no dare, nobody pushed me in or something."

At 2:21 a.m. Sunday, Edwards was hanging out with friends on Nubbin Slough in Okeechobee County when he told them he was going to swim across a 25-foot-deep canal, according to an Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office report. Edwards had been drinking alcoholic beverages earlier and may have been impaired, according to witnesses quoted in the report. His friends tried to persuade him not to do it, the report states. Halfway through the swim, an alligator approached Edwards and clamped down on his left arm. Edwards said he knew the next move was the death roll, when a gator pulls its prey underwater and rolls the victim around to drown it. When the alligator grabbed his arm, he remembered that gators spin their prey, so he told WFLX-TV that he grabbed a buoy line and didn't let go."I was just like holding on with everything I could for this gator was trying to pull me under," he told the station. "I'd surface, get a gasp of air and he'd just shake again and pull me under."He did it about five times," Edwards continued. Somewhere in the battle he used the middle finger on his right hand to poke the reptile in the eye. That's when Edwards got free, he said, started swimming and realized he didn't have his left arm. "I still at this time didn't realize that my arm was gone," he told WFLX-TV. "I just — my adrenalin was pumping, and I swam to the other side of the bank." His main concern was to make it to the east end of the canal so friends could pull him to safety.

The Florida State Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission captured the alligator after the attack, WFLX-TV reported. Edwards was taken to a Melbourne hospital for treatment and he should be released by the end of the week. Edwards told FOXNews.com that he wants the state to do more to control the alligator population, citing the safety of young children, but he declined to discuss his own encounter further."It seems like there's a crossroads," Edwards told WFLX-TV. "Either you have a positive attitude, you know, just make the best of a bad situation, or just sit there and feel sorry for yourself."

On Monday evening, Edwards was in fair condition at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne with his arm severed about 3 to 4 inches above the elbow. Today, Edwards said, he will have surgery. He hopes to be out of the hospital by the weekend. Edwards said his attack shows something needs to be done about the overpopulation of gators. "They're not protected creatures. They're nuisance animals," he said. Edwards said the credit for his survival and quick thinking goes to God, friends and emergency personnel. "I don't care who you are or how strong you think you are. You aren't going to be able to hold on to a buoy line while an 11½-foot alligator is trying to pull you underwater," he said.

Commentary: Now here is a drunken youth who goes into the alligator's habitat and gets bitten. Who is the nuisance animal? Does God protect drunks? Apparently not. Then again, the kid survived! Maybe God wanted to teach this guy a lesson: SOBER UP, and don't swim in alligator territory in the middle of the night!

Fleeing Criminal Killed By Gators

2007-11-15T12:36:00.000-05:00

MICCOSUKEE INDIAN RESERVATION, Fla. -- A man who jumped into an alligator-infested lake as he fled police died from a gator attack, authorities said Wednesday. Justo Padron, 36, of West Miami-Dade, was burglarizing a vehicle near the Miccosukee Resort and Convention Center last Thursday when police arrived, according to the tribe. Padron fled and jumped into a nearby lake where a sign warns people: "Danger Live Alligators." His body was recovered a day later with what appeared to be alligator teeth marks on his upper torso.

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Wednesday that Padron died of an alligator attack. His death has been classified an accident. An accomplice, Heriberto Rubio, surrendered and was arrested, said Dexter Lehtinen, a tribe attorney. Lehtinen said the two men were not members of the Miccosukee Tribe. Padron was wanted by authorities since September for violating his probation after pleading guilty in June to cocaine possession, according to The Miami Herald. He was arrested more than a dozen times since 1989 for various charges including burglary, robbery and drug possession, the newspaper reported. Padron was released from prison in 2002 after a six-year sentence for burglary. Padron died last Thursday, after he and another man, Heriberto Rubio, were spotted by a police officer while trying to steal a car in the casino parking lot, according to a tribe spokesman and court records. Rubio was captured after a short chase; he now faces charges of grand theft, resisting arrest and battery on a police officer. Police divers found Padron's body in the lake on Friday afternoon, but the tribe -- which is not bound by public-records law, did not disclose his death until Tuesday. The medical examiner has classified Padron's death as an accident. The office would not release any other details about the case.

Padron, 36, was classified as a ''habitual felony offender'' after more than a dozen arrests since 1989 for burglary, robbery, drug possession and other charges, Miami-Dade court records show. He was released from prison in 2002 following a six-year sentence for burglary. His most recent arrest came in April for drug possession. He was accused of selling cocaine to an undercover police officer. He was sentenced to 18 months probation after pleading guilty in June. In September, Padron violated probation by moving without notifying his probation officer and failing to pay court costs. A judge issued an arrest warrant on Sept. 24. Padron grew up around Sweetwater, one of six brothers and sisters who moved to the area from Cuba more than 20 years ago, said his sister, Maria. ''Regardless of the crime he was committing, he was a good person,'' she said. "He just had his ways.''

Rubio also has a half-dozen arrests for assault, robbery, cocaine possession and other charges. Last month he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of trespassing on a construction site, records show. A trapper later captured and killed two alligators found in the lake. One was about 7 ½ feet, the other 9 feet 3 inches, according to the trapper.

Dog Laws Need to Change

2007-11-12T00:36:00.000-05:00

Every so often the newspapers will publish some story about how many thousands of dogs are killed by the local county every years. In big cities it could be an astronomical number every year. It seems to me that there are a lot of factors that contribute to the death of so many dogs every year, and I think that local and state legislators could change the pet laws to make a big difference that would diminish the number of dogs that must be killed every year. These are the negative factors:

Apartment buildings and condominiums are permitted to ban pets. Usually the owners can change the rules whenever they want to, and people who have pets have to get rid of them. Apartment dwellers who have pets often have to get rid of them when they move to another rental unit that does not permit pets. Affordable housing in many cities is very limited, and often they do not permit pets. The apartment buildings and condominiums that do permit pets often charge an extra deposit premium per pet which is usually a minimum of $500 per pet and can be several thousand dollars in some building associations.
A dog license in most cities is around $100, but if you forget to send the payment on time the late fee in many cities is $500 or more. In some cities the late fee is astronomical and accrues monthly, so that after a few months an owner who is facing astronomical fees might decide to just give the dog away or take it to the dog pound rather than pay thousands of dollars in penalties. While these fees cannot be enforced against an apartment dweller, local governments will put a lien on a land-owner in a heartbeat, especially if the person who owns the dog also owns the home where the dog was registered. Some fines don't make much sense, and screwing pet owners for being late is one of those fines that I think is counter-productive.

Puppy Mills need to be outlawed or strictly regulated. At a shopping plaza near my home there is a puppy store almost next to a Pet Supermarket. The puppy store is horrifying. The poor dogs are in tiny cages that are often stacked, and it is like some kind of hellhole. Often the dogs stink from the urine and poop which has not been cleaned, and some of the bigger dogs look sick because they have outgrown the tiny cages. The people that work there are usually teenagers, and I am talking about the kind that look like thugs who are on probation from Youth Hall. I have rarely seen nice people working at these store-front puppy mills. I wonder how many dogs die in these little puppy stores, and I wonder what regulatory standards have to be followed, if any. I feel sorry for anyone that has to work at a puppy store because they have no other choice for earning income. I guess once they get used to the suffering of the animals it is just like any other business. Things have to be done to turn a profit, and at the end of every day somebody has to bag the dead dogs and toss them in the dumpster.
Regulating Pet Rescue organizations and making sure they are actually rescuing pets and not scamming donors. I have a somewhat jaded view of Pet Rescue. My only experience with this was some place near my house which seemed to have the same twenty dogs every time I ever went there. I actually tried to adopt a dog there once and they gave me an application which was longer than a mortgage, and they wanted to perform every kind of background check and also contact my employer as part of this pre-adoption check. The adoption fee was more than what it would cost to buy a puppy at a reputable store, and about ten times what it would cost to adopt a pet at the county dog pound. It would be nice if these pet rescue organizations had to be audited every year and then post their audits where the public could check. Number one question would be how many dogs actually got adopted.
Public parks need to allow pets. It really sucks that almost every park in most cities will not allow dogs. You cannot take your dog on a nature walk, jogging, biking, or anywhere else that involves public parks. Most state parks have similar bans against dogs. So if you wanted to take the dog camping or hiking with the family, sorry. Dogs are excluded primarily due to two issues. The most popular one is the dog poop. If everyone can bring their dog to the park, then it would be full of poop. I think that is a valid concern, but in many cities there are pooper scooper laws that encourage people to pick up after the dog or get fined. Nobody will know if such a system will work unless it is tried. The other major concern is that dogs will bite someone. The only solution to this is that dogs have to be kept on a leash. Additionally, public parks have to be immune to lawsuits as a result of dog bite cases. Lawyers and litigation have destroyed America and many traditions of America because of their greed. In order to make a few bucks, lawyers will ruin things for everyone else. Their theory is that by filing these lawsuits, they force governments and corporations to act more safely. What really happens is that once a government entity gets sued over something (like a dog bite), then they prohibit whatever activity led to the lawsuit (like allowing dogs in parks). There is no way to stop a dog bite if the dog owner is irresponsible and brings an aggressive dog to the park, so the only way to keep it from happening is to ban dogs. So everyone loses because of one dumb asshole.

That's my rant on dog laws and dogs. If you have any ideas about dog laws and how to improve the life of dogs and their standing in society, post a comment! Michelangelo said that you can judge a society by the way it treats its animals.

Puerto Rico Pet Massacre

2007-10-12T23:22:00.000-04:00

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Animal control workers seized dozens of dogs and cats from housing projects in the town of Barceloneta and hurled them from a bridge to their deaths, authorities and witnesses said Friday. Mayor Sol Luis Fontanez blamed a contractor hired to take the animals to a shelter. "This is an irresponsible, inhumane and shameful act," he told The Associated Press. Fontanez said the city hired Animal Control Solution to clear three housing projects of pets after warning residents about a no-pet policy. He said the city paid $60 for every animal recovered and another $100 for each trip to a shelter in the San Juan suburb of Carolina.

Raids were conducted on Monday and Wednesday, and the boricua residents told TV reporters they saw the animal control workers inject the animals. When they asked what they were giving them, they said they were told it was a sedative for the drive to the shelter. "They came as if it were a drug raid," said Alma Febus, an animal welfare activist. "They took away dogs, cats and whatever animal they could find. Some pets were taken away in front of children." But instead of being taken to a shelter, the pets and strays were thrown 50 feet from a bridge in the neighboring town of Vega Baja, according to Fontanez, witnesses and activists, apparently before dawn Tuesday. "Many were already dead when they threw them, but others were alive," said Jose Manuel Rivera, who lives next to the bridge. "Some of the animals managed to climb to the highway even though they were all battered, but about 50 animals remained there, dead."

Rivera said he alerted officials, who spread lime over the animals' corpses to control the stench. Animal Control Solution owner Julio Diaz said he went to the bridge when he heard of the allegations, but remains unconvinced that the dead animals are the same ones his company collected. "We have never thrown animals off any place. We always take them to our local shelter and euthanize them," he said. "They can't prove that they are the same dogs that we picked up." Fontanez said he would cancel the city's contract with Animal Control Solution and said city lawyers were considering a lawsuit.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has a rule allowing locally owned and operated housing authorities to set pet rules, but it does not grant authority for a blanket ban or mass confiscation, said Brian Sullivan, an HUD spokesman in Washington. Asked to comment on the reported pet massacre, Sullivan said: "This sickens me if true." Animal rights activists have long criticized the treatment of pets in Puerto Rico, where there is no pet registration law and little spaying or neutering. Animal shelters are overwhelmed and must kill many of the dogs they receive, according to Victor Collazo, president of the island's Association of Medical Veterinarians. One organization recruits volunteers to take dogs home with them on commercial flights, and sends between 1,500 and 2,000 dogs a year from Puerto Rico to American shelters. At least 175 dogs have been rescued in the last couple of years from Yabucoa Beach, which activists nicknamed "Dead Dog Beach" because of the strays that roam the coast and are sometimes found dead of disease, starvation or gunshots. Similar rescue efforts have been undertaken in the Bahamas and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Commentary? What can anyone say? I guess the poor people that live in apartment projects have no rights, and the pets have even less rights. What a horrible way to treat man's best friend. What an inhuman way to treat the children whose beloved pets were taken from them to be murdered.

Gator Bites Snorkeler

2007-10-01T01:53:00.002-04:00

South Carolina Snorkeler's Arm Re-attached After It Was Ripped Off By Monster Alligator!
The beast with the snorkeler's arm. Photo: Jerome Bien

Bill Hedden being attended to after the alligator attack. Photo: Jerome Bien

The alligator was shot several times before Hedden's arm was removed from inside.

Charleston, South Carolina -- A man is hospitalized in Charleston after an alligator bit off one of his arms at a Lake Moultrie recreation area. Bill Hedden, 59, is being treated at the Medical University of South Carolina hospital. Hedden's family has told the hospital not to release any information about his condition. Hedden was snorkeling in a Lake Moultrie recreation area when the gator attacked him about 3:45 p.m. Sunday.

Baby Snapping Turtles

2007-09-07T22:08:00.000-04:00

JAMESTOWN, N.D. -- Earlier this summer, Betty Kratzke noticed that something was disturbing the ground near the flowers that line her driveway. Solving the mystery this week proved to be a snap - when baby snapping turtles started crawling around her yard. "They just keep popping up out of the hole," said Cliff Hanson, Kratzke's brother-in-law. The turtles had recently hatched and were no bigger than a half dollar coin, said Darrell Perry, another brother-in-law. Family members scooped up 44 turtles in all. They were put in a cardboard box and taken to the nearby James River. "They went swimming away like crazy," Kratzke said.
Snapping turtles live to be decades old and can grow up to 40 pounds, said Gene Van Eeckhout, a biologist with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. They do not make nice pets, he said. "They're not very friendly to play with," Van Eeckhout said. Kratzke said she thought some sort of animal was disturbing her flowers. "But it was a long ways from being a muskrat or a raccoon," she said. "They are the cutest little things." Perry said the experience was one to remember. "While they were coming out, we just stood there and watched them in amazement," he said.

Observation: Those snapping turtles are sold for $25.-$30. each at the local pet store. I would love to have one. I had one a while back but it died after a couple of years. Turtles need a lot of attention to their water filtration, nutrition, and sunlight or UV lighting. It takes a lot of commitment and responsibility.

