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CROCODOPOLIS world of crocodilians TM SCIENCE · CULTURE · INDUSTRY · NEWS · COMMUNICATION · CONSERVATION
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NEWS
The CROC PRESS Regular coverage of crocodilians and people in headlines worldwide.
Wes von Papineäu, News Page Editor Email: crocnews@crocodopolis.net _________________________________________________
Week of 30 September 07
23 September 07 Year in review
Check out Wes' commentary on the croc news of the last year. - I.D. 03 October 07 Arkansas Mom bags alligator In state-sanctioned hunt
After five nights of unsuccessfully chasing alligators around a pond, a Nashville, Arkansas mother of two finally harpooned and killed her prey. The Dierks native says that when she dispatched the gator with the shotgun, it was the first time she had ever shot a gun.
Kayla says she
plans to have the gator’s skin preserved and displayed. “I don’t know
where I’ll put it, though.” http://nashvilleleader.com/articles/2007/10/03/news/04news.txt
04 October 07 Relocating rogue crocodiles in Belize
The Belize Forestry Department is dispatching a team to catch rogue crocodiles and relocate them to remote areas on the mainland.
George
Hanson, environmental officer believes that crocodiles in the San
Pedrito Area have varying lengths ranging from six to 10 feet in length.
He later commented that due to a lack of resources and funding, the
proper materials and equipment needed to catch these powerful creatures
is non-existent at the Forestry Department.
http://www.sanpedrosun.net/07-393.html 03 October 07 Baby crocs debut at zoo
Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo has had some unique luck resulting in the recent birth of five baby African dwarf crocodiles.
Their father, a
67-year-old croc named R1, had yet to produce offspring even after
living with females for several years. Their aggressive mother,
41-year-old Maggie, had a penchant beating R1 up and for crushing her
own eggs.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-croc04oct04,1,6965122.story?ctrack=1&cset=true 03 October 07 No Faking It, Crocodile Tears Are Real
When someone feigns sadness they “cry crocodile tears,” a phrase that comes from an old myth that the animals cry while eating.
Now, University of Florida researcher Kent Vliet has concluded that crocodiles really do bawl while banqueting – but for physiological reasons rather than rascally reptilian remorse. He found that five of seven study crocdilians teared up as they tore into their food, with some of their eyes even frothing and bubbling.
D. Malcolm Shaner, who co-authored the research paper*, was investigating a relatively rare syndrome associated with human facial palsy that causes sufferers to cry while eating. For a presentation he planned to give at a conference of clinical neurologists, he wanted to know if physicians’ general term for the syndrome, crocodile tears, had any basis in biological fact.
Shaner and Vliet uncovered numerous references to crocodile tears in books published from hundreds of years ago to the present.
In the myth, crocodiles often cry while eating humans. However, deadpanned Shaner, “we were not able to feed a person to the crocodiles.”
*A paper about the research appears in the latest
edition of the journal BioScience.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071003151131.htm 03 October 07 Politie zoekt krokodil in Brusselse vijver
Police in
Brussels, Belgium discover a croc in local waters.
http://www.nu.nl/news/1259234/122/Politie_zoekt_krokodil_in_Brusselse_vijver.html
30 September 07 Rare gator to 'treat' zoo visitors Through Halloween
The albino alligator, "Mardi" is now on display at the Palm Beach Zoo through Halloween.
"He's very
popular," zoo spokeswoman Gail Eaton said. "People ask for him. He's a
rock star. School kids are crazy about him."
http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/content/news/Mardi0930.html 29 September 07 East Texas park Home to state's biggest gator
‘Big Al’ the biggest alligator in Texas -- 13 feet, 4 inches/4 metres long and weighs 1,000 pounds/ 450 kilos. He's between 70 and 75 years old.
Gary
Saurage is one of the owners of Gator Country: "We get out there
and do shows with the gators. They'll be all around us, chomping
at us. People love to take pictures of us feeding the big gators.
(The gators) love weenies. We go through about 300 pounds of them every
week. And if you'll notice, our alligators are fat.
http://www.mywesttexas.com/site/news.asp?newsid=18867542&brd=2288&
02 October 07 The man who crocs let into their 'club'
It's the kind of encounter most fondly remembered when you have emerged unscathed. Dr Brady Barr still feels his nerves twitch when he thinks about it.
