Vol. 26 (2006), No. 7

t he n e w sl e t t e r o f t he

minnesota herpetological society

WEB VERSION

Information edited/removed to respect privacy concerns.

July’s Speaker:

Rebecca Christoffel Presenting Herps to the Public

Mini-Survey Review page 6 JU L Y 20 0 6

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NUMBER 7

Board of Directors

President Bruce Haig

BELL MUSEUM

OF

NATURAL HISTORY, 10 CHURCH STREET SOUTHEAST, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 55455-0104

Vice President Tim Banovitz

Recording S ecretary Ellen Heck

Membership Secretary George Richard

V O I C E M A I L : 612.624.7065 • M H S W E B P A G E : HTTP :// WWW. MNHERPSOC . ORG M H S G R O U P E M A I L : H T T P :// W W W. G R O U P S . YA H O O . C O M / G R O U P / M N H E R P S O C

Treasurer Nancy Haig

July 2006

Newsletter Editor Asra Halvorson Members at Large Fred Bosman David Dewitt

Carmelita Knudson

Committees

Education Jan Larson

Library Tim Banovitz

Webmaster Anke Reinders

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The Purpose of the Minnesota Herpetological Society is to:

Sarah Richard

Adoption Sarah Richard

The Minnesota H er pet ol og i ca l S o c i e t y

theMHSwebmaster@yahoo.com

• of • •

Further the education of the membership and the general public in care and captive propagation reptiles and amphibians; Educate the members and the general public in the ecological role of reptiles and amphibians; Promote the study and conservation of reptiles and amphibians.

The Minnesota Herpetological Society is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Membership is open to all individuals with an interest in amphibians and reptiles. The Minnesota Herpetological Society Newsletter is published monthly to provide its members with information concerning the society’s activities and a media for exchanging information, opinions and resources.

General Meetings are held at Borlaug Hall, Room 335 on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota, on the first Friday of each month (unless there is a holiday conflict). The meeting starts at 7:00pm and lasts about three hours. Please check the MHS Voice mail for changes in schedules or cancellations.

Submissions to the Newsletter Ads or Notices must be submitted no later than the night of the General Meeting to be included in the next issue. Longer articles will be printed as time and space allows and should be in electronic file format if possible. See inside back cover for ad rates.

Submissions may be sent to: The Minnesota Herpetological Society Attn: Newsletter Editor Bell Museum of Natural History 10 Church St. SE. Minneapolis, MN 55455.0104

Copyright 2006, Minnesota Herpetological Society. Except where noted, contents may be reproduced for non-profit, noncommercial use only. All material must be reproduced without change. Proper credit will be given including the author/photographer and the MHS Newsletter citing: volume, number and date.

The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society

Herp Book Review

July 2006

and the book has photos of all of these.

They are in black and white, but very

by Jim Gerholdt useful. Each plate contains photos of cephalic scales, midbody section, and The Serpent’s Cast - A Guide to the magnified vertebral scales. Another 5 Identification of Shed Skins from Snakes species were not available for examinaof the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic tion, but the species accounts list 37 States, by Brian S. Gray. 2005. The species. Oops! Of interest to us in the Center for North American Herpetology frozen northland, only the Black Rat Monograph Series, Number 1.

88 pages. Softcover. US $19.95.

ISBN 1-885209-42-8.

When I first saw the title of this book, I thought, why? I have always been able to identify just about any shed skin I found with the use of a field guide and close examination of the shed. By close examination I mean scale counts, type of scales, etc. And even if I couldn’t come up with the exact species, I could always get it down to no more than a couple of possibilities. A shed skin, like a good photo, is useful as a voucher specimen to confirm a locality record for a species. Thankfully, the days when everything went into a “pickle” jar are long gone.

But then I went through the book. I was very impressed, both with the amount of work that went into it, as well as the data presented. While I still feel I can identify most sheds I find, I am also aware that a lot of people can’t. This book will make that possible. The author examined 303 sheds from 31 species in the preparation of this book,

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The introduction section lists a lot of information about shed skins in general, along with how to identify them and preserve them. This is followed by a key to shed skins of snakes of eastern North America. The key is quite detailed, and seemed to work well. One notable omission is the fact that complete sheds of any of the rattlesnakes have a hole at the end of the tail where the shed slips over the existing rattle.

This omission also applies to the species accounts. Otherwise the species accounts are complete and well done.

Each one lists scutellation, pigmentation, shedding sites, geographic distribution, and references. These accounts are followed by plates (31 species), a glossary of terms used in the book, which will prove invaluable to the users of this book, and literature cited.

All in all, this book is very well done. I found very few typos, and these were minor. The book would have benefited with a Table of Contents and also an Index. There were also a few pages skipped before page 1.

After thinking, why when I first saw the title, I can now say that it fills a need.

Snake, Western Fox Snake, Western As a softcover, it is not meant to be carHognose Snake, Bullsnake, and Lined ried in the field, but close examination Snake are not included. Strangely, the of a shed is difficult in the field anyshed of a Western Hognose Snake is way.

Pick up a copy for your field guide depicted on the title page. Definitely not bookshelf.

This is a book that you will a species of the area covered! use.

“I like to hold them and look at them.”

-New Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr., an environmentalist and snake enthusiast (New York Observer)

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The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society

July 2006

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News, Notes, & Announcements 2005 Volunteers

The following MHS members still need to pick up their 2005 glasses.

Please see Bruce Haig at the July meeting or make arrangements to pick them up at another time. We cannot mail them out as they are too fragile.

Anding, Emilie Anding, Rachel Auguston, Monet Backer, Kaia Backer, Marla Backer, Mike Backer, Sage Banowitz, Tim Bittner, Linda Bliese, Tom Bush, Mike Buzicky, Barb Carlson, Vanessa Curry, Connie

Dye, , Amanda Fremouv, J W Giefer, Kara Grassel, Laurie Grassel, Vern Karsten, Sam Knott, Matt Larson, Christina Mauricio, Liz Miller, Anna Morris, Lily Peterson, Stacy Printy, Jeff

They are about a foot long.

The hotdogs not our snakes.

First I want to thank Marilyn and Randy Blasus for having chaired this project at the State Fair Chair for the DNR exhibit in the past. I took this job over and they laid out so well that there is little I have to do except follow a time table and coordinate volunteers.

We are looking for volunteers and animals to help in the DNR’s reptile display at the MN State Fair from August 24 to September 4, 2006. This is a very informative and entertaining display.

Volunteers are needed to check animals each day of the fair. Work is minimal, and the reward is a pair of FREE tickets into the fair. The Park and Ride option makes this a free outing for the day except what you eat and ride. Days are selected on a first call basis, and the weekends go fast.

If you don’t think you can make it, maybe your animal could. We need the following animals to fill the display inside the DNR building.

Snakes: Bull, Milk, Hognose, Fox, and Garter or other Minnesota snake.

Turtles: Painted, Snapping, Wood, and

June Critter of the Month

Marcy McNeal “Mr. Serious”, bearded dragon

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Becky Girard Fox snake

Blanding’s turtles of a small/medium size

The reptiles need to just sit and look pretty as people view them. All animals need to be in good, healthy condition. The prolonged display period in an uncontrolled environment may be detrimental to animals not in prime condition. Sick animals will not be accepted for this activity. The snakes should be full-grown (except the bull—for that we want a young adult) this way the onlookers can see them easily in the display.

As stated above, the turtles can be small (but not baby size) to medium.

We will have two aquariums for separating the different sizes. Snakes will be housed separately and each will have a large, clear water bowl.

Animals should not be fed for two weeks prior to the fair, so they will be cleaned out and thus less likely to make a mess in the display. Bill will accept the animals a day or two before the fair; arrangements will need to be made with him. Accordingly, the animals will need to be picked up the day after the fair.

May consider other snakes and turtles if we can’t find what we need.

If you are interested or have any questions, contact Bill Sandberg.

The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society

July’s Upcoming Speaker: Rebecca Christoffel – University of Michigan A long distance MHS member, Rebecca’s thesis involves people’s perceptions of snakes, especially venomous species. This work is probably the largest and most comprehensive to date dealing with the interaction between those who fear snakes and those who educate using snakes. She will provide suggestions about how to present snakes to the public, and there are a few surprises!