Rare Turtle Born in Tennessee

2007-07-06T14:32:00.000-04:00

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — The newest addition to the Tennessee Aquarium is a recently hatched rare turtle of an endangered species displayed in only a few places in North America. A rare Beal's four-eyed turtle, named for two white spots on the back of its head that look like another pair of eyes, hatched from a clutch of three eggs, aquarium officials announced Friday. "This little turtle in Chattanooga may represent the first successful reproduction of Sacalia bealei in a North American institution," aquarium herpetologist Enrico Walder said. The baby turtle weighed only 6 grams and was 38 millimeters long when it hatched June 9. There are only 18 known Beal's four-eyed turtles in the United States and Europe. The Dallas Zoo and the Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero, Calif., are the other two places in the U.S. with the turtles, aquarium officials said.

The turtles were once common in southern China, butd researchers believe their numbers will not grow large again because of their low reproductive rates. "As with many Asian species the Beal's four-eyed turtle has been over collected for use in the Chinese food and traditional medicine trade," Walder said. A male Beal's four-eyed turtle is currently on display at the aquarium, but the baby will not be exhibited until it is older.

Crocodile Bites Off Vet's Arm

2007-04-15T04:22:00.000-04:00

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A zoo worker had his forearm reattached Thursday after his colleagues recovered the severed limb from the mouth of a 440-pound Nile crocodile, an official said. The crocodile severed Chang Po-yu’s forearm on Wednesday at the Shaoshan Zoo in the southern city of Kaohsiung when the veterinarian tried to retrieve a tranquilizer dart from the reptile’s hide, zoo officials said.

The Liberty Times newspaper said Chang failed to notice the crocodile was not fully anesthetized when he stuck his arm through an iron rail to medicate it. As Chang was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday, a zoo worker shot two bullets at the crocodile’s neck to retrieve the forearm, said Chen Po-tsun, a zoo official. “The crocodile was unharmed as we didn’t find any bullet holes on its hide,” Chen said. “It probably was shocked and opened its mouth to let go of the limb.”

The 17-year-old reptile is one of a pair of Nile crocodiles kept by the Kaohsiung zoo. The crocodile is listed as an endangered species, and is rapidly disappearing from its native African habitat. Chen said the zoo purchased the crocodile from a local resident who had kept it as a pet.

Hello-Goodbye

2006-08-05T02:37:00.000-04:00

You say yes, I say no
You say stop and I say go, go, go
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello

Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello

I say high, you say low
You say why, and I say I don't know
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye
I say hello

Why, why, why, why, why, why?
Do you say good bye Goodbye,
bye, bye, bye, bye
Oh, no
You say goodbye and I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye I say hello
Hello, hello
I don't know why you say goodbye I say hello hello, hello

I don't know why you say goodbye I say hello
Hello
Hela, heba helloa Hela, heba helloa

Crusty the Gator Survives!

2006-07-22T02:42:00.000-04:00

The calls came from as far away as Hawaii: Spare Crusty. The gator, identified in a South Florida Sun-Sentinel story last week, was one of four who hung around rest stops and boat ramps along Alligator Alley in the Everglades. After being fed by humans, they had become overly friendly -- and potentially dangerous. Having lost their fear of humans, the law said they had to be destroyed.

But public attention, and an anonymous donor, has led to a permanent stay of execution. Three of the four condemned reptiles embarked Friday on a snappy new life in a shady gator pit at an animal exhibit in the Seminole Reservation in Hollywood. Crusty is still on the loose."They've got it better here than they did out there," said Todd Hardwick, the alligator trapper who helped arrange for the reptiles' new home. "They'll be cared for, get fed. They've got some female gators there."

Crusty's plight came to life in a story about officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission citing people for feeding the gators at Everglades rest areas. A total of 13 people have been charged this summer with the second-degree misdemeanor. Feeding gators causes them to associate people with food and increases the danger of attack, experts say. This spring, Florida alligators killed three women, including one in Sunrise. Feeding also means a death sentence for the gators. Crusty and three swamp-mates, whom wildlife officers named Speedy, Boomer and Freddy, were to be caught and destroyed.

But soon "Everybody was getting calls," said Hardwick, who fielded a half-dozen himself. "A lot of people felt sorry for the gators." One of Hardwick's callers was a Broward man who wished to remain anonymous. The man offered to pay the costs, $1,150 in this case, of capturing the gators. Trappers are paid from selling the meat and hides of the animals they catch. Trappers can sell condemned gators to a licensed animal facility at their own discretion, said wildlife agency spokesman Jorge Pino. Some wildlife officials received calls for a reprieve for the gators, but that didn't affect the agency's position, he added. "The process worked," Pino said. "An alligator was deemed to be a nuisance and it was removed. "Hardwick spent hours on the phone Thursday, notifying wildlife officials, resolving license issues and arranging for the Seminole Village to accept any captured gators.

That evening, trappers took to Alligator Alley looking for the four sociable critters. Within two hours, using a treble hook to snag and a noose to snare, they pulled two males and one female ashore. One male had lost part of his left foreleg. None appeared to be the 8.5 foot Crusty, named for a discoloration on his back. Next morning, the cold-blooded captives were sloshing in the pit at the Seminole Village under the care of manager Jimmy Riffle. "We're going to use them for educational purposes, to show what happens when you introduce food to alligators and the danger of it," Riffle said. Crusty may soon join them. Trappers will renew the search for Crusty this weekend.

Gator chews Shih Tzu

2006-06-28T00:46:00.000-04:00

Largo, Florida: One moment, Shih Tzu dogs Fifi and Cassidy were romping on the shore of a freshwater lake. The next Fifi was gone, dragged into the water in the jaws of an 9-foot alligator, the dog's owner said. "I just can't describe how fast it was,'' Al Clark said. The attack happened Sunday evening about 3 feet from shore, Clark said. He said Cassidy charged the alligator after it snatched 10-pound Fifi, but Clark pulled the dog back and watched helplessly as the gator carried Fifi across the lake in its jaws. "If I'd had a gun I would have shot him,'' Clark told the St. Petersburg Times.

On Tuesday, a trapper caught a 9-foot-9, 260-pound alligator believed to be the culprit. Jeanne Murphy, a park naturalist and wildlife biologist at the Pinellas County Extension, said alligators may confuse small pets with more common prey such as birds, fish and snakes. "I would not recommend walking small dogs or even medium-size dogs along the water's edge,'' Murphy said.

Everglades Claims Young Life

2006-06-19T20:31:00.000-04:00

A twenty year old man who lived to airboat, fish, and hunt in the Everglades collapsed and died after trudging through the scorching hot sawgrass to find help when his airboat got stuck. Willie Thornton knew the Everglades as a boy growing up in rural West Palm Beach. He spent every daylight hour he could four-wheeling near its banks, airboating with his father, or just horsing around there with his cousins.

But during a swamp outing on Friday, Thornton's favorite spot to relax became the scene of panic and hours later, his death. According to the Broward Sheriff's Office, Willie Thornton and his uncle, Danny Lee Thornton, launched their airboat about 8:30 a.m. Friday from a ramp at the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach County. The pair were about three miles from the ramp, in Broward County, when their airboat got stuck in the mud about 9 a.m. The boat, which Danny Lee Thornton had recently purchased, broke down. ''I guess Willie thought he'd just go try to find some help, go back to the truck and get a battery and see if they could fix the boat,'' Gaydos said.

Danny Lee Thornton, 38, used his cellphone to call relatives and tell them the boat wasn't working. Meanwhile, Willie Thornton slogged his way through at least 12-foot-high sawgrass searching for the road where the truck was parked. Swamp grasses can make it feel 20 degrees hotter. The temperature Friday in West Palm Beach was 90 degrees. ''The people who live out there get lost on a daily basis,'' said Robert Gaydos of South Carolina, who grew up with Danny Lee Thornton. "The levees are adjusted, forming islands one day that disappear the next.''

About 6:40 p.m. Friday, the Thornton family called the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, touching off an extensive search with helicopters and airboats. A Thornton cousin found Willie Thornton just before 11 a.m. Saturday, a fifth of a mile from the access road out of the Everglades, authorities said. He had wandered about two miles from where the airboat got stuck. Rescuers believe he died of exposure. The Broward County Medical Examiner's Office is expected to make a final determination later this week.

The Thornton family spent Father's Day at a home west of West Palm Beach, talking about the hardworking man who died in a place that, for years, had given him great peace. (excerpted from story by Ashley Frantz and Jennifer Lebovich)

Alligator bites snorkeler's head

2006-06-10T04:42:00.000-04:00

Apopka, Florida- (AP) -- A 30-year-old Apopka man received 33 stitches in his head after an alligator bit him while he was snorkeling alone, officials said. Michael A. Diaz Jr. was snorkeling in Rock Springs Run at Kelly Park on Thursday when he was attacked from behind, said a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "He reached back, grabbed the alligator and pushed him away." Diaz described it as a 3- to 4-foot alligator.

Carol Clark, a spokeswoman for Orange County Parks and Recreation, said Friday that trappers are continuing to try to find the alligator and the swimming area will remain closed until it can be caught. About 500 to 600 people visited the park Thursday, Matt Suedmeyer, assistant manager for Orange County Parks and Recreation, said. With the ongoing drought, many larger alligators have pushed smaller ones out of their territory. Activity is heightened during mating season as well.

11 Foot Saltwater Crocodile caught in backyard

2006-06-02T07:10:00.000-04:00

Giant saltwater croc captured in yard in Dade's Cutler Bay
(excerpt from NBC 6,Posted June 1 2006, 12:20 PM EDT)

MIAMI -- A huge crocodile is heading back into the wild after being captured in a family's yard in Cutler Bay, news partner NBC 6 reported. It took six men from Pesky Critters to catch the 11-foot, 500-pound saltwater croc.
The crocodile will be released, not killed, because saltwater crocodiles are considered nearly extinct. Trapper Todd Hardwick called the sighting positive."There are more and more crocodiles turning up now because the animals are making a recovery, which is a great thing. Unfortunately, the citizens aren't so crazy about seeing an 11-foot crocodile in the neighborhood," he said. The family who lives at the home was shaken up, but no one was injured.

Slain gator was killer, officials confirm

2006-05-27T10:08:00.000-04:00

OCALA NATIONAL FOREST -- (AP) --

Wildlife officials confirmed Friday that an alligator they had captured and killed last week is the one that fatally attacked a Tennessee woman while she was snorkeling in a secluded recreation area.

Trappers caught the 11-foot-4-inch, 407-pound alligator last Thursday in Juniper Creek, near Lake George, where Annemarie Campbell of Paris, Tenn., was attacked.

Wildlife officials who performed a necropsy on the alligator last week said the animal bore scratch marks on its snout and a stab wound in its right eyelid, but there was nothing in its stomach.

On Friday, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Joy Hill said their investigations, witness statements and a comparison of the alligator's teeth to marks on Campbell's body confirmed they had the right animal.

The body of 23-year-old Campbell was found sticking out of the alligator's mouth on May 14. Friends beat the reptile until it released Campbell's body. Her death was the third fatal alligator attack in Florida this month.

Gators Kill Two more Women!

2006-05-15T21:07:00.000-04:00

SALT SPRINGS, Fla. - An alligator fatally attacked a 23-year-old woman Sunday near Lake George, authorities said.

The woman had been staying at a secluded cabin near a springhead that feeds into the lake, said Marion County Fire-Rescue Capt. Joe Amigliore.
"The people she was staying with came around and found her inside the gator's mouth," Amigliore said. "They jumped into the water and somehow pulled her out of the gator's mouth."

The woman, whose name was not released, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her stepfather, who had tried to help her, was treated on the scene for a hand injury, said Amigliore.

The attack occurred near lakeside recreation 7 miles south of Salt Springs, Amigliore said. Authorities were searching for the alligator Sunday night. Salt Springs is about 40 miles southeast of Gainesville.

Meanwhile, Pinellas County authorities said a woman whose body was found Sunday morning in a canal in an Oldsmar subdivision was likely killed by an alligator.

Judy W. Cooper, 43, Dunedin, was found with animal bites that were consistent with an alligator, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Why she was in the area, where wildlife officials said alligators are frequently spotted, was not immediately known.

An autopsy determined that an alligator "did play some part in the victim's death," though the cause of death was pending and the medical examiner's final report will not be released for at least four weeks, sheriff's office said. Oldsmar is 20 miles north of St. Petersburg.

In the past week, four women have been attacked by alligators. Three of them were fatally mauled and partially eaten. What's going on? Is it the constant construction into areas that used to be part of the Everglades (or other wilderness swamps?)? Are gators just hunting in places were they used to find deer; but now it is full of people?

Dusty makes a new friend

2006-05-14T14:08:00.000-04:00

Time to take Robby home for a visit. Unfortunately, Dusty doesn't know her own strength, and little Robby seems to be getting the squeeze!

Hope springs eternal, and little Robby the Rodent takes one last look up to the heavens, hoping that the hand of a higher power will save him from impending doom.

Killer Alligator Eats Woman

2006-05-13T01:40:00.000-04:00

SUNRISE, Fla. - Wildlife officers captured an alligator Saturday they believe was responsible for fatally attacking a woman while she was out jogging.
The 9-foot, 6-inch alligator was trapped just under the bridge where Yovy Suarez Jimenez, 28, was last seen, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Dani Moschella said. Two human arms were found inside the alligator's belly, Moschella said.

Authorities still aren't sure how the alligator attacked Suarez. Witnesses had reported seeing a woman matching Suarez's description dangling her feet over the water's edge on Tuesday, but no one saw an attack.

A medical examiner said the alligator attacked while she was on land and then dragged her body into a canal. Suarez's death is the 18th confirmed fatal alligator attack in Florida since 1948, Moschella said. Nine other deaths are unconfirmed.

Dusty meets Mickey!

2006-04-23T01:56:00.000-04:00

Dusty the Ball Python cruising through her neighborhood.

What's that up there on the branch?

Another cousin of Mickey Mouse has dropped by selling magazine subscriptions! This mouse was smarter than most and quickly realized that a longer life was only possible by climbing out of the terrarium.

Unfortunately, the little branch does not go all the way to the top. Little Mickey was hoping for a miracle at this point.

Do mice believe in an afterlife? Did little Mickey make it into Disney World? Did he see a bright light and hear the Mickey Mouse Club song as Dusty squeezed the life out of him?

Was he still alive when Dusty started to swallow him face-first? If there is such a thing as reincarnation, did little Mickey get reborn as a snake? Perhaps one day he will be a famous lawyer?

Playing mouse the hard way

2006-04-17T22:53:00.000-04:00

Dusty the Ball Python sees the mouse

Snake strikes at mouse

Dusty crushes the life out of the mouse

Snake eats mouse, head-first

Men charged in alligator barbecue

2006-04-14T00:49:00.000-04:00

By JENNIFER BABSON excerpt from Miami Herald

KEY WEST - Two Keys men face criminal charges after wildlife officials say they killed and butchered a protected American Alligator last month -- serving her up at a backyard barbecue a few days later.