He had crawled into a crocodile burrow in search of one but found it empty. "Then I noticed that what I had thought were the muddy walls of the burrow were actually the bodies of giant crocodiles. It only became obvious when you saw their eyes. I held my breath and eased out!" he recalls.
Barr was seen recently in South Africa for filming ‘Monster Bite’, a programme which records the bite pressure of various animals.
The reason for
filming Monster Bite was to see whether any creature could trump the
crocodile as "king of the bite". Many were tested but even the hyena,
with its notorious jaws, didn't measure up.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=31&art_id=vn20071002030857836C439714&set_id= 19 September 07 Mensvreterkrokodil verewig
An Namibian
item about a croc-related problem in … well, Namibia I guess.
http://www.republikein.com.na/content/nuus/2007/Sep/19_mens.php
27 September 07 Krokodillebestanden i Norge firedobles
If my understanding of Norwegian is good (and it is not, as I am about to prove), these articles are short descriptions of an event being held at a ‘croc zoo’ in neighbouring Denmark (or it might be that the crocs were lent to Norway by Denmark).
It’s either
that or they’re a warning that 30 Viking longhips are loose in the North
Atlantic again!
http://www.dagbladet.no/dinside/2007/09/27/513353.html
http://www.ba.no/nyheter/article3021508.ece
http://www.ba.no/nyheter/article2969178.ece 02 October 07 Bikini girl served up for 'crocodile snack'
Wearing only a bikini, 28-year-old Kerry Shaw was lifted by a crane into a 4m/13 ft - deep pool inside a 1m/3.3 ft x 2m 6.6 ft steel cage with strict orders not to stick any part of her body outside it.
The 20-minute stunt was at an endangered species breeding facility at Oudtshoorn, South Africa.
Participants wear their own swimming trunks or bikinis and use snorkelling gear instead of scuba equipment so anyone can have a go, although there is a minimum age of 12 and children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult during the dive. [And yes .. ‘film at 11’ … or rather, photos at URL below. -Wes]
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=485127&in_page_id=1770
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=68382&in_page_id=34&ito=newsnow 01 October 07 Surprised duck hunter shoots 25-pound alligator in Wisconsin river
Wisconsin, USA duck hunter Ed Long thought he was shooting at a snapping turtle, but got a surprise when he pulled his trophy from the Milwaukee River: a 4-foot/1.2 metre-long alligator. Alligators are not indigenous to the colder climates of the northern United States.
“I’m still just absolutely 100 percent shocked,” said Long’s uncle, Herb Sagan. “You’ve got a better chance of shooting a 30-point buck in Wisconsin than a gator.”
“I’d like to
have it mounted,” he said. “Or at least get a belt or wallet out of it.”
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071001/NEWS07/71001047/1001/BUSINESS05
29 September 07 Tainted marshes yield fewer eggs - Alligators' reproductive woes Could bode ill for other species, people
Florida biologist have determined that alligators living in marshes ridden with pesticides hatch only about half as many eggs as alligators in more pristine marshes.
While biologists say the lower hatch rates are unlikely to pose a significant threat to the state's thriving alligator population, the reptile's reproductive problems may be a barometer for other species, such as turtles, frogs, birds and maybe even people.
"All the factors that we're talking about are the same things we talk about in humans," said Tim Gross of the University of Florida, co-author of the study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. "It's national. It's not just happening in Florida." http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/NEWS01/709290341/1006 28 September 07 S.C. looks to rejoin alligator hunt; Recent attack, resurgence spurs bill
South Carolina banned gator hunting in 1964 as the population here and across the South declined. But with the increase in gator numbers and renewed press attention after 'gator attacks' S.C. lawmakers are considering following other Southern states in allowing public gator hunts. Arkansas began hunts this fall joining Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
The new law would permit the public to hunt "in any game zone where alligators occur." The state Department of Natural Resources estimates there are 100,000 gators in the state. http://www.charlotte.com/local/story/296558.html 28 September 07 Feisty alligator pulled From central Florida YMCA pool
One woman had her workout cut short when a 4-foot/1.2 metre gator decided to go for an early morning dip in the Cocoa, Florida YMCA pool.