If you are involved in MHS HandsOn events on any level, or give herp presentations, you do not want to miss this one!

July 2006

Reptile & Amphibian Discovery Zoo Update

For those of you following the progress of the Reptile and Amphibian Discovery Zoo, we are happy to announce that beginning in late July we will be placing our animals on exhibit for the first time. We are bridging the gap from using our animals in traveling educational programs to having a permanent facility open to the public, by setting up a traveling reptile zoo.

This summer we will be exhibiting around fifty different species of reptiles and amphibians at some of the major fairs here in MN and in SD. We are already scheduled to exhibit at the Steele county fair, the Dakota county fair, and the South Dakota state fair, and are in negotiations to exhibit at the Olmstead county fair in Rochester. We will be exhibiting animals in naturalistic exhibits, focusing on Australia, Asia, Africa, and North and South America.

We are happy to be taking on Jeff LeClere as a partner during our time at these fairs. His experience with herps will be a great asset to our organization and we hope to include him in our future endeavors.

As you might imagine this is a very involved process, and we could use the help of other members of the MHS. If anyone is interested in assisting us in our efforts, we are going to take the

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weekend of July 8th and 9th (the Saturday and Sunday following July’s MHS meeting) and have an exhibit building session, as well as work on some other projects for the zoo. Even if construction is not your strong point there will be other areas where you can assist. We will be working on educational graphics, and possibly working on the entrance to our exhibit, which we hope to design to appear like the front of a giant alligator snapping turtle, where you enter by walking into the mouth.

If you would like to help you can contact us for times and directions. It will be an opportunity to learn more about exhibit design and our animals, and to get to know some of your fellow herpers a little better. Your support would be on a volunteer basis, but we will provide lunch and supper on both days, and on Saturday night following the session we will be having a party at our home where we’ll be serving beverages as well. Of course those who help will be given free admission to our exhibit at any of the fairs to see the finished product. This will take place at our home in Owatonna. It is about an hour’s drive from most of the metro area. We would welcome your help for one or both days at your convenience.

We look forward to seeing you.

Thanks, Jamie Pastika

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The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society

July 2006

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Mini-Survey at the Haigs’ June 3, 2006, Saturday 9:00am – 5:00pm Sunny, low 80’s

(Hyla crucifer), Painted turtles (observed) (Chrysemys picta), Snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) and one Led by our fearless leader Jeff LeClere, young Eastern Garter snake about two dozen MHS herpers spent the (Thamnophis sirtalis) found in the open day scouring woods and ponds in East field next to the property.

Bethel. Drift fences set up in advance did not prove effective (Jeff promises to Thanks to all the herpers who came out show us a better system later), and the for the day: Craig & Sam Longtine, hot weather made things a bit dry in the Donald & Renee Solick, Chris Smith, forest. But thanks to some expert trap- Jess Lillegaard, Jamie Pastika, Nancy & ping and netting techniques the ponds yielded a good return of frogs and tadpoles. All in all, twelve species were found.

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Blue-spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma laterale) were the major herp found followed by Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica), and American Toads (Bufo americanus).

Also seen were: Eastern Gray Treefrogs (Hyla versicolor), Cope’s gray treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis), Green frogs (Rana clamitans), Tiger salamander (larva) (Ambystoma trigrinum), Chorus frogs (Pseudaricus triseriata), Spring peeper

Tyler Sullivan, Roger Allard, Heather & Oran Evans, Larry & Jason Lillo, Randy Blasus, Ellen Heck, Caitlin & Jess Percy, Noah Anderson, and Daniel Knudson. Special thanks to Jeff LeClere for setting up and running the survey and to Carmelita Kundson for providing an excellent lunch of potato salad and grilled hotdogs and sausages. Yum!

The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society

Gender bending could see cane toad’s end

Cane toads could breed themselves out of existence if a Queensland scientist can perfect a gene that would wipe out all females in the population.

The Professor of Developmental Biology at the University of Queensland, Peter Koopman, is working on a gene that ensures female toads only give birth to males.

If the gender bender is successful, Professor Koopman believes the nation’s estimated 200 million toads could be a thing of the past.

“The strategy that we’re working on is a genetic strategy based on years of working in mice. So we study how mammals determine sex,” Professor Koopman said.

“What we want to do is transfer that into the cane toads so that they give rise... they give birth to tadpoles where the males stay male but the female tadpoles sex reverse to become males, so

Two frog species thought extinct are found

The discovery of two frog species feared extinct has made a Colombian protected area the focal point for efforts to save amphibians from a deadly fungus.

The fungus has covered Central and South America, decimating their frog populations.

Scientists say they recently found the critically endangered Santa Marta harlequin frog (Atelopus laetissimus) and

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the population ends up becoming all involved in the toad, and start working male, and they can’t find a mate and the on those,” he said. population dies out.”

Professor Koopman says he is confident Professor Koopman says the strategy is one of the nation’s worst pests will not one part of the “multi-pronged attack on even suffer through this strategy. the cane toads”.

“I guess that’s sad for the male cane “So we can’t just rely on this as a magic toads, but I guess the nice thing is that bullet, we’ve got to do this in conjunc- nobody ends up dying in this strategy. tion with other things, trapping, toxins There’s no viruses involved, the toads or what-have-you,” he said. don’t die a miserable death. You just get an awful lot of males and the popula“Second thing is ... the nice thing about tion controls itself that way.” this strategy is that we’re introducing a gene into the cane toad which will then Although Professor Koopman is workbe passed on to other cane toads, and ing with ecologists to establish where to eventually, if we release enough of release the genetically-modified toads, these toads that have the gene, that will his main focus is on producing the sex be able to spread through the populareverse toads in the lab. tion.”

“I can’t put a year figure on it, but cerProfessor Koopman says he is in the tainly we’ll be able to produce the sex very early stages of his research. reverse cane toads in a lab environment pretty fast. It’s then a question of how “We’ve been studying the mechanisms those toads do out in the wild, and involved in how the embryo determines that’s something we really can’t tell at its sex and we’re now in a position the moment.” where we can take those findings and try to find out whether similar genes are http://www.abc.net.au/

the San Lorenzo harlequin frog (Atelopus nahumae) for the first time in 14 years.

The frogs were found in the El Dorado Nature Reserve established in March on the northwest slope of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta massif, on Colombia`s Caribbean coast.

The reserve is an important home for threatened species, and its protection is a top priority of the Alliance for Zero Extinction — a 62-member group of conservation organizations battling global extinctions.

Neither of the rediscovered frog species had the deadly fungal disease chytridiomycosis, raising hopes the species can be saved in the protected area or through captive breeding.

The fungus has been found as close as 25 miles to the preserve, on the other side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and scientists will study the frogs to learn how they have avoided it.

-United Press International, from http://science.monstersandcritics.com

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The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society

June Speaker Review

July 2006

on his doorstep – and social interaction with other tortoises. This may include

by Ellen Heck, Recording Secretary mating and combat between males.

Noah has observed that, when in comThe speaker this month was Noah bat, the tortoises don’t seem to care Anderson. His interest in biology startabout their temperature. ed at a very young age and over time his focus has shifted from natural histo- Some similar research has been done on ry to ecology and the inter-relationships the desert tortoises. These tortoises of nature to physiology and finally to spend the vast majority of their time evolution. Noah started his education at inactive in their burrows. They tend not NDSU, where he met Jeff, then to to shuttle much (move in and out of Louisiana for his masters. It was about their burrows to regulate their this time that he was introduced to the temperature). “dark side” aka turtles and tortoises.

Then, in “a fit of delirium”, he went to His research subjects were gopher torIdaho for his doctorate. toises. These are located in the southeast United States. They live mostly in As most people know, tortoises, like all burrows, which may be up to 20 feet reptiles, are ectotherms. Their body long, which are used for sleeping and to temperature affects reproduction, avoid predators. The temperatures in growth rate, metabolism and anti-preda- the area get quite hot during the day, tor behavior. The way a tortoise conalthough rainstorms will bring the trols its body temperature and the temperature down, at least temporarily. choices it makes may be goal-oriented For his research, Noah uses sensors, to maximize a particular behavior. both in the burrows and aboveground to Their choices are constrained by preda- track the outside temperatures, as well tor avoidance – a tortoise wouldn’t be as the body temperature of the tortoises. able to leave his burrow in the morning The temperatures inside the burrow to warm up if a predator were parked stays more or less constant thought out

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the day. He also rigged up an infrared sensor at the mouths of the burrows, which is then linked to a camera to provide a picture of what the tortoise was doing when the sensor is tripped.

