Newsletter of
The Minnesota Herpetological • e t y S o c 1 May 2001
Upcoming Meeting The Vice-president's Report
Volume 21 Number 5 River Zoo herp curator, Geoff Hall will be rescheduling his talk on neotropical frog husbandry. He apologizes for any inconvenience.
Upcoming Meetings: By Tony Gamble August 3, 2001 - Tim Halliday June General Meeting Friday June 1, 2001 7:00 PM Program: Geckos of Minnesota Guest Speaker: Jim Gerholdt There are currently 1063 described species of gecko and more are discovered each year. The diversity of body form and life history is astonishing. Take reproduction, for example. Ten species have been confirmed to possess temperatures dependent sex determination. That is, the temperature that the eggs are incubated at will determine the sex of the gecko. Eight species are known to be parthenogenetic. This is a mode of reproduction that essentially allows females to clone themselves and populations of these geckos lack the now unnecessary males. Geckos also make fascinating pets. Leopard geckos are arguably the most popular pet lizards in the country, with tens of thousands sold each year. This month we will take a look at some representatives of this fascinating group of lizards.
Note: Because of work demands, Red
Islands of Peace Park is beautiful - the picnic pavilion is reached by crossing a footbridge - probably almost a block walk from the vehicle parking, but well worth it. The pavilion is actually on an island on the Mississippi. I will recommend people bring lawn chairs in case they want to sit alongside the river to watch for potential herps and other wildlife. Blue Herons nests are prominent across the Mississippi, but will probably be past nesting at that point. The park is even easier to get to than Locke Park, because it's so close to the interstate. Even so, the park itself is amazingly secluded, like Locke Park. Checked it out this last weekend, and looking forward to going there frequently this spring/summer. Roger
Mark Your Calendar for the MHS Picnic
Don't Forget!!!
The MHS Field trip for 2001 is to take place in Lake Maria State Park, near Maple Lake, 45 minutes west of the Twin cities. It is scheduled to take place on Saturday and Su~day .June 9 and I 10. A group campsite IS being arranged noon, as usua for those who wish to stay overnight. Place: Islands of Peace county See the insert for maps and details. park (Anoka County) Any questions or comments should be Location: 1/3 mile north of 694 off East directed to Randy Blasus at 952-925River Road (turn left on Charles street 4237 or reblas@usa.net. off East River Road - the park is on the Mississippi river) Locke Park, the loca- See Rules, Park map and Metro map in tion for the previous MHS picnics for the insert. last several years, is tearing down the shelter we used to use and putting up a large (expensive) pavilion, so Locke no 1
Date: Saturday, July 14th (one Jim Gerholdt has been photographing week past the July meeting, as herps for years and often visits MHS usual) members to find new subjects. T~e Time: Will fire up grills around thriving community of gecko keepers In Minnesota has been particularly generous in letting Jim into their homes to take pictures. He now has a great collection of gecko photos and experiences to share on the geckos of Minnesota. So come see what the excitement is all about from the man now known as Jim "the gecko guy" Gerholdt.
longer an option.