Reptiles and Amphibians

FIU's Jason Leon Slays Giant Python Monster, Saves Humanity

When the mammoth snake creature, spawned in a time and land too unfathomable for words, began tightening its hold around Jason Leon's legs earlier this month in some back woods near Miami, he knew he had one chance. Jason Leon had to kill this motherfucker. And kill it good.

Everglades Python Hunt: Can We Officially Call This One Giant Publicity Stunt? We Can

For the heat and hyperbole, who knew it was going to be this bad? But it is. The Great Python Hunt of 2013 may have been the greatest publicity stunt in the history of the Everglades. When the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission sent us its first python news release months ago, we wrote an intro ... More >>

Florida Python Challenge: Two Weeks In, an Updated Body Count

We're pretty much at the middle mark for the first-ever Florida Python Challenge, the dubious public service free-for-all the state cooked up to control the dangerous number of Burmese pythons slithering around the state. The challenge started January 12, when some 800 hunters went head-first into t ... More >>

Bill Nelson Is In on the Python Hunt, Has Caught Zero Pythons So Far

With the Great Python Purge Challenge Hunt Thing 2013 well under way, it seems all kinds of folks are joining in to try to win themselves some cash for killing a python. One of those folks is apparently Sen. Bill Nelson himself. And, like pretty much everyone else involved in the hunt, he's ending ... More >>

2013 Python Challenge: Few Reptiles, Many TV Crews

PETA Demands that Great Burmese Python Challenge Not Allow the Decapitating of Snakes

More than 400 people have decided to step up and take on Florida's 2013 Python Challenge, where they'll be competing for $1,000 to snuff out evasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades this weekend. No hunting license, or snake-killing experience is required. Only your dedication to hitting the swamp ... More >>

The Great Burmese Python Challenge Is Set To Begin! We Took The Online Training Course So You Don't Have To

Catching a Burmese Python can be tricky. And then killing it is no simple matter. There are rules. Many, many rules. To kill the mighty Burmese Python, the untrained and knife-wielding explorer must be vigilant, brave, and apparently blood-thirsty. And -- most importantly -- must take a 15-minute ... More >>

The Great Burmese Python Challenge: How Many Can You Kill?

One month from now, something very unusual -- and very, very Florida -- will occur in the Everglades, representing a metaphoric clash of man and beast: the Burmese python challenge. Its requests are simple. Kill as many snakes as you can. No, no, no. Don't worry. You don't need a hunting license o ... More >>

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Looks to Clamp Down on Illegal Turtle Trade

There's a black market for everything, even turtles. Last month, we told you about an extensive sting operation led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that took down a local yokel who was illegally smuggling turtles to China. It turns out this wasn't a one-off incident. Turtle smuggling ... More >>

Petition to Save Mayan Beach Sand Dune Racks Up Signatures; Will DEP Take Notice?

In three days, more than 480 people have signed a petition to save the Mayan Beach Sand Dune in Fort Lauderdale from destruction. Spearheaded by the Sea Turtle Oversight Protection, the petition is the latest development in a battle between developers and environmentalists that has stretched fo ... More >>

West Palm Beach Man Dies After Eating Live Roaches (Video)

A south Florida Man died after participating in a live roach eating contest held at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach. The Bugs for Balls competition, held on October 5, used live insects domestically raised for reptile food. The contestants who consumed the most bugs won ball pythons.Acco ... More >>

Here's How the Feds Busted David Feltenberger for Smuggling Turtles to China

In October 2011, an undercover officer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service arrived at David Feltenberger's "Big Lake Fish Farm" in Okeechobee. Feltenberger was sentenced last week for conspiring to export turtles. He had a license to keep hundreds or thousands of softshell turtles, snