Vol. 33 (2013), No. 12

The newsletter of the

Minnesota Herpetological Society

December Meeting Notice General Meeting will be December 6th, 2013 Holiday Banquet December 7th in the St Paul Student Union December Speaker Bryan Barczyk

December 2013

Volume 33

Number 12

BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Chris Smith 612.275.9737 President@mnherpsoc.com Vice President Peter Tornquist 952.797.6515 VicePresident@MnHerpSoc.com Recording Secretary Beth Girard 612.616.8431 RecSecretary@MnHerpSoc.com Membership Secretary Heather Clayton 612.886.7175 MemSecretary@MnHerpSoc.com Treasurer Nancy Haig 763.434.8684 Treasurer@MnHerpSoc.com Newsletter Editor Ellen Heck 763.593.5414 NewsletterEditor@MnHerpSoc.com Members at Large Micole Hendricks 651.356.1669 MemberAtLarge2@MnHerpSoc.com Rebecca Markowitz 409.750.0235 MemberAtLarge4@MnHerpSoc.com Terry Odegaard 612.840.7674 MemberAtLarge1@MnHerpSoc.com

C/O Bell Museum of Natural History 10 Church Street Southeast Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455-0104

Stay informed! Join us on our forums!

And, you can still leave us a Voice Mail: 612.326.6516

The purpose of the Minnesota Herpetological Society is to: • Further the education of the membership and the general public in care and captive propagation of 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

Kelli Bornholdt 612.710.5919 MemberAtLarge3@MnHerpSoc.com

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.

COMMITTEES

See inside back cover for ad rates. Submissions may be sent to:

Adoption Sarah Richard RealSarah@aol.com

612.781.9544

Education Jan Larson 507.263.4391 Jan.SkunkHollow@Juno.com Fostering Nancy Haig 763.434.8684 NancHaig@CitiLink.com WebMaster Shawn Berg WebMaster@MnHerpSoc.Com Cover photo by Dāv Kaufman Cartoons by Fran Frisch

The Minnesota Herpetological Society -or- newslettereditor@mnherpsoc.com Attn: Newsletter Editor C/O Bell Museum of Natural History 10 Church St SE Minneapolis, MN 55455-0104

SNAKE BITE EMERGENCY HENNEPIN REGIONAL POISON CENTER 800-222-1222

© Copyright 2013, Minnesota Herpetological Society. Except where noted, contents may be reproduced for non-profit, non-commercial use only. All material must be reproduced without change. Proper credit will be given including the author/photographer and the Minnesota Herpetological Society Newsletter citing: volume, number and date.

General Meeting Presentation—Brian Barcyk Friday December 6th, 7:00pm; 6:30pm Social Hour Brain Barczyk—Since Brian was a child he’s had a fascination with all animals, but reptiles soon became his passion. His dream was to work with reptiles as a career. Now 24 years into breeding snakes as his main job, he is so thankful to be able to live out his dream. Although he’s thankful for his many years of doing what he loves, his hopes are to be able to continue to grow his collection of reptiles and not only supply more people with the offspring of his animals, but also to continue to change people’s thinking about these sometimes misunderstood creatures.

With changing people’s perception of reptiles on Brian’s mind, he started the web series “SnakeBytesTV’. Not having any idea of what the popularity of the show would turn out to be, his vision was to introduce “new” people into his world of reptiles while trying to entertain and educate them along with other reptile enthusiast that would hopefully be viewing. Now over four years into the show and close to 50 million viewers his plans are to not only continue producing SnakeBytesTV, but to grow the medias attention on all levels. He has some great plans in the works for the near future…. There will be plenty of NEWS to come soon…

(Brian’s bio on the BHB Reptiles website http://www.bhbreptiles.com/ ) Social hour begins at 6:30pm. This is a time for people to mingle and catch up before the meeting starts. Eventually we hope to include refreshments.

Geckos of the World: Phylogeny, Biogeography and Evolution Submitted by Beth Girard

the evolution of sex determining mechanisms in reptiles, once again, particularly geckos.

His presentation gave an overview of the following: * Sex determination and sex chromosomes in reptiles; * A new method of identifying sex chromosome systems; * and a look at some of his field work!

A sex determination system is a biological system that determines the development of sexual characteristics in an organism. It is the process of an individual becoming a male or a female. In humans, one pair of chromosomes differ in males and females with females having two X chromosomes, and males having one X and one Y chromosome. So the Y chromosome determines maleness in humans. Most mammals utilize the XX/XY system. Reptiles on the other hand have amazing diversity in their sex determining processes. In live bearing reptiles, this process happens in the female parent. In egg-laying reptiles, the development occurs in the egg. This line of research is important because there is not much information about sex Tony Gamble, a postdoctoral researcher in Dave chromosomes in reptiles available, and because different Zarkower’s lab at the University of Minnesota, was the speaker at the November 1st, 2013, general meeting. Tony types of sex determining mechanisms have evolved several has been a member of the Minnesota Herpetological Socie- times. ty for many years, and has been a board member. He uses There is variation in sex-determining mechanisms in repevolutionary trees to study the evolution in amphibians and tiles. Some use genetic-sex determination (GSD). Gender is reptiles. He is partial to geckos, as anyone who knows him determined at fertilization based on the absence of a specan attest. His current research time is spent examining cific chromosome.

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XX/XY - male heterogamety ZZ/ZW - female heterogamety (Heterogamety is the production of unlike gametes by an individual of one sex, as in the production of X- and Ybearing gametes by the human male.) Some species of reptiles use environmental-sex determination (ESD), where temperature may be the prominent determining factor. All crocodilians, some turtles, some lizards, and the tuatara use this method. There is usually a temperature range at one extreme that produces females, while temperatures at the other end of a set range produce males. When the temperature stays near the middle of the two extremes, the sex ratio is varied between the two genders. Some invertebrates, like daphnia, use ESD but gender may be determined by day length.

So, the diversity in vertebrate sex-determining mechanisms as * XY - The sperm determines the sex of the offspring; * ZW - The ovum determines the sex of the offspring; * TSD - Temperature Sex Determination His doctoral research focused on creating an evolutionary tree looking at sex determining mechanisms in geckos.

With about 1500 species of geckos there have been huge amounts of transitions that have had to occur over time to account for all of the diversity. He finds investigating sex chromosomes interesting, because they are important in sex determination, genome evolution, sexual dimorphism, speciation and genomic conflict.

have dropped significantly over the last ten years so this does not present the obstacle it once did. The use of RADseq (Restriction-site Associated DNA Sequencing) allows them to look for male-specific RAD tags. They are hopeful that this ground-breaking research will provide lay the groundwork for a lost cost easy method to determine the sex chromosomes of reptile species. In a study using mice, anoles (Anolis carolinensis) and crested geckos (Rhacodactylus ciliates) they were able to identify and reproduce their work in a broader base of Anolis species by identifying sex specific markers. RADseq is inexpensive and easy, works in a variety of taxa, a sequenced genome is unnecessary, and it will work in species’ with homomorphic sex chromosomes.

They were also able to use it to sequence an embryo to determine its gender! They have just scratched the surface so far and intend to continue with as many gecko species as possible in the future!

Tony shared photos from some of his travels in southern Africa while searching for geckos. He and his team have traveled to other parts of the world as well to collect a diverse collection to better be able to explore the way all geckos are related. With the new technology available, scientists like Tony can learn how organisms have evolved in this multitude of species.

For more information, read a primer on “Sex Determination” by Tony Gamble et al at http://www.tc.umn.edu/ ~gambl007/publications/Gamble_Zarkower_2012.pdf

Other interesting articles by Tony include …

There are three major ways Tony and his team identify sex * “Out of the blue: a novel, trans-Atlantic clade of geckos determining mechanisms.

(Gekkota, Squamata) by Tony Gamble, Aaron M. Bauer, Eli #1. They look for heteromorphic sex chromosomes .

