Vol. 25 (2005), No. 6

JJUNEUNE 2005 2005 VVOLUMEOLUME 25 N25 NUMBERUMBER 66

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FDA approves diabetes drugderived from Gila monster saliva

Update on the 2005 MidwestHerpetological Symposium

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

The Minnesota HerpetologicalS o c i e t yMHS Webpage: http://www.mnherpsoc.orgMHS Group Email: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/mnherpsocVoice Mail: 612.624.7065

June 2005 Volume 25 Number 6

Board of DirectorsPresidentRandy Blasus

Vice PresidentSean Hewitt

Recording SecretaryBarb Buzicky

Membership SecretaryNancy Haig

TreasurerMarilyn Blasus

Newsletter EditorAsra Halvorson

Members at LargeTony GambleFred BosmanMike Bush Jodi L. Aherns

CommitteesAdoptionSarah Richard

EducationJan Larson

LibraryBeth Girard

WebmasterAnke Reinders

[email protected]

The Purpose of the Minnesota Herpetological Society is to:• Further the education of the membership and the general public in care and captivepropagation of reptiles and amphibians;• Educate the members and the general public in the ecological role of reptiles andamphibians;• 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. TheMinnesota Herpetological Society Newsletter is published monthly to provide its memberswith information concerning the society’s activities and a media for exchanging informa-tion, opinions and resources.

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

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

The Minnesota Herpetological SocietyAttn: Newsletter EditorBell Museum of Natural History10 Church St. SE.Minneapolis, MN 55455.0104

Copyright 2005, 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 MHS Newsletter citing: volume, number and date.

The Newsletter of the Minnesota Herpetological Society June 2005 Volume 25 Number 6

May 6, 2005SPEAKER REVIEWBy Barbara Buzicky, Recording Secretary

GUEST SPEAKER: Jeff LeClerePROGRAM: Field Herping

Jeff LeClere has been a long time member ofMHS. He has become an expert in the field of her-petology over the years. If you want to know any-thing about how to “herp”, please see him. He willtell you just how it is. Jeff put on an excellent talkalong with a very interesting video of his fieldadventures. There were also a lot of familiar otherherpers in the video that we all recognized. Jeffhas been field herping with the best names in her-petology all over the United States. He has foundjust about every animal there is to find. He hasalso greatly contributed to herpetology informa-tion on animals and their locations and habitatsfor Iowa and Minnesota.

When he introduced his talk, he said that it wasn’tgoing to be formal. It wasn’t formal in the boringsense of the word, but it was packed with all theknowledge that he gained from his experience.Some of us in the society have been around forsome time, and we just don’t know much aboutfield herping. I am one of those people. But, fromJeff’s talk, I learned so much information aboutthe process and the equipment they use. They doa lot of swamp walking, but if you have your hipboots on it will save you from all kinds of dangers,animal and human, if you get the drift. Jeff hasfield herped in Mississippi, Iowa, Minnesota,Kansas, Florida, and Louisiana, just to name afew.

One important piece of equipment when settingup a work site to field herp is a drift fence. This isa barrier running for about a block in length usedwith heavy-duty plastic sheeting fastened on roll-out fencing similar to chicken wire, but withsquares instead. Then, on both sides of the fenc-

ing, white buckets are dug into the ground. Theanimals that approach the fence will not turnaround when they reach the barrier, but will followit along until they eventually fall into the bucket.

Then, the herpetologist can weigh and measurethem and record the data. They also will mark theanimals in some way so other herpers know theyhave been caught. On turtles, they notch thecarapace with a file or drill a small series of holesin the scutes. There are many different markingsused to identify reptiles in various studies. WhenJeff is working on a study, he looks up the mark-ing patterns to determine what study the caughtanimal was used in already.

In Iowa, Jeff worked with Dr. Christianson. Theyset up drift fences along with using minnow trapsin the water areas to catch aquatic species.These traps are usually set in the middle of a mudpond. He also used these minnow traps inFlorida. Minnow traps have funnels on both endsso when the animals go into it, they can’t get out.Some of the traps are fully submerged, and oth-ers are floating. The type of animal they are tryingto catch determines the position of the trap. Forexample, the traps for turtles need to be partiallyout of the water so they can breathe. He says that(Speaker Review continued on page 12)


News, Notes & Announcements

May Raffle Donors

Brian & Heather Ingbretson55 gallon aquarium

bendy branchesheat tape

Liam & Richard Bonkmisc. plants

Marilyn & Randy Blasus

Cover Photo ©2005 by Asra Halvorson

May Adoption ReportSarah Richard, Adoption Chair

Once again we had a greatmonth. 16 animals came in and17 went out. (The Alligator thePetersons were fostering wentto Iowa.)

Thank you to all who took ani-mals. Some even came pre-pared with their own containers!On that note I will put out areminder to anyone who hasgotten animals to return the con-tainers the animals were sent

home in. (No need to returncardboard boxes) I don’t want tohave to pull the pillow cases offmy bed.

3 Red-Eared SlidersNile Monitor 2 IguanasSnapping Turtle3 Savannah MonitorsBull Snake2 Ball Pythons2 Leopard GeckosBoaAlligator

H a p p y S u m m e r ! The Summer Solstice will beon June 21st this year. If youhappen to be in Peebles,Ohio, that day, you may wantto check out the GreatSerpent Mound. The head ofthe serpent is aligned with thesummer solstice sunset. It is1,330 feet in length, and aver-ages about 3 feet high.

For more information includ-ing the history of this NativeAmerican marvel, check outthe following links:

www.ohiohistory.org/calendar/2005jun.htmlwww.ohiohistory.org/places/serpent

Arial view of the Great SerpentMound from ohiohistory.org

Lizard Spit Drug Ready for Market!

Just approved by the FDA, lizard spit! The pharmaceuticalcompanies Amylin and Lilly announced the FDA approval oftheir new medication Byetta (exenatide), derived from the sali-va of the Gila monster. It will be injected twice daily in con-junction with other medications to improve blood sugar controlin patients with type II diabetes, but may also be approved inthe future as a stand-alone medication. (The Gilas had betterstay hydrated with all that spitting they’ll have to do!)

Learn more about Byetta by going to www.lilly.com.


Quasimodo Turtle Manhttp://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1381412.html

A Chinese man pretended to be a hunchback to smuggle his petturtle on to a plane. Wu, who is in his 60s, strapped the turtle to hisback before boarding the plane to Chongqing.

He got through security but was then stopped by a guard whothought his hump looked odd. A quick search uncovered the turtlewhich had a 20cm diameter and weighed about 5kg.

Wu, who was flying home to Chongqing after eight years inGuangzhou, said he knew he was not allowed to take live animalson board but was too attached to his turtle.

Finally, he changed plane and checked the pet in as baggage,reports the New Express. §

Karma Comes Back to You?www.ksla.com

Apparently after returning from“shooting snakes”, a Louisianaman slipped on a slimy dockwhile exiting his boat, and acci-dentally shot himself in thechest, killing him. The wife of 60-year-old John Samuel O’Donnellbecame concerned when herhusband had not returned homethat night, so a deputy went outto the lake to investigate, discov-ering the body.

The Bienville Parish coroner isordering autopsy to be per-formed, but all signs point to theshooting as an accident. Itappeared that the gun went offunderwater.

The Best Prize EVERMay 5, 2005www.smh.com

A five-year-old British boy founda live corn snake while openinga box of cereal for breakfast. Atfirst, the child thought it was atoy.

“It was quite long and popped itshead up. I’ve seen snakes onTV before but never in a box ofcereal,” he told the Daily Mailnewspaper.

Netto, the discount store wherethe cereal was bought, is check-ing into the situation and review-ing its procedures. §


I watched the tiny reptiles scurry away from thefeet of the hotel’s guests as they strolled by,unaware. “Do they ever get into the rooms?” Iwondered aloud.

My boyfriend Mick whimsically replied, “That’swhere they sleep,” knowing I love to entertainmyself with ridiculously improbable, cute images.I picture myself turning down the sheets to go tobed, and finding a long row of curly-tailed lizards,heads on two gigantic pillows, sleeping away.Their tails curl up and down as they dream of theirnormal lizard days.

Mick and I had just gotten to our hotel in theBahamas, ready for three days of relaxing, beachtime, and plenty of herps. We had saved for over

a year on our modest incomes and were past duefor a break from the biting cold of Minnesota win-ters. As part of the preparation for this trip, I hadinvested in a digital camera, knowing I would seethousands of herp species and take thousands ofNational Geographic-worthy photos as we wouldtrudge through lush tropical jungles drippingsweat.

Well, it never happens as I dream it.

I knew that where we would be staying on GrandBahama Island was a bit of a tourist trap (now agross understatement). The two towns of Lucayaand Freeport hadn’t even really existed before the1960s, when a Virginian named Wallace Grovescame and developed it with casinos and ritzyhotels. Despite knowing this, I still clung to theidea that the island might be wilder than itseemed— wilder as in wilderness, not drunkenco-eds taking body shots off each other.

We stepped off the cruise ship with the rest, form-ing a blob of ignorant tourists. Locals mechani-cally shuffled us here and there to the waiting“taxis”— that is, old VW buses, vans, rusty limosfrom the 1970s, and other such vehicles. It wasawesomely crusty, yet cramped. For a bit of aclaustrophobe, I could have done without the sar-dine treatment. But hey, it was all part of theexperience, and it was more economical for thedrivers. I dealt with it.

and Capricious

Curly-Tailed

Lizards By Asra Halvorson

The Curious


Our hotel was a bit more modest than others wesaw later in the trip. It had been built much beforethe glitzy hotels, but it had a fresh, cheery coat ofpaint. It was what I had hoped our hotel wouldlook like. Also, to make me over-the-top excited,it was inhabited by the quirkiest, cutest wildlizards I had ever seen. Curly-tailed lizardspeeked out from every corner in the place. By theend of our trip, I had memorized the location ofeach lizard’s “home”, and every time we wouldcome back from an activity, I would make therounds, checking to see if each one was out sun-ning in its own particular spot, spread out acrossthe cement, doing what lizards do best.

The folks at the hotel began to know me throughmy absurd crouching, peeking, meandering, andincessant picture-taking. The final morning wewere in the Bahamas, it rained. It was very over-cast, but I tried to hold on to the idea that theymight still come out, and that I could take, oh, justthirty or so more pictures of these crazy and won-derfully silly creatures.

“You won’t find any this morning,” a cab driverwaiting at the hotel’s front entrance said. “It’s too

cloudy.” At first I was surprised that he knew whatI was looking for, but upon taking a step back outof myself, I realized that for the past three days Ihad been acting quite obsessively, repeatedly cir-cling the courtyard, checking sewer grates, steps,plants, the grandstand. Once I spotted one, Iwould squat and slowly duck-walk over as closeas I could get, hoping that the little guy wouldn’tfreak and scoot away. I was the epitome ofstealth. (Don’t look right at them, they’ll know...be sneaky, Asra!)

The curly-tails seemed so playful, active, and talk-ative (in lizard ways, of course.) They would do aseries of tiny bobs at each other from across thewalkways, then eat the ants that marched alongthe cracks in the pavement. OK, so it doesn’t

sound that different from other lizards, but theirtails! Their tails expressed so much! While bask-ing, the lizards’ tails would seem normal,stretched out with the rest of their bodies, butwhen alert and ready to run, their tails wouldquickly curl up like a spring, forming a Fibonacci-esque spiral— the perfect curlicue.

“How can these even exist?” I squealed. (I saythis when I see every herp, including my own.)

(Continued on page 9)


MHS BOARD MEETING REVIEWMay 7, 2005By Barb Buzicky, Recording Secretary

The Board Meeting was called to order at 6:17PM CDT at the St. Paul Student Center, Room202, a voting quorum was present.

Board Members not present were Jodi Aherns,Mike Bush, and Tony Gamble. Non-BoardMembers present were Jeff LeClere, GeorgeRichard, and Tim Banobitz.

Minutes from the October 2, 2004 meeting wereapproved with changes, hardcopy outstanding.Minutes from the November 6, 2004 and April 2,2005 were approved with changes. Treasurer’sReports for January, February, March, and April2005 are outstanding. Membership Reports forApril and May 2005 were approved.

General Meeting Attendance for May 6, 2005,was 88.

President’s Report No questions on previoussegment on Board Development: Organization’sMission & Purpose. This month’s segment wason Crisis Management. Randy read excerptsfrom the segment.

Vice-President’s Report The Board wanted tothank Jeff LeClere for a great talk at the GeneralMeeting on Field Herping, and everyone gavehim a big hand. His video on field herping wasgreat!

June TBDJuly Jessi Krebs, Henry Doorley Zoo,

Giban SalamanderAugust Dav Kaufman, trip to Israel A & RSeptember Noah Anderson, tentativeOctober Jeff Lang, Crocodilians, tentative

Committee Reports MHS is printing an occa-sional paper on “Venomous Snakebites: MN &

Mississippi River Valley 1982-2002” by DanKeyler. The Board decided to go with an insert ofcolored pictures. Look for it soon.

There were two grants submitted from SaraViernum on Green Salamanders and RebeccaChristoffel on Humans and Snake Conservation.The Board passed on both of them at this time.The Board moved and approved $1000 for theTimber Rattlesnake Symposium grant submittedby Dan Keyler being held at St. Mary’s Collegeon September 24th, 2005.

Old Business A chairperson is still needed forthe State Fair DNR exhibit. Bill Moss is putting atimeline together regarding tasks that need to becompleted for the Midwest Symposium. TheBoard moved and approved Nancy Haig forTreasurer and George Richard for MembershipSecretary. The delay in the delivery of thenewsletter may have been straightened out. Asrawill be getting more information on HerpDigestfor the next meeting. Randy, Marilyn, and NancyHaig will be on the committee for board memberActivity Matching. They will get a proposaltogether for the next meeting.

New Business Current Rodent Chairperson isstepping down; a possible replacement may beRachel Delorme. Tim will be checking on thiswith her. The membership secretary will be send-ing out membership renewal cards. There was abad check received in the amount of $104,Marilyn will be sending a letter out to the person.The Board voted not to skip the June meetingdue to the Midwest Symposium.

Last Minute Items Jody needed to be reim-bursed for rodents purchased from the new ven-dor. Nancy Haig and Marilyn will meet to dis-cuss the Treasurer’s work. Marilyn sold 15 setsof our new cling and regular magnets with theMHS logo.

Meeting adjourned at 8:06 PM CDT. §


Midwest Herpetological Symposium UpdateBy Nancy Haig

The Minnesota Herpetological Society will behosting the 21st Midwest Symposium on October21-23rd this year at the Ramada Inn Airport &Thunderbird Conference Center near the Mall ofAmerica. What does this major event for our soci-ety really mean for the membership?

Long time members will remember when MHSpresident Fran Frisch came back from the 1985California convention and announced we wouldhave a similar event for the Midwest and, oh yeah,we were hosting it in October. Officially, it was aone-day event featuring top speakers fromaround the country. In reality it was an incredibleweekend combining up-to-date herpetologicalinformation and the social rituals of dedicated her-pers. Over the next few years the MHS carefullynurtured (ok – blackmailed) the neighboring herpsocieties into hosting the Midwest. Eventually, wecreated a rotation order that includes ten differentMidwest herp societies.

This will be our fourth time hosting the Midwestand our baby has turned 21! The first year we net-ted $80.00 mainly because the membershipdonated everything including homemade cookiesfor the midday break. Over the years the societieshave influenced the format of the Midwest, intro-ducing activities like the auction and vender roomthat generate extra income for the hosts. In 1997,we netted over $7,000.00 which was used to givegrants to The Nature Conservancy for land for theBlanding’s Turtle; several field survey groups tostudy herp populations in Minnesota andWisconsin; donations for the Frog and Toad CallIdentification Tape & The Frog and Toad Leaflet;and support for the Blanding’s Turtle Workshop.

Currently we are in the beginning stages of organ-izing the 21st Midwest. The core committee isworking out the details for the Friday night ice-

breaker, the lineup of speakers for the Saturdaytalks, the hotel arrangements for rooms, theSaturday night banquet and auction, and the ven-dor space. As the information becomes availablewe will be letting you know what is happening.The Midwest Herpetological Symposium is onlysuccessful when the whole herp society isinvolved. In the future we will be calling for volun-teers to help with various activities, but for now,the best thing you can do is block out your calen-dar for the weekend of Oct 21-23rd. The morepeople we have attending the Symposium thegreater it will be. §

(Curly-tails, continued from page 7)

They seemed so incredibly foreign....

The curly-tailed lizards really found a place in myheart in the short time we were there. There werefew other herps that I saw during our stay, andnone seemed to have the charismatic charm ofthe curly-tails.

Now that I think of it, I must have seen the curly-tails in pet stores here and there. They just didn’thave the same joie de vivre, which is probablywhy they didn’t strike me in the same way the wildones did. But just maybe, perhaps, when thelights go out and the store closes for the night,they tug out a pillow hidden behind their ReptiRapids waterfall, and collectively dream of wilderdays back on that touristy island of GrandBahama, tails curling up and down as they sleep.§


ON Press: Why didn’t the frog cross theroad? It took the tunnelPosted by W von Papineäu on www.kingsnake.ca ‘sHerpetological News Forum

GLOBE & MAIL (Toronto, Ontario) 30 April 05

Orford, Quebec : The soothing symphony ofcroaks call out to biologist Daniel Bergeron likethe siren song of spring. It’s nightfall, a warm Aprilbreeze drifts across Brompton Lake, and Mr.Bergeron doffs his coat and Tilley hat, a man pos-sessed.

Mr. Bergeron is a bearded and bespectacled sci-entist with eyes that light up at his single-mindedpursuit. He has devoted a good eight of his 35years on Earth to saving frogs. Specifically, frogsthat get squished trying to cross the road. His res-cue method: a frog tunnel.

The innocuous-sounding project has eaten upcountless hours poring over scientific journals,visiting amphibian underpasses inMassachusetts, convincing Quebec roadworkbureaucrats that he wasn’t insane, and eventual-ly winning over 22 different agencies, schools andsmall-town mayors.

His redemption comes at winter’s end, when thespring peepers, wood frogs and spotted salaman-ders start lining up like rush-hour commuters toenter his tunnel.

Then, Mr. Bergeron is a contented man. “Whenspring arrives, I’m as excited as I was the veryfirst year,” he says. “If it’s raining and the frogsstart singing, it’s extraordinary. I hear them singand I say: ‘Okay! It’s happening!’

“People tell me I’m almost a missionary. The morepeople say it, the more I believe it.”

Like all crazy ideas, the idea of the frog tunnel —there are actually three of them along a 300-metre stretch — started simply enough. Mr.Bergeron was driving home in 1997 alongHighway 220, about 120 kilometres east ofMontreal in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, whenhe came upon a section of the road resplendentwith splattered frogs, lying out like a vast tray ofsquashed hors d’oeuvres.

“Seeing them crushed before my eyes was sodisheartening,” he recalls. He went home and toldhis wife. She reminded him that he is a biologist.“Do something,” she said.

So he did. Mr. Bergeron, an environmental con-sultant, began scouring texts and journals. Beforelong, he was on his way to Amherst, Mass., hometo a salamander tunnel. Then he set off to con-vince bureaucrats in the provincial TransportDepartment. They could barely suppress a laugh,but they were won over by environmentalists intheir own department who pointed out the obvi-ous: The road in question had been built in thewrong place.

Each spring, hormone-crazed amphibians awakefrom their winter slumber in the maple-filledwoods near Brompton Lake with the unwaveringgoal of breeding in the nearby marsh. Lying intheir path is two-lane Highway 220. For frogs, it’slike a superhighway stretching between their liv-ing room and bedroom.

Volunteers from the Association for the Protectionof Brompton Lake got counting, and determinedthat 200 frogs an hour tried to cross the road atpeak migration, but only 10 per cent made it.

The authorities came around. It eventually cost$75,000, from all three levels of government, plussome private foundations, before Mr. Bergeronput the finishing touches on the three polymerconcrete tunnels.


Mr. Bergeron feels vindicated. Above ground,headlights barrel down the nighttime highway likethe blazing eyes of a predator. Below, in the tun-nels, hop the tiny spring peepers, no larger than a25-cent piece.

“Look! There’s another one!” Mr. Bergeron criesout. “Look at their beautiful eyes. It’s magic, eh?”

Frogs fall into a category the experts call “charis-matic megafauna.” Like pandas and whales, theyenjoy public affection. Beyond the affection comegrowing worries about their fate when they meetup with four all-season radials.

Canada may be the land of bear and moosecrossings, but frogs don’t get much of a break.(Mr. Bergeron says he had to turn to non-Canadians for help to get started.) Europeansstarted digging tunnels and underpasses foramphibians in the 1960s. In the United Kingdom,land of the animal-loving Brit, bucket brigadesgather at dusk each spring to collect toads asthey approach the road.

Elizabeth Kilvert, co-ordinator for Frogwatch, ajoint Environment Canada/Nature Canada pro-gram, says there is growing concern over theeffect of the automobile on amphibian habitats.

“We’re putting down more roads and transporta-tion grids. In some areas, cars are the biggestpredator,” says Ms. Kilvert, a biologist and sci-ence outreach adviser with Environment Canada.“But you can only add so much pressure beforesystems start to collapse.”

Biologists say small victories like Mr. Bergeron’sare as important as the biggest battles.

“He’s a hero,” says biologist David Green, a spe-cialist in amphibians and reptiles at McGillUniversity’s Redpath Museum. “The problem ofloss of biological diversity and loss of species is

everywhere. There’s no magic bullet to stop thedestruction. It’s the local initiatives that will savethe wildlife around us, and you can do it one bit ata time.”

Mr. Bergeron, who often lies in the dirt off thehighway until 2 or 3 in the morning, watching thefrogs in their tunnel, wouldn’t have it any otherway. §

The Quack Frog

A frog once upon a time came forth from hishome in the marsh and proclaimed to all thebeasts that he was a learned physician, skilledin the use of drugs and able to heal all dis-eases. A Fox asked him, “How can you pre-tend to prescribe for others, when you areunable to heal your own lame gait and wrin-kled skin?

Aesop’s Fableswww.sacred-texts.com


when he is trying to trap turtles, he catches a lotof snapping turtles in the trap. They can be funafter you have mastered how to hold them so youdon’t get a digit or hand bitten off. They are bornwith their mouths open, and they stay that way.(Not really, but it seems that way.) They arenamed for their behavior— “snapper.” InSoutheast Iowa, he was looking for stink pot tur-tles so the traps were floating. He was looking forgravid females in particular.

Jeff told many funny stories, but the best one wasthe time he was looking for sirens. He was in anarea where surely he would find them. He set uphis traps, and lo and behold, he captured mudsnakes. Mud snakes are highly aquatic, so theywere easily captured in his minnow traps. Severaltimes he checked the traps, and he only found amud snake or two. He was sure that some sirenswere in the traps. But, one thing about mudsnakes— they eat sirens. What happened wasthat the sirens would get into the traps, and thenthe mud snakes would see them. The mudsnakes would go into the traps and feast on thesirens. Sirens, or Siren Linnaeus, genusSirenidae, are eel-like creatures having front legswith four fingers and no hind legs, along withthree open gill apertures. They can be found indifferent types of water, but mostly in shallowwater ponds.

Did you ever wonder how to weigh a snake? WellJeff has the process perfected. He places thesnake in a plastic baggie, then attaches the bagon the hook of a scale. This way the snake can-not slip away, and he is not spending a lot of timetrying to keep the snake calm. It curls right up inthe baggie until the weighing has been complet-ed.

Snakes are marked in the field in a couple ofways, by either clipping the scales in specific

areas, or by using pit tags (passive integratedtransporter), which are inserted under the scaleswith a syringe. Animals are tracked using radiotelemetry. This process can be somewhat trickyas the animal can be very close to you accordingto the sound of the beeps coming through theheadphones, but animals are shy and hide verywell by blending into the environment. Leaf litterand other debris need to be moved in order touncover the hiding animal. Turtles have transmit-ters placed on the tops of their shells or on thesides. It is best to have them on the sides or theanimal could possibly get stuck somewhere.

In his video, there was a segment on fox snakes.These snakes are the best actors in town. Theyimitate rattlesnakes by coiling up like them andeven shaking their tails. It is enough to help thembluff their way out of a compromising situation.Eastern hognose snakes also deserve anAcademy Award as they have two behaviors fordefense: arching up and flattening their heads justlike a cobra, as well as rolling over to play dead.This last behavior was captured on film, and itwas very funny.

Jeff has found many animals including road killthat turned up to be new species or found animalsin places where they were not documented to be.Find time to get to hear Jeff LeClere speak. Hehas great expertise in the field of herpetology.Jeff speaks to groups; check with him to find outwhere he will be speaking next. Or, check withhim in person if you have any questions. He lovesto talk about herps.

Also, get yourself out into the field. MHS fromtime to time will have an outing for just this pur-pose. Bring the idea up to a Board Member sothey will get a group organized. They generallycamp over the weekend on private land or at aState camping area. It is a fun event for the entirefamily to learn hands-on about herps in the field.§

(Speaker Review continued from page 3)

Minnesota Herpetological Society Membership Application

Active Memberships: Sustaining ($60/year) Contributing ($30/year) Basic ($15/year)

Corresponding Memberships: Commercial ($25/year 2 Business Card Ads/year)

Required check info. Drivers Lic # State DOBPlease enclose the proper payment with your application. Make Checks Payable To: Minnesota Herpetological Society. Membership is for12 months from the date of approval, a receipt will be sent only upon request. Mail to: Minnesota Herpetological Society, Bell Museum ofNatural History, 10 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing.

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

Classified Ads: All active members are allowed a classified ad, run free of charge as spacepermits. Ads may be ran three consecutive months, after which time they may be resubmit-ted. Corresponding members are allowed a complimentary business card advertisementmonthly as space permits. Due to federal restrictions on Non-profit mailing permits, we arenot allowed to run ads for travel, credit or insurance agencies.

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

MHS AD RATESBusiness card $5/Month $55/Year*1/4 Page $10/Month $110/Year*1/2 Page $20/Month $220/Year*Full Page $40/Month $440/Year*

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*12th month is free on a one year commitment

Next Meeting:Friday, June 3, 2005 7:00PMRoom 335 Borlaug Hall, U of M St. PaulCampus

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Vol. 25 (2005), No. 6

Documents

Transcript of Vol. 25 (2005), No. 6