The two men, Timothy B. Goll, 18, of Marathon, and Jordan T. Milo, 20, of Big Pine Key, have been charged with killing the animal, a third degree felony.

State and federal wildlife investigators say two other people -- both high school students, one a minor -- are also believed to be involved in the March 24 incident. They have not yet been charged.
The men are alleged to have shot the female adult gator and then beaten her death.

"They apparently used a pellet gun to disable it and then used a baseball bat to kill it," said Lt. Steve Acton, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is investigating the incident along with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

The animal's unwanted body parts were discarded in area canals and later recovered. The gator lived in a freshwater pond on Big Pine Key. The incident is among several crocodile and alligator killings that have occurred in the Keys recently.

Five Dade County men were charged in a December incident in the Upper Keys in which an American crocodile was captured, dragged behind a vehicle, and killed.

Early last month, two endangered American crocodiles were found dead -- apparently from gunshot wounds -- in the Lower Keys. Their carcasses were dumped along remote areas off U.S. 1.

Texas Yellow Mud Turtle

2006-04-01T14:07:00.000-05:00

This is my Texas Yellow Mud Turtle. It is about four inches long. It is a pretty neat little turtle. I have it in the ten gallon tank which has tropical fish also. The small mud turtles do not seem to be very fast when it comes to hunting fish, so the tropical fish seem to mostly survive in the tank. I have a variety of fish. Glass shrimp, neons, mollies, guppies, zebra danios, a red-tail barb, and I had a catfish but it looks like it was eaten by the turtles.

The Texas Mud Turtle has a sort of mustard color. It is named a Yellow Mud Turtle because the skin on its neck is sort of yellowish. It is different from the standard Mud Turtles that I have gotten in the past.

It also seems to be more shy and thoughtful. That may sound silly, but this turtle will look around and turn her head at things. The little turtle seems to be thinking about what to do. Too bad turtles can't talk, it would be interesting to hear what it is thinking about.

She has a very short tail, so she is a female turtle. My child has named all the turtles but I don't remember this one's name. This little turtle also seems to enjoy looking at its own reflection in the glass of the aquarium. When I see the turtle doing that, it reminds me of that song by Siouxie and the Banshees (Through the Looking Glass). The larger turtles in the other aquarium are used to looking through the glass. They can see me when I walk by, and they start sticking their heads out of the water and paddling when they want food. I guess it must be weird to be a turtle in an aquarium looking out at people walking by.

Musk Turtle is growing

2006-03-06T07:14:00.000-05:00

The Musk turtle is getting bigger. Now that this one and the Texas Mud turtle are in their own tank, I think they will do better. The larger turtles in the other tank have a tendency to nip at the smaller turtles.

I found Dusty, the Ball Python!

2006-03-05T23:51:00.000-05:00

After four months missing in action, today I found Dusty! We were all overjoyed to see that the baby snake was back! I was shocked to find it, and also very happy. There I was playing ball with my dog Brownie, when the rubber Hi-Bounce ball bounced over a book shelf and then rolled down the back of the shelf and got stuck between the book-shelf and the wall. These Super-Balls are about two inches in diameter, and Brownie loves running after them because they bounce around so much. When the ball bounced behind the book shelf, Brownie kept wagging her tail at the book shelf and whining.

I did not have a spare ball around, so I moved the book shelf to get the ball. When I moved the book shelf a little, the ball rolled all the way down the wall and under the book shelf. So I had to move the book shelf completely away from the wall in order to get the ball. As I pushed the book shelf about a foot away from the wall, I saw the balled up snake rolling on the floor! Apparently it had gone into hibernation, and I had awakened it? What is funny is that my dog Brownie has often sniffed at the bottom of that book shelf. Since I have lost a few of those Hi-Bounce balls when they have bounced behind various furniture (because I am not going to move the furniture to find a little rubber ball), I had always thought that Brownie was sniffing at some lost ball.

On the floor area that where the snake had been was the old waste of the last mouse it had eaten back in December, and a sloughed-off skin. It took a few minutes to clean tht up, as the stuff had all dried into the floor (fortunately it is not a rug!). Apparently Dusty had moulted once at some point. The snake had a tiny bit of skin that seemed to have been rubbed off, possibly when I moved the shelf. You can see the abrasion in this photo (about two inches on the ridge of its spine, near the right-hand corner of the photo) of Dusty that I took when I put it into its home. It stayed in the water dish for a while. It was too late to go to the pet store and buy a mouse. Hopefully Dusty will be hungry!

Map Turtle hunts goldfish

2006-02-22T07:49:00.002-05:00

Here is Coconut the Map Turtle catching another goldfish. One of the perils of keeping turtles in an aquarium is that when they manage to climb out they fall on the floor and sometimes their shells get dinged or even cracked. Coconut has a ding on one of its front shell plates. I guess that is why many people that have turtles keep the water level low. However, I prefer to see them have as much space as possible to swim around in, so I keep the water near the top of the aquarium.

Here is my Map Turtle catching a goldfish. This turtle is named Coconut. I am not sure if it is a boy or a girl. The tail is pretty big, and that usually indicates it is a male. On the other hand, males usually have a slightly longer tail. This turtle is less than three years old. We got Coconut when it was a baby turtle at the Snakes reptile store.

Coconut the Map Turtle snacking on a goldfish a couple of days ago. The love the feeder fish.

Yellow Belly Turtle

2006-02-19T11:49:00.000-05:00

This is one of the two Yellow Bellied Turtles that I have right now in a twenty gallon long tank. They are pretty friendly and are hand-fed, except when I put the feeder-fish into the aquarium. They love swimming around snapping up those goldfish!

Florida Box Turtle

2006-02-14T14:20:00.000-05:00

I had a few box turtles in the 1980s. I tried leaving them out in the yard and they invariably would dig a whole under the fence and leave. I recovered a couple, but I wonder where the rest of them went. I hope they did OK. Keeping box turtles in a cat litter box was the other alternative. There were some large plastic contatiners that were bigger than a standard aquarium and easier to clean out because they are lighter. The box turtles never seemed very happy.

Most aquatic turtles seem more sociable and happy in a clean aquarium, and they respond to me when they imagine that they are going to be fed. My box turtles on the other hand never warmed up to me. I let them have the run of the yard, so perhaps they were just not getting enough human contact? I have always liked them a lot. They are cool to watch walking around. Some day it would be nice to have some land and build a turtle habitat.

Update: 04/16/07: Faizal recently posted a link to these cool photos of his Star Tortoise being born. The photos are very amazing, I am glad to have seen them!

Musk Turtle

2006-02-13T13:39:00.000-05:00

Musk Turtles are climbers! This little turtle climbed out of its aquatic habitat and then went climbing up the chicken wire. The balcony was on a second floor, so the turtle was lucky it did not go the other way and fall down to the pavement. This photo is from around 1979.

American Crocodiles on Dania Beach

2006-02-07T08:57:00.000-05:00

The American crocodiles living near one Dania Beach neighborhood have been there for years, but on Monday they got plenty of media attention. BY DIANA MOSKOVITZ
Miami Herald

For the three crocodiles who live in the lake at the Watermark condominiums, Monday started out as just another day in paradise. At least one of the reptilian residents took his usual morning sunbath on its usual spot, when suddenly, they became television stars.

TV news helicopters fluttered overhead. Reporters and wildlife officers appeared on the lake shore. Neighbors gathered to see what all the fuss was about. But it was much ado about nothing. Someone, it seems, had called the Broward Sheriff's Office about the crocs, thinking they were some kind of menace.

Not only were the creatures innocent of any criminal wrongdoing, they're special guests in the Dania Beach neighborhood -- protected as a federal endangered species. Only an estimated 1,000 crocodiles are left in Florida. And the Watermark crocs were not threatening anyone, said Officer Jorge Pino, spokesman for the South Florida office of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Neighbors should be OK -- as long as they leave the animals alone, Pino said. ''All they want to do is be left alone, sun and swim,'' Pino said. ``At this point, all we have is crocodiles being crocodiles.'' If the crocs were a threat, they would be moved to a croc sanctuary near Turkey Point, in southern Miami-Dade County, he said.

The rule is different for alligators, which are not endangered but listed as threatened in Florida. More than a million alligators live in the state, Pino said. Wildlife officers will have an alligator killed if it poses a threat to people.

The Watermark crocodiles are well known, both to neighborhood residents and to wildlife officers. Biologists once tried trapping the oldest for study but failed, Pino said. ''Now our crocs are famous,'' Watermark resident Bette Weber said. ``I'm so glad they aren't taking them away.''

Two are about 9 feet long and about 9 years old, Pino said. The biggest, and oldest, is more than 13 feet long and probably more than 13 years old, he said. The oldest has been in the neighborhood for years and often could be seen skimming half-submerged in the water. His favorite sunbathing times: early in the morning and about 3 p.m., resident Della Moore said.

''My kids have known him for years,'' Moore said. The two newer crocs arrived after Hurricane Wilma, she said. The crocs stay close to the water's edge but began venturing farther onto land after Hurricane Wilma knocked down trees and the stumps were removed, Moore said.

The crocs recent appearances farther out of the water worried Joann Brave. ''If somebody came, was not aware, and disturbed it, who knows what happens?'' Brave said. Neighbors don't know the gender, calling the crocs he or she at will. A few say alligators until corrected.

American crocodiles can be distinguished from alligators by their longer, narrower snouts, greenish color and always visible teeth, University of Florida ecologist Frank Mazzotti said. American alligators have rounded snouts, are black as adults, and keep all their teeth inside with closed mouths, Mazzotti said.

The key is finding a way to live together, Pino said. It is illegal to touch, feed or harass a croc, Pino said. Staying away is key. Crocs are afraid of humans but become dangerous when they lose that fear, he said. Feeding them is worse, Mazzotti said. Then they associate people with food, which could have unfortunate consequences, he said.

My ball python is gone!

2006-01-13T02:14:00.000-05:00

My ball python was getting pretty big, though it was not really more than two feet long. One day, I took a couple of books off the top of the terrarium, and when I came back the top had been pried open and the snake was gone. I figured that it was under some furniture or behind something, and that after a few days it would show up. Several weeks later, I have never seen it again. I guess it must have taken off through an open door. Since this property has lots of common area that is landscaped, a snake would not have much trouble escaping. Finding mice on the other hand, might not be as easy. Then again supposedly there are mice and rats in most urban areas.

Ball Python catching a mouse

2005-11-21T04:31:00.006-05:00

Jake the Snake looking for a meal

Yummy! Friends 'til the end?

This is the end, friend!

Is the mouse just playing dead (or plain dead)?

The tail looks crunchy!

My ball python is about six months old, and he seems to be getting fatter but not longer. I keep feeding him (or her?) a mouse every 5-7 days, and sometimes a rat-pup. It is good to see the python has a healthy appetite, and at least it is growing (fat?).

Hurricane Wilma

2005-10-27T18:49:00.000-04:00

Whoa, another bad Hurricane came through Miami. This one left 98% of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties without any electricity. Unlike Katrina that crushed my car (thanks to falling branches from trees), this one just took the electricity (normal for a Hurricane). The night Wilma came by I drove my car around the complex and found a nice spot away from the trees and between two vans. I wish I had done that when Katrina was coming. Of course, the two vans got hit by a row of wooden fences that got blown away. Their windshields were smashed, but my small Chevy Aveo was safely protected!

After three days without electricity, the power is back on. But more than 90% of the population is still without any electricity, and many will be without any for a month. The FEMA folks forgot to gas up their trucks, so even though they brought trucks with water (and charge billions to the taxpayers for that), the trucks were in the parking lots ungassed. After a few days they got around to distributing some water (but why? The water here is not contaminated) but they did not bring ICE or any fresh food, which is what people who don't have electricity really need. I feel sorry for those that are relying on FEMA for any help. What a bunch of incompetents; but then FEMA is being run by a guy who failed as a horse show organizer.

Turtles in the Everglades

2005-10-22T19:13:00.001-04:00

Nearly every time that I have ever been to the Everglades, I have seen turtles basking in the sun. Sometimes they are not very big, such as these two Peninsula Cooters (I guess they could be Painted Turtles?) that are pictured above. Those turtles were about a foot long.
The softshell turtle (July 13) on the other hand was about three feet long and the largest that I have ever seen.

baby Ball Python

2005-08-29T02:20:00.001-04:00

That's good eatin'

My baby Ball Python snacking on a pinkie

Flamingo Gardens & Reptile Show

2005-08-29T01:16:00.000-04:00

My family and I had a chance to visit Flamingo Gardens in Davie, Florida and ended up buying a Ball Python at a very reasonable price ($15.). These Ball Pythons are usually sold at local pet stores for $49. each, so the savings more than covered the Admission fee of $6. per person which included the entry fee to visit the Flamingo Gardens. Flamingo Gardens itself had some interesting Nature exhibits and a short Reptile seminar. It was a very nice park to visit. It has tons of tropical plants, flowers, trees, and also birds and reptiles and some rides. The Reptile Show was in convention hall in Flamingo Gardens, and it had lots of tables and some great bargains on all kinds of reptiles and turtles. There were lots of interesting critters, bugs, skunks, ferrets, rats, mice, various monkeys, flying squirrels, weird rabbits, guinea pigs, Iguanas, all kinds of snakes, turtles, spiders, scorpions, and more!

Lauren is the promoter of Florida's Reptile and Alternative Pet Shows. Lauren is a very nice and friendly person and she sold us a very colorful silk-screened reptile T-shirt for only $12. Just about everything at this reptile show had great deals compared to any pet stores.

Summer of Death

2005-08-28T20:21:00.000-04:00

I am not sure why, but this summer we bought a small mud turtle (baby) and a month later it died. Then we bought his replacement (Shelby II) and a month later he died. Then a mud turtle that I had bought as a baby but which was now about three years old also died. It was about three inches long when it died. Hopefully there are swamps and rivers and lakes in Heaven, and turtles, fish, and alligators (not to mention dogs and NFL Football). Do you think animals and beloved pets have an afterlife? It is kind of sad when our pets die. Even a little reptile can have a lot of personality.

Visit to the Everglades in July

2005-07-13T22:56:00.001-04:00

The Everglades in July are hot. The mosquitoes are flying around in swarms. These are big fat mosquitoes, not the skinny tiny ones that are usually in South Florida.

You can feel these mosquitoes when they fly into your arms and legs. Even worse are some big green flies that are about an inch long and they buzz people too. The dragonflies are about four inches long and thick. I am not sure if the bite, but they feel sharp when they fly into a body.
There was a large softshell turtle sunning itself by the third visitor's area. The turtle had a very deep brownish green color. The turtle looked so alive and happy to be there. I felt very privileged to be there that day.