Greenbaum & Todd R. Jackman - February 2, 2008 This is tricky because many species are homomorhttp://www.tc.umn.edu/~gambl007/publications/ phic and often times quite small and difficult to work Gamble_etal_2008_ZS.pdf with. * “Tertiary climate change and the diversification of the #2. They run incubation experiments to see if they Amazonian gecko genus Gonatodes” (Sphaerodactylidae, can affect the percentage of males vs. females to Squamata) - Tony Gamble, Andrew M Simons, Guarino R. determine if they are TSDs. Using the results from Colli & Laurie J. Vitt - http://www.tc.umn.edu/~gambl007/ two studies, information from snapping turtles and publications/Gamble_etal_2008_ZS.pdf bullsnakes were graphed. The snapping turtles ex* “A Review of Sex Determining Mechanisms in Geckos hibited the classic curve when the data was graphed, (Gekkota: Squamata) by Tony Gamble. July 27, 2009 bullsnakes did not!. (Burger and Zappalorti – 1988 http://www.academia.edu/2809039/ Pituophis) (Ewert et al - 2005 - pond turtles). This A_review_of_sex_determining_mechanisms_in_geckos_Gek method would be long and arduous with geckos bekota_Squamata_ cause many species only lay two eggs at a time! #3. They look for the lack of heteromorphic sex chromosomes. Thankfully DNA sequencing prices

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Volume 33 Number 12

December 2013

Tony can be contacted at the University’s Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development. Email him at gambl007@umn.edu Gamble and Zarkower (2012) Current Biology Graph above found at http://www.anoleannals.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Screen-Shot-2013-06-25-at-11.56.32AM.png

2014 Meeting Dates January 3, 2014 February 7, 2014 March 7, 2014 April 4, 2014 May 2, 2014 June 6, 2014 July 11, 2014 August 1, 2014 September 5, 2014 October 3, 2014 November 7, 2014 December 5, 2014 Holiday Banquet Saturday, December 6th

December 2013

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First Ever Complete Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Iowa Longtime MHS member Jeff LeClere has just published a guide to the reptiles and amphibians of Iowa. This is the first guide to include ALL species in a single volume. See page 6 for more information.

2014 Smithsonian Institution Research Fellowships Research fellowships in Vertebrate Zoology are available through the Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program, which provides funding for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and senior investigators to conduct research in association with Smithsonian scientists. Candidates are especially encouraged to apply for the new multi-year Peter Buck Fellowships (http://www.smithsonianofi.com/fellowship-opportunities/peter-buckfellowship/). All applicants should contact potential staff advisors to determine the feasibility of the proposed research and tenure dates, as well as the availability of relevant collections and other resources. Potential staff advisors for herpetology and information about their work is available at the divisional web site (http://www.vertebrates.si.edu/ herps/).

Proposal deadline is January 15, 2014. Fellowship durations range from three months to three years depending on fellowship category. For more information and to apply online, visit the Program website (http://www.smithsonianofi.com/ fellowship-opportunities/smithsonian-institution-fellowship-program/).

Survey Request from Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research Please help inform field herping and herp keeping policy by taking the 2013 Herpers Survey!

Sponsored by a generous grant from SWCHR (www.southwesternherp.com), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, this survey is, to our knowledge, the first of its kind in that it attempts to capture the opinions of the 'herper community' on a range of topics related to observing herps in the wild as well as domestic husbandry. Many of the questions focus on those activities as they pertain to SWCHR's area of interest.

We're not going to sugar-coat it: due to its comprehensive nature, the survey should take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes to complete, depending on your experiences both field herping the Southwest and keeping herps from that area. Even if you don't have any experiences in that regard, there are still several general-interest questions on which we hope to gather data, so please participate and tell your friends to do the same! You do not have to live in or herp in the Southwest, or keep herps from that area.

The survey can be accessed at www.surveymonkey.com/s/herpersurvey2013 and will be available through February 28, 2014. The more people that contribute, the more accurate the results! Please share this message with fellow enthusiasts to help spread the word!

Getting Slimy—Photographing Giant Salamanders Follow this link to an interesting article on hellbenders and one man’s quest to photograph them. http://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-special-features/article/photographing-giant-salamanders/

2014 Chopsticks for Salamanders Grants Chopsticks for Salamanders (CFS) is currently accepting grant applications for 2014. We are offering two grants this year: the CFS Daniel M. Digiacomo grant that funds research, education, or conservation efforts focusing on salamanders for up to $4,500 and the CFS travel grant for up to $1,000.

For more information, check out their website at http://www.chopsticksforsalamanders.org/#!grant/ca6b

Minnesota Conservation Volunteer The Minnesota Conservation Volunteer is a magazine published by the Minnesota DNR. Check the “Life in the Field” section of the current issue; some of the people may look familiar! It can be found online at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/ volunteer/index.html

Life Is Short But Snakes Are Long This is a blog by Andrew Durso, a PhD student at Utah State University. The blog covers snake natural history and herpetological research. The current article is entitled “How snakes see through closed eyes”. http://snakesarelong.blogspot.com/

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Volume 33 Number 12

December 2013

MHS Members, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who were at the initial meeting of the Minnesota Herpetological Society. The thirty people present can take pride in knowing they are charter members of a new and growing society.

A special note of thanks should go to the people who worked on the organizing committees that layed the ground work for our society. These people gave generously their time and energy to draft the constitution, to get the word out about the meeting, to organize a program and to find people willing to take on the responsibility of serving as officers of the society.

Dr Tordoff and Dr. Regal of the Bell Museum, also, deserve our thanks and appreciation for their assistance in forming the society and offering the association with the Bell Museum. This provides the society with a Bell Museum mailing address and allows us to use the university facilities for our meetings. This will be a distinct advantage for us as we grow~ I want to encourage all members, whether officers or not, to take an active part in the functioning of the society. Now is when you can have the greatest impact on the direction and emphasis of YOUR society.

If you have ideas or suggestions for society programs or activities be sure to make them known. The names and phone numbers of the officers are included elsewhere in the newsletter for your convenience.

Delvin Jones President ATTENTION! !

THE MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY DELICATESSEN will hold its GRAND OPENING, June 5th after the monthly meeting. The featured take-out item will be fresh frozen mice straight from MHS's own exclusive supplier. Twenty-five dozen of these delectable tidbits will be available to tickle the palates of your collection. The management has priced these food items at our inflation fighting price of only $3.00 per dozen. This is planned to be a regular feature after each meeting so be sure to bring your money and stock up!

**LOGO NEEDED** The society needs a logo! The Board of Directors is looking for ideas from the membership. Put on your Creative Hats and come up with the Minnesota Herpetological Society logo! Submit your ideas to the society officer.

All previous newsletters (33 years worth) are available at no charge to members at http://issuu.com/search? q=minnesota+herpetological+society December 2013

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Check out more cartoons by Liz Climo http://lizclimo.tumblr.com/

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MHS Reports and Announcements

FUNDING FOR PRAIRIE RESEARCH offered by

Prairie Biotic Research, Inc. We Are

Prairie Biotic Research (PBR) is an all-volunteer, Wisconsin nonprofit established in 2000 to foster

basic biotic research in prairies and savannas. One way we do this is through a competitive Small Grants Program that funds grants up to $1000 to individuals for the study of any grassland taxon anywhere in the USA. We support both natural history and experimental science. We are especially eager to support independent researchers (those lacking institutional support), but anyone having a U.S. Social Security number may apply. Since 2002, we’ve awarded 155 grants worth $148,946 to people in 32 states to study insects, plants, mammals, reptiles, slime molds, mycorrhizal fungi, spiders, snails, amphibians, birds, fish, invasive species, effects of management, and the human dimensions of conservation. Many of these grants supported graduate student research. In 2014, we expect to fund at least 10 grants of up to $1000 each with the donations we have received, including some restricted by donors to support research in IA, IL, MI, MN, ND, SD, WI.

To Apply for a Grant Visit our website (prairiebioticresearch.org) to learn more, to download our pro-

posal form, instructions, and a sample researcher agreement form that winners of this competition must sign.

Check out the history and overview files in the Small Grants section of the website to see what sorts of proposals have won funding in the past. Review the reports submitted by researchers of past years.

We must receive your proposal through the mail before December 31, 2013. Those who won funding in 2013 are ineligible for this funding in 2014, but those who won funding longer ago are welcome to submit proposals to further that same work or to support a new project.

Our Supporters We are very grateful for gifts recently received from individuals, businesses, foundations and nonprofit organizations in support of our Small Grants Program: Michael Anderson, Armund Bartz, Neil Bernstein, Connie Beroza, Big Bluestem Audubon Society (Ames, IA), Andria Blattner, Stephen & Nancy Bloom, Aaron Brees, Kurt Christoffel, Rebecca Christoffel, Citizens Natural Resources Association of Wisconsin, Conservation and Research Foundation, Lloyd Crim, Robert & Nancy Dott, James E. Dutton Foundation, Marlene & Bruce Ehresman, Hildy Feen, Felburn Foundation, Tamara Felden, Catherine Gimse- Owen & Robert Owen, MJ Hatfield, Hillsdale Fund, Iowa Native Plant Society, George & Marilyn Johnson, Herbert H. Kohl Charities, The Fred Maytag Family Foundation, Merganser Fund, The Leo Model Foundation, The R. D. and Linda Peters Foundation, Irwin Andrew Porter Foundation, Ron & Helen Priest, Dennis Schlicht, Jim & Rose Sime, Glenn Teschendorf, Richard & Elaine Tinberg, TOSA Foundation, Laura Van Slyke, Andrew Williams, Willow Springs Foundation, Ken Wood.

Become a Supporter Please make a donation to support PBR. Any amount is welcome. PBR is volunteer-run so our overhead is very low. You may specify that your entire tax-deductible donation be given to researchers through our Small Grants Program, or to expand our research endowment that produces income we give away annually through this program. Please help us to help others!

Michael Anderson, Craig Brabant, Rebecca Christoffel, Linda Duever, Jaime Edwards, Brick Fevold, Kerry Katovich, Douglas LeDoux, Victoria Nuzzo, Ursula Petersen, Dennis Schlicht, Scott Swengel, David Voegtlin, Andrew Williams, Daniel Young,

who comprise the Board of Directors and Scientific Advisors of Prairie Biotic Research, Inc. We foster curiosity!

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Volume 33 Number 12

December 2013

MHS Reports and Announcements Newsletter Update The MHS Board has reviewed the usage and costs of publishing the MHS newsletter in paper form.

Over the past 3 years (2010-2012) we have dropped from printing over 250 newsletters (@ $5,000.00 printing, $285.00 postage) to mailing out less than 50 newsletters. ($1,790.10 printing, $549.45 postage). Although we have saved in printing costs, the postage has gone up because we no longer qualify for bulk mailing prices (there is a minimum of 200 pieces). To offset the 1st class postage we asked for a donation of $5.00 from those who wanted a mailed version. Most members have opted for the email version of the newsletter instead of mailed (258 vs. 43).

A printed newsletter requires the Editor to send a copy to the printer, someone needs to pick up the copies from the printer, the Membership Secretary has to printout mailing labels and get them to the newsletter folders who address and stamp the newsletters and then mail them out. All this requires time and sometimes results in the mailed issue arriving just before or even after the next meeting.

After this review the Board has decided to phase out the printed newsletter in favor of an emailed version. Starting in January 2014 we will no longer offer a mailed newsletter with memberships. Those that renew and pay for a mailed version before Dec 31, 2013 will continue to receive a newsletter until their expiration date in 2014. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this decision please contact a board member or bring it up at the next general meeting.

Nancy Haig, MHS Treasurer

From the Newsletter Editor As we phase out the printed newsletter, I will be reprinting original articles from newsletters past. To view the first newsletter click http://issuu.com/mnherpsoc/docs/1981-5 Looking to the future, as the newsletter will no longer be bound by the formatting rules that stem from being printed— an even number of pages preferably a multiple of 4, stark white backgrounds and a limit of 12 pages—the format and content can change. This raises the question—what do you, the membership, wish to see in the newsletter? More educational articles, more items aimed at kids, more pictures?

One thing that I personally would like to see is more member originated articles. And you don’t have to be a professional herpetologist to submit something. Most people own at least one herp, and if you own one, you have at least one funny story about them.

For example, I have one snake who, for whatever reason, seems to like to sleep in her back. The first time she did it I assumed she had died, and nearly did myself when I went to get her “body” out of the cage and she promptly flipped back over, startled herself. She has since done it several more times; each time she flips back over when touched.

PLEASE send ideas or items to NewsletterEditor@MnHerpSoc.Com. Thank you!

The Only Good Dog is a Dead Dog: Why it Doesn't Make Sense to Kill Venomous Snakes in your Yard We have often discussed here on this blog how and why killing snakes whenever and wherever you see one is a questionable land ethic. But, in the past I conceded that I understand why people would kill venomous snakes when they are found in their backyards because of the perceived threat to their families. Prompted by some comments left on a recent blog post, I’ve reflected on this a bit more and have come to the conclusion that I think I was wrong: It does not actually make sense to kill venomous snakes in your yard. My reasoning is the topic of this post. That said, I can’t possibly predict the outcome of every wild animal encounter and I can’t tell you what is the safest thing to do in any specific situation. I can, however, speak in general terms. I hope you will take this information and decide for yourself what the proper course of action may be when you find a venomous snake. (this is an excerpt by Dr. David Steen in his Living Alongside Wildlife blog. To read the full article, click here http:// www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2013/10/the-only-good-dog-is-dead-dog-why-it.html ) December 2013

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MHS Reports and Announcements Treasurer's Report for Oct 2013

January Speaker The speaker for January will be Jeff LeClere, talking about his new book. Plan ahead!

T-Shirts coming!

MHS t-shirts with our logo will be available for pre-order and possibly hoodies as well. Look for more information next month

Adoption Report Submitted by Nancy Haig Lizards - 1 adult Savannah monitor, 2 leopard geckos, 11 bearded dragons (10 are probably less than four months old), 1 female veiled chameleon, 2 green iguanas Snakes—1 boa constrictor, 2 ball pythons Turtles—2 box turtles, 3 red-eared sliders, 1 Russian tortoise, 1 sulcata tortoise Amphibians - 1 tiger salamander Returning foster animals may also be available!

prepared By Nancy Haig

Beginning Balance

$10,545.75

Income: Membership Ads Raffle Adoption Hands Ons Rodent Sales Renfest transfer from paypal Total Income

$ 100.00 $ $ 37.00 $ 188.00 $ 145.00 $ 682.00 $ 2,286.30 $ $ 3,438.30

Expense Newsletter printing Newsletter postage Program Student org fee Rodent cost Renfest printing insert Donation Adoption Total Expense

$ 62.20 $ 42.90 $ 150.00 $ 25.00 $ 996.30 $ 300.00 $ 35.40 $ 5,000.00 $ 60.00 $ 6,671.80

Cash Increase/Decrease

$ (3,233.50)

Ending Balance

$ 7,312.25

Placement of cash holdings Checking Savings Paypal Cash on hand

$ 7,312.25 $17,205.32 $ 696.00 $ 175.00

Total

$25,388.57

We had 39 animals available for adoption at the meeting; 26 were adopted, including most of the 11 Bearded Dragons.

Notes: $5000.00 was donated to the Nongame Wildlife Still in foster are 2 common boas, 3 iguanas, 3 Bearded Dragons, Program Fund for help in publishing the new and a couple of tortoises. Thanks to everyone who came forward "Amphibians & Reptiles in Minnesota" book. to help.

Why the ropes? In trying to setup the animals faster, we need to hold the crowd at bay so we can move the animals around and get everything labeled. Sarah brought in 28 animals then another 11 showed up needing caging and placement, so there is less confusion if members stay back until we have things sorted out.

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Board Meeting There will be no board meeting in December. The first meeting in January 4th. The location will be announced, as the U of M campus will be closed. Everyone is welcome to attend the board meeting.

Volume 33 Number 12

December 2013

MHS Reports and Announcements Upcoming Hands-on Event Schedule Science Museum—This has been cancelled due to a scheduling mix-up Creativity Festival—January 14th & 15th 9:00am-1:35pm. Speakers will give 3 presentations to students Twin Cities Pet Expo—Saturday February 22nd 9am-6pm; Sunday February 23rd 10am-5pm. Hall E. Minneapolis Convention Center.

Glacier Hills Science Night—Friday May 9th, 2014 5-7pm. 3825 Glacier Drive, Eagan, MN 55123

Here’s the deal- Bring your herp(s) to one of the shows listed above, and talk about them. That’s it! You don’t have to be an expert, you’re not giving speeches. Most of the time you will find that people are more than open to hearing about our misrepresented critters.

Contact Jan at Jan.SkunkHollow@Juno.com for details or if interested in signing up. Or sign up on the website.

Board Meeting Minutes for October 2014 Called to order 6:12pm Opening Remarks: There were approximately 75 people at the beginning of the general meeting.

Digital Stats: Facebook “Likes” = 534; Forum Users = 330 (2613 posts) Old Business: Student Group: Students are all registered, room reservations are in order including the room for the holiday banquet.

Washington County Turtle Crossing Project: Studies, surveys, etc. are being done to evaluate need and placement, etc. so more to come later. They are looking for local people to help report animal sightings, and all data needs to be in by end of June in 2014.

State List of Threatened and Endangered Species: Jeff is to update and reformat the MHS Threatened and Endangered Species pamphlet. Chris is also waiting to hear back from Rich Baker with the MN DNR on new rules and requirements for keeping listed species.

Feral Cats: Chris sent a letter approved by the board and went to a Minneapolis city council meeting about the cats; this policy may be appealed due to objections from the Audubon, MHS and others.

New Business: Holiday Banquet: Space is reserved, permits to come, and we need a chairperson; if no one steps up the board will take care of duties like last year. Fred and Liz Bosman would buy beer if needed.

Turtle races: The membership should be approached to determine what stance, if any, MHS should take on these events. Issues include the releasing of animals afterwards into environments other than the one they were taken from and the stress on the animals.

Picnic/Survey Training: Beth proposed May 24th or 25th for this event, but is this too far in advance? It may be a problem because of Memorial Weekend, so we will talk with Beth about a different weekend.

Ellen moved to adjourn, Micole seconded, adjourned at 8:23pm.

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Online Classifieds In addition to ads in the newsletter, MHS provides online classifieds via the forums. A valid login (provided to current members) is required to both post and read ads. http://www.mnherpsoc.com/forums/members/classifieds Page 12

Volume 33 Number 12

December 2013

Minnesota Herpetological Society Membership Application New

Name

Renewal

Address

Membership #

City, State, Zip Phone

Type Check #

Email

List in MHS Directory? Yes No Contact information only? Yes No

Herp related interests

Active Memberships: Sustaining ($60/year)

Contributing ($40/year) Basic ($20/year)

Printed Newsletter ($5/year plus membership)

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, C/O BELL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing.

Rodents!

Order your MHS Rodents today!

Ordering by phone? See the new phone number below.

Mice

Weight

Price

Pinkies

2-3 grams

$7/dz

Fuzzies

5-7 grams

$7/dz

Advertising Policies

Hoppers

8-11 grams

$8/dz

MHS Ad Policy: The MHS assumes NO RESPONSIBILITY

Adult

25-30 grams

$10/dz

Jumbo Adult

45+ grams

$14/dz

Rats

Weight

Price

Weanlings

40-45 grams

$17/dz

Small Adult

50-60 grams

$18/dz

Med. Adults

125-150 grams

$22/ 10 rats

fied ad, run free of charge as space permits. Ads may be run three (3) consecutive months, after which time they

Large Adult

200-240 grams

$17/ 6 rats

may be resubmitted.

Jumbo

250-350 grams

$16/ 5 rats

Submissions: All advertisements should be submitted to the MHS Membership Secretary at the general

For pickup at monthly meetings only. Orders may be placed via: 1. At the meeting for the following month 2. Online at www.MnHerpSoc.Com 3. Call the MHS Voicemail: 612.326.6516 Orders MUST be placed 10 days in advance of the meeting to guarantee availability. We no longer keep an inventory of rodents on hand, so if you attempt to place an order after the deadline, there is no way to fill it.

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 classi-

meeting or mailed to: Minnesota Herpetological Society, C/O 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.

Advertising Costs Size Cost Business Card Sized $5/month or $55/year* 1/4 Page $10/month or $110/year* 1/2 Page $20/month or $220/year* Full Page $40/month or $440/year*

MINNESOTA HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY C/O BELL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 10 CHURCH STREET SE MINNNEAPOLIS, MN 55455-0104

Next Meeting: Friday December 6th - 7:00 pm Room 335 Borlaug Hall, U of M St. Paul Campus

MHS Voice Mail: 612.326.6516 MHS Web Page: www.MnHerpSoc.com

This newsletter is printed on recycled paper