Trappers were brought in to remove the small reptile. http://www.wftv.com/news/14227969/detail.html 28 September 07 Baby croc prompts zoo sex shock
A Lancashire, UK zoo was surprised to find a new addition to their reptile collection - a tiny baby yacare caiman (Caiman yacare). The keepers at Blackpool Zoo had thought the two 10-year-old animals in the enclosure were both female - but nature proved them wrong.
The baby yacare caiman has been placed in a special care tank in the feeding kitchen where staff say it is doing remarkably well. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/7017580.stm 27 September 07 Alligator found abandoned Along New York road
Luckily for the New York boys who stumbled across a 3 1/2-foot/metre-long alligator on a road in Wading River, the reptile was dehydrated and weakened by starvation.
Nonetheless, "It certainly wasn't weak enough where it couldn't take off a finger with one scared lunge," said Ray Gross, chief of the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) "An alligator of this size can inflict very serious physical injury to a person and death to a small pet."
Owning an alligator is illegal in New York State. Owners face a fine if caught, but the penalty for abandoning a dangerous wild animal is much stiffer - up to a year in jail.
Suffolk County's SPCA has collected 112 reptiles of various sorts in the past year, Gross said. The organization is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for abandoning the alligator. 27 September 07 Gator creates big buzz But no Texas record
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials confirmed that the 13-foot, 10.5-inch/ 4.2 metre-long; 880-pound/ 400 kilo alligator captured by a Lufkin man and three of his friends last weekend is "not even going to be close," according to Shawn Willis, a Lufkin wildlife biologist with TPWD.
"There's been two that were 14-foot-4-inches/4.4 metres and at least one that was 13-foot-11-inches/ 4.2 metres in the past," he said, "so he's going to be at least fourth or fifth." http://www.lufkindailynews.com/search/content/news/stories/2007/09/0928_gator_folo.html 26 September 07 FYI: Monster alligator hunted legally
Q: After reading the article about the 880-pound/ 400-kilo Texan alligator being caught, many of us would like to know: Did these folks intentionally hunt and kill this animal? Was this alligator a threat? And was it legal or illegal to do this?
A: To answer your last question first, yes it is perfectly legal to hunt alligators during designated seasons which are set and assigned by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Trinity County, where the gator was caught, is one of 22 counties in Texas having a specially designated 20-day alligator hunting season during September. There is a statewide alligator hunting season during April, May and June.
Did the hunters intentionally hunt the gator? Yes. Did they kill it? No, it was already dead when they located it. It had taken the hunters' bait but drowned.
As to the question of whether it was a threat, most outdoors people would agree that it likely was a threat to any other wildlife or fish species in and around that area of Trinity County. http://www.lufkindailynews.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/09/27/fyi.html 24 September 07 Texan, three friends Bag giant gator
A Lufkin, Texas man and three of his friends have a potential state record on their hands after capturing a gargantuan gator Friday morning near Trinity.
"We'd gotten word back in the spring time that there was a big gator out there," said Haltom, a wildlife biologist and land management consultant, "so me and Tommy had gone out there several times and scouted and seen quite a bit of gator activity and videotapes of gators."
Using the hook-and-line method, the group anchored a rope to a tree, left enough rope so the gator could run with it, and hung a 14-ought treble hook about a foot above the water with their own "secret recipe of chicken and some other stuff."
When they showed up Friday morning, they had a line in the water, but when they started pulling on it, it was tangled. Not knowing whether the gator was dead or alive, the four slowly made their way through the 6- to 7-foot-deep water to untangle the gator and tie some ropes around him to drag him out. But they quickly discovered it wasn't going to be that easy.
"He drowned himself," Wells said. "We believe he just dove underneath the water and got tangled up in a stump..."
The gator wound up weighing in at 13 feet, 101/2 inches/ 4.2 metres long and 880 pounds/ 400 kilos. http://www.lufkindailynews.com/search/content/news/stories/2007/09/24/gator.html
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