The softshell turtle was at least three feet long about about two feet wide. It looked very healthy and as I got closer to it the turtle looked at me and actually walked towards me. I wonder if it had gotten in the habit of getting treats from visitors. I did not have any food, I wonder what it would want to eat? Certainly the Repto-Min pellets are too tiny. I guess I could have brought along a pail full of shiners from the Bait Store (or as the Three Stooges used to say: "If I had known you were coming, I would have baked a cake.")

After the softshell turtle had been walking around for a few minutes it stopped and some big bugs flew on its shell. I was wondering if the bugs were eating parasites or algae. I am not sure what they were. They looked like big Palmetto bugs (roaches), but maybe they were dragonflies? The bugs looked like something out of a science fiction horror movie, and I was not interested in getting close enough to find out. By then the mosquitoes had started biting us to bits anyway, and we wanted to get back into the car and air-conditioning.
Lots of Gators in the 'Glades

Map Turtle

2004-12-22T05:44:00.000-05:00

I have a Map Turtle that was purchased as a small baby (for educational purposes) and is now about five inches long. The serrated scales on the side of the shell are pretty cool. The Turtle also has a highly detailed skin featuring yellow stripes on her dark green skin. After the Mud Turtle died, we wanted to get another friend for the little red-ear slider. Small Mud & Musk Turtles are rarely available in the average Reptile store, and especially in the Fall months. So we found a baby Map Turtle, and he is getting along fine with the baby Red-Ear and the small Musk Turtle. One big happy family. That is a great thing about turtles. They usually get along very well, and they seem to live in harmony except when they are trying to get the same piece of food. They climb on each other to bask in the sunlight, and they do not seem to have any major hang-ups!

Little Snapping Turtle & Slider

2004-12-16T02:18:00.000-05:00

These two eventually got pretty big back in the 1990s

Little Red Eared Slider

2004-12-15T04:07:00.001-05:00

We visited a local reptile pet store as we often do to look at the many interesting critters. I guess it is called window shopping. The usual suspects were there, incarcerated in their terrariums and aquariums, and some were in little plastic trays. The feeder rats, mice, pinkies, and bloods had just been delivered. You could see the big rats red eyes were looking for a way out as they scrambled around in their delivery crates.

Spotted a batch of small red-eared sliders. These guys were very young and full of pep. The red-eared sliders were $5. each, the snapping turtles were $25. and the soft-shell, map turtles, and painted turtles were $20. each. Three of the turtles in our aquarium were now getting close to five inches long and they were purchased as little babies originally (for educational purposes).

Picked a very energetic little fellow. He/she is doing great so far, getting lots of sun and artificial lighting at the basking places in a long twenty gallon aquarium. Reptile aquariums are horizontally longer and vertically shorter.

Alligator hunting for snacks?

2004-12-01T23:29:00.000-05:00

What chance does a turtle that lived in captivity for several years have against Nature's Predators? Once a turtle is used to swimming around in an aquarium where it only has to face goldfish, what chance will it have if it is released into the wild?

Releasing Turtles into the Wild

2004-12-01T06:33:00.000-05:00

Have you ever seen any animals kept in overcrowded conditions at a Pet Shop?? Most Pet Shops are very conscientious and try very hard to treat animals in a humane manner.

However, there are exceptions to every rule. But what can I do about it? A complaint to the Health Department might get some action. On the other hand, the Pet Store may be in compliance anyhow, or the overcrowded or unsanitary condition may have been resolved by the time it is investigated.

So if you could afford it, would you love to buy all the animals in stock and free them? For captive-born creatures like hamsters, snakes, dogs, cats, etc. it would be extremely deadly for the animals if they were just released at the local park.

But what about critters like Iguanas and Turtles?? You would think that if a bunch of large pet store stock turtles that were indiginous to the area were released back into a local lake that there could be no damage to the critters or the people?

It is a romantic notion to what to free animals that seem to be neglected, however most creatures lose their ability to compete in the wild once they have been living in a small aquarium or cage for a few months.

Once they lose a step, catching wild fish or other food may almost be impossible. So instead of liberating them from neglect, they become tourists in a wild environment where they do not belong. Either they slowly starve, or they get sick or they are eaten by faster and stronger wild creatures. So releasing our reptile friends back into the wild is not a responsible option.

The other possible repercussion is that turtles and other reptiles can pick up illnesses and parasites from other turtles and reptiles that they were penned together with. The cross-infecting of species is a major problem caused by the Pet Trade.

So if you release formerly captive reptiles into the wild, and they were infected with an illness that is native to another type of turtle or reptile, then that infection can spread to the local indiginous species of turtles or reptiles causing what amounts to be a plague. Therefore releasing captive animals is not good because the cure can be much worse than the problem.

The least likely possible repercussion is that you are caught in the act by a Game Warden or Forest Ranger. In most localities it is illegal to release any captive animal into the wild. So if you ever see a bunch of critters that you want to save from neglectful treatment, the only thing you can do is make space at your home and adopt one or two if you are sure that you can support them and are dedicated to giving them quality attention, care, housing, and food.

Turtle Bowl set-up

2004-11-22T02:19:00.000-05:00

Traditional set-up for first-timers requires daily water changes, and anti-chlorination. Keeping the water clean is the most important thing that you can do when it comes to these small turtle bowls.

The other thing to consider is that the water level is very shallow. So you cannot leave these bowls out in the sun very long or the turtles will dehydrate or sunstroke to death since they don't have any shade and the water will get very warm on a hot summer day.

Baby Snapping Turtles

2004-11-16T02:18:00.000-05:00

Baby Turtles are harder to keep healthy.

Death of a baby Mud Turtle

2004-11-15T05:25:00.000-05:00

I was very fortunate to find a pet store that had a baby Mud Turtle in the summer of 2003. It was purely an accident. As often happens when you are not looking for something is when you find it. Mud and Musk Turtles are not kept at most pet stores because I believe that they are harder to care for and also less colorful. The brownish or black shells of the Mud and Musk Turtles probably make them less attractive than the colorful Sliders, Painted Turtles, and similar breeds. So I was knocked out when I saw this small rectangular light brown little turtle. I immediately called for a staff member to bag the turtle, as if there were suddenly going to be a rush of interested buyers. The little gal (very short tail) was kind of shy, always hiding under the various aquarium ornaments. But she thrived.

She gradually got bigger, and then we moved to a new home, and after the move the aquarium was set-up again. A few days later the little Mud Turtle was gone. I looked all over the aquarium and turned over the various bridges and artificial rock formations. No turtle. I thought maybe he had somehow climbed out. I searched around the house and under the furniture. No Turtle. After another day, I decided to take out every piece of aquarium furniture (ornaments, rocks, bridges) and check it. These plastic resin bridges and rock formations are hollow-molded so they are lighter and cheaper to produce. Most of them have holes in the bottom at their base. I pulled out each piece, let the water drip out, and then checked the hole in the base. When I got to the rock formation, it was too dark to see all the way in, but when I shook it there was something wedged in there. Sadly, it was not a rock. I could not shake it loose, so I got a screwdriver and pulled the plastic resin rocks apart, and in the top layer of plastic rock formation was the little mud turtle. She was dead. Finding an innocent creature dead like that is grim. Drowning inside the hollow of a plastic resin rock formation has to be harsh by any standard.

Apparently she tried to climb all the way up from the inside of the rock formation and she got wedged in. Why had she done this? I am guessing that the stress from the move made the normally shy mud turtle more anxious and nervous, and perhaps when she pushed the rock base up and found the dark hollow, she just wanted to crawl far away from the chaos in the newly set-up tank. Who knows? Anyhow, it was a hard lesson to learn, but I have pulled out anything that has a hollow base which any small turtle can possibly crawl into.

Turtles in a 10 gallon Aquarium

2004-09-15T02:22:00.000-04:00

1976 or so, the turtle is in the right corner. This was one of my first aquariums after I moved to Florida from New York. It was near a window, which was good for the turtle since it got a lot of sunlight.

The tank had a lot of algae on the glass. I did not have any basking area set up for the turtles. Back then I used to take them out of the tank after school and let them run around in the back yard.

Hibernating Turtles

2004-09-07T08:01:00.000-04:00

People who have turtles in their backyard ponds or in tanks or aquariums that are outside often find that their turtles literally run away from home. Sometimes a turtle will try to escape extreme heat or cold conditions by digging into the soil in your backyard.

Unless you live close to a canal or other body of water, it is doubtful that a turtle will be able to find a way to get to a safe body of water where it can live.

Additionally, many domesticated turtles are no longer able to hunt or scavenge for their food. These domesticated turtles are also not used to avoiding predatory fish, ducks, gulls, alligators, or people.

So if your turtle takes off one day, make every reasonable effort to try and find it. If you do not live near any body of water, the turtle probably dug itself into the ground somewhere in your yard or nearby.

If you do not find the turtle and take the turtle out of the ground wash it off and put it back in the tank, it will die if left in the standard backyard soil. More than likely you will find them some time later while planting something, and the turtle will be rotting away (shell only) a few inches under the top soil.

The standard backyard is not a good place for turtles to hibernate. When they do this in nature, they are supposed to do it by the banks of their ponds, canals, rivers, etc. These bodies of water have compacted, muddy soil on the banks near the water and that soil stays wet and hard and keeps out ants. This kind of muddy soil gets softer when it rains hard (usually Spring showers) and that is usually when the hibernating turtles wake up from winter hibernation.

The backyard soil is nothing like that, and it is full of all kinds of predatory insects, and it is not cool and moist. So before your turtle dehydrates to death and/or is eaten by red ants or other critters, try to find it in your backyard.

If you see your turtles are having trouble dealing with extreme heat or cold weather, you should use your common sense and bring the turtles indoors for a while so that they can acclimate themselves to the normal climate conditions inside your home. This will lower the stress that their biological systems have been dealing with outside.

When turtles are in the wild, they can swim or walk away from a harsh environment and seek a better place or hibernate or otherwise fend for themselves. When they are in an enclosed area, the turtles are relying on their owner to control the environment and to make sure it is healthy for the turtles.

Gator Bites

2004-08-22T13:37:00.000-04:00

Gator Bites was what it said on the menu at Gusto's which is on U.S. 1 near Southwest 344th Street. To the south is Key West. To the west are the Everglades. To the east is the Outlet Mall.

I had not had Alligator in several years. It is usually a bit disappointing because the restaurants that serve alligator usually serve it breaded and fried. The reason they do this is because the alligator meat has a lot of fat and soft gristle, and about half of the "Gator Bites" are mostly gristle and fat. The couple of pieces that were mostly meat were delicious.

Most people will compare alligator to chicken, but alligator tastes much better than chicken. Unfortunately, it seems like you often have to chew through a lot of fat and gristle to get to the lean piece of tasty meat.

Everglades

2004-08-21T11:44:00.000-04:00

This planet Earth probably has many places as wonderful as The Everglades. Hopefully those wonderful places will not be polluted to death or developed into shopping malls! The Everglades is one incredibly amazing place. There are about three different sections of the Everglades that are open to the public. There is also a nice marina for medium and small boats and yachts and a small hotel located in the middle of the Everglades. The Everglades is a paradise for bird watching and enjoying nature.

During summer, the swarms of mosquitoes are usually so bad that you will get them flying into your mouth when you are talking. If you are allergic to mosquito bites, then you will get dozens of welts all over your arms and legs and any other exposed skin. Allergic folks usually wear long pants, long sleeve shirts and a boonie hat along with a lot of Skeeter spray. The best season to visit the Everglades is towards Fall and Winter, when the Skeeters are usually not as active and the heat is less intensive.

If you like turtles, alligators, snakes, and iguanas, there are tons of them at the Everglades, and they are usually walking or swimming around nearby at any time. You can walk to the edge of the water and look at an alligator from about a distance of one foot or as close as you dare. Sometimes the alligators are sunning themselves on the grassy areas near a parking area. You can literally walk up and pet them if you dare. These alligators seem to know that the people are not food, as I have gotten very close to them and they have yet to bite my arm off. Of course, I would strongly advise against getting too close to an alligator; so if you go there and get your arm bitten off, do not blame me.

Gators are the freshwater version of Sharks. They are predators, but they are very intriguing creatures. Alligators happen to be the smartest reptiles, and turtles are the second smartest reptiles. How smart are Alligators? Well, their brains have the evolutionary design for a split-brain just like Mammals. However, for some reason they have yet to evolve to that point.

Near the Everglades, on Tamiami Trail there are many places that cater to the tourists and which have various kinds of petting zoos or reptile zoos. Those are fun to visit. The southern Everglades Park which is in Homestead does not have any large tourist attractions, but on the road there are occasionally little roadside stands which have alligators that you can pet and carry around. For $5. you can get your photo taken carrying a small alligator. Sometimes there is a guy with pony rides also. It is entertaining for young children and parents too.

If you have not visited the Everglades lately, it is an excellent way to spend a day. There are picnic areas too, so you can bring a cooler and food. An Annual Pass costs $25. for one vehicle and it is good in all Federal Parks. There is also the one-day entrance fee, which is only $5. for one carload of people.

Mud Turtles

2004-08-09T01:48:00.000-04:00

Right now I have one small Mud Turtle, two Musk turtles, a red-eared slider, two yellow-bellies and a map turtle. I got the Mud turtle when she was just a few months old and about an inch long. Now she is about two inches long, and she is about two years old. The turtles are presently in a twenty gallon reptile aquarium (long tank) filled almost to the top with water. I have a Tetris 1 water filter. The turtles have a couple of areas where they can bask in the sun and/or lamplight. Even though lamp light is not the same as the sun, it seems to have a positive effect on the turtles' health.

The Red-Eared Slider, one of the Yellow-Bellies, and the Map turtles are about four inches long, and their shells are thick, hard, and wide. One of the Yellow Belly turtles, and the Mud and Musk Turtles seem to be growing at a slower pace. I feed the turtles a variety of foods like Reptomin, Tetramin, Goldfish Crumbles, moist Turtle Treats, and three other jars of hard Turtle food. The turtles are great eaters, and the little Mud Turtle and the two Musk Turtles always seem to be eating too, but they just seem to grow slower. Turtles get to know the people who are regularly feeding them, and they react when any of us walk by since we are the only ones who feed them. They get very excited and swim to the top, and look for food sticks. They like to be fed by hand.

This aquarium also has guppies, Neons, Tetras, Mollies and I just added some glass shrimp. Unfortunately, it seems like the turtles are snacking on the shrimp so there may not be too many of them left. Aquariums are a lot of fun to maintain once you get one set up and the water is settled and clear. An aquarium with turtles is even more interesting, as turtles have a lot more personality than fish! However, turtles demand more care than fish, and they are more difficult to keep healthy.