On an average day March through November, the tortoises will emerge from their burrows between 5 and 10 AM. Most of their time above ground is spent hanging out around their burrow. Their body temperature goes up as long as they are outside, though of course not as much as the air temperature and paralleling any dips in temperature from rainfall. They tend to shuttle as they get too warm, or if a rainstorm comes up. They return to their burrows to sleep, at which point their body temperature drops back down. If they don’t emerge from their burrow, their temperature of course remains constant.

Noah’s doctoral work is research into how turtles feed and this led to the question of exactly how turtles stick their necks out. This seems like a simple question, until you consider the mechanics of getting your head, neck, legs and arms into your torso.

Ernest Williams has done research on necks and neck vertebrae. Most turtles have 8 vertebrae in their necks, and there are 4 types of ways they can be put together with adjacent vertebrae.

Mathematically, this means there are 65,536 possible combinations to make up a neck. However, only 55 actually exist in nature. The problem seems to be that a flexible neck isn’t usually very stable.

To study this question, Noah and his cohorts use high-speed videography, a study of basic anatomy, tracking muscle activity using electrodes, x-ray and xray videography.

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Two species were selected for study; the

The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society

July 2006

already extended. The hyoid bone provides the same suction, but the softshell seems to smell the prey first.

Another difference is the body movement. Rather than being stationary, the soft-shell is moving forward the However, since there is dearth of chelo- whole time. nians in Idaho, he had to head back down to Louisiana to get test subjects. By studying the muscle movement, it can be shown that the hyoid depression This search was marked by trips of the throat occurs later in the feeding through a waste pond, large salamanders, alligators, and even a human body. cycle, after the jaws have opened. soft shell turtle and the common snapping turtle. Soft-shell turtles are active feeders, going after elusive prey. The snapper is an ambush feeder and utilizes 2 different hunting methods.

Snapping turtles use two methods different methods to hunt, the slow approach and the fast strike. With both methods, the turtle’s body is more or less stationary. In the slow approach the neck is extended a bit. The prey is then sucked up. In the fast approach, the head extension is more rapid. In both cases the hyoid bone expands the neck to generate the suction to suck in the prey.

The soft-shell’s approach is different.

He will approach the prey with neck

Salamander Study Focuses on Re-Growth of Injured Limbs

06.08.06

Focusing on salamanders, a U.S. team of scientists will probe new ways of restoring human tissues that have been damaged or lost to injury.

After injury, salamanders form “blastemas” — masses of cells that appear at the site of damaged tissue to re-grow lost tissues, limbs or digits. So

A study of the musculature of the neck shows some 30 muscle groups. Some are between vertebrae, some to the shoulder, and some run all the way to the back of the shell.

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then “caught”. This explains why some dogs are really slobbery – they can’t catch.

When the same test was tried on a cat, the first discovery was that a cat is the “most difficult experimental organism”.

Persistence paid off however, and it was found that they used much the same method as the dog, albeit not quite so messily.

Humans were found to be not as graceful lappers, utilizing a different method, but then lapping is not the drinking method normally used by most people.

Some side projects are on “lapping”.

For reasons best left uninvestigated, the question of “how can we get more salsa on a chip” led to research on how dogs actually lap up water. Slow motion video reveals that it is done via a piston effect, with the water being sucked up towards the dog’s mouth where it is

far, salamanders are thought to be the only creatures with this ability.

The new study will seek to re-create that process in mice.

The research team will be led by Ken Muneoka, professor of cell and molecular biology at Tulane University in New Orleans. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is funding the study with a one-year grant of almost $3.9 million.

the scientists hope to eventually translate their developments into a way to regenerate tissue in humans.

Head to the DARPA home page for more information on their research projects.

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health /feeds/hscout/2006/06/08/hscout53309 1.html

By studying this process in salamanders and trying to replicate it in mice,

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The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society

Turtle `hunter’ finally gets her due

India’s first woman herpetologist, J. Vijaya, has finally got her due. Nearly two decades after she was found dead, at the age of 28, her name has been formally given to the cane turtle that she spent so much of her time studying.

According to the Sanctuary Asia Magazine, Peter Praschag, the son of Reiner Praschag, and several other herpetologists analysed the DNA of Reiner’s now-dead turtles and recently re-named the turtle Vijayachelys silvatica in her honour.

It is a monotypic genus, which means that there is no other turtle like it to share the name of Vijayachelys.

Young Viji came to Madras Snake Park as a volunteer in late 1978 and after graduation started working full-time here. Romulus Whitaker, her boss at the Madras Snake Park, put her onto freshwater turtles and later when Edward Moll, Chairman of the World Conservation Union’s Freshwater Chelonian Specialist Group needed an assistant for a nationwide survey of turtles Whitaker recommended Viji, who was just 22, for the job, says the magazine. The survey got underway in August-September 1981 and Viji travelled up to West Bengal (the major consumer of freshwater turtles in the country) to meet up her team members.

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July 2006

They began their work from the meat markets; here thousands of Indian softshell turtles and narrow-headed softshell turtles came for sale during the winter months. The price of turtle meat plummeted from Rs. 18 to Rs. 5 per kilogramme during these months; “It was cheaper than beef,” Viji noted.

What Viji was doing wasn’t easy. The areas she visited for her work were the `wild west’ of India and the black-andwhite pictures she took of the gory sea turtle slaughter on Digha beach in West Bengal and in the meat markets of Calcutta, shook the public when India Today magazine ran them in the early 1980s.

According to the magazine, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi took action and overnight sea turtle exploitation was cut to a trickle. Meanwhile, the forest cane turtle (at that time Heosemys silvatica) was at the top of the agenda of the Freshwater Chelonian Specialist Group.

Viji decided to look for these obscure little turtle in Kerala, which hadn’t been seen for 67 years. Only two specimens of the species had ever been recorded previously. Viji planned her trip to track the turtle and made contact with the Kadar tribals in Chalakudy seeking their help for the job.

She was finally able to find a cane turtle in July 1982 and that shot her into the international limelight. In December 1982, one of the female

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cane turtles Viji brought back laid a clutch of two eggs. She also discovered that this species wasn’t a vegetarian as earlier thought and from knowing virtually nothing about it, Viji made a quantum leap in documenting what this turtle was about, says the magazine.

Completely at home in the forest, Viji is remembered as an excellent field biologist whose best traits were her perseverance and her ability to observe. In 1984 she was invited to do her Masters from the Eastern Illinois University and in 1987 returned to India to do field studies. She was found dead in the forest she loved. http://www.hindu.com

Froglog

Here’s a new product for those of you with pools-- the Froglog, a swimming pool escape ramp for frogs, toads, salamanders, turtles, and other small animals.

See www.froglog.us for more information

The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society

Pilot fights black snake stowaway on plane

Friday, June 02, 2006

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Monty Coles was 3,000 feet in the air when he discovered a stowaway peeking out at him from the plane’s instrument panel — a 4 1/2-foot black snake.

Coles had left Charleston earlier for a leisurely flight over the West Virginia countryside last Saturday in his Piper Cherokee and was preparing to land in Gallipolis, Ohio, when the snake revealed itself.

“Nothing in any of the manuals ever described anything like this,” the 62-year-old Cross Lanes resident said. But the advice given 25 years earlier from his flight instructor immediately came to mind: “No matter what happens, fly the plane.”

An attempt to swat the snake only resulted in it falling to Coles’ feet under the rudder pedals. It then darted to the other side of the cockpit.

While maintaining control of the single-engine plane with one hand, Coles grabbed the reptile behind its head with his other.

“There was no way I was letting that thing go. It coiled all around my arm, and its tail grabbed hold of a lever on the floor and started pulling,” Coles said.

The next step was to radio for emergency landing clearance.

“They came back and asked what my problem was. I told them I had one hand full of snake and the other hand full of plane. They cleared me in.”

After a smooth landing, Coles posed for pictures with the snake, then let it loose.

“That snake resides in Ohio now,” he said. “I wasn’t about to bring it home. I don’t mind snakes, but I sure like to know where they are.”

Coles said he was lucky his usual travel companions, his wife and dachshund, were not on the flight.

“If my wife had been in the plane, I wouldn’t have a wife, a plane or myself,” Coles said. “I don’t know what might have happened if Killer had been in the plane, but it sure would have been a lot more exciting.” http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,197976,00.html

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MHS Treasurer's Report

Prepared by Nancy Haig, Treasurer

For May 2006 Beginning Checkbook Balance: . . . . . . . . . . . 16,034.35

Income: Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125.00 Library Fines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Raffle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128.50 Adoption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.00 Rodent Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308.00 Hands Ons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.00 Other* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.00 Other* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500.00 Total Income: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,255.50

Expense: Newsletter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388.30 Misc. Printing and Postage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Hands-On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Refreshments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Rodent Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227.50 Adoption Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120.00 Midwest costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.00 Other* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184.40 Total Expense: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920.20

Cash Increase/(Decrease): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335.30

Ending Checkbook Balance: . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,369.65 Placement of Cash Holdings

Checking Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16369.65 Cash on Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155.00

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,524.65

Treasurer’s Notes: Income: Other- $12.00 misc Other: $500.00 donation Qwest employee volunteerMark Schmidtke Expense: $184.40 Voicemail Feb/March

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The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society

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July 2006

Volume 26

Number 7

G E T YOUR ME S SA GE TO Y O UR T AR GE T A UD I EN CE W I T H A 1 / 4 PA G E A D. $10 PER MONT H $ 1 10 P ER Y EA R *

*112th month is free on a one year commitment Advertising Policies

MHS AD RATES

Business card 1/4 Page 1/2 Page Full Page

$5/Month $10/Month $20/Month $40/Month

$55/Year* $110/Year* $220/Year* $440/Year*

* Note: 12th month is free on a one year commitment

New

MHS Ad Policy: The MHS assumes NO RESPONSIBILITY regarding the health or legality of any animal, or the quality or legality of any product or service advertised in the MHS Newsletter. Any ad may be rejected at the discretion of the Newsletter Editor. Due to space limitations, unpaid and complimentary advertisements are subject to occasional omission.

Classified Ads: All active members are allowed a classified ad, run free of charge as space permits. Ads may be run three consecutive months, after which time they may be resubmitted. Corresponding members are allowed a complimentary business card advertisement monthly as space permits. Due to federal restrictions on non-profit mailing permits, we are not allowed to run ads for travel, credit, or insurance agencies.

Submissions: All advertisements should be submitted to the MHS Editor, Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Deadline is the night of the General Meeting for inclusion in the next newsletter. Make checks payable to: Minnesota Herpetological Society.

Minnesota Herpetological Society Membership Application

Renewal Membership# Type Check #

Name

Address City, State, Zip, Phone

Email

List in MHS Directory?

Yes

No

Herp related interests

Active Memberships:

Sustaining ($60/year)

Contributing ($40/year)

Basic ($20/year)

Corresponding Memberships: Commercial ($25/year, 2 business card ads/year) Required check info. Drivers Lic #

State

DOB

Please enclose the proper payment with your application. Make Checks Payable To: Minnesota Herpetological Society. Membership is for 12 months from the date of approval, a receipt will be sent only upon request. Mail to: Minnesota Herpetological Society, Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing.

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MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY BELL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 10 CHURCH STREET SE MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55455-0104

Non-Profit Rate U.S. Postage PAID Mpls, MN Permit No. 2275

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

POSTMASTER: PLEASE DELIVER BY JULY 4

Next Meeting: Friday, July 7, 2006 7:00 PM Room 335 Borlaug Hall, U of M St. Paul Campus MHS Voice Mail: 612.624.7065

MHS Web Page:

www.mnherpsoc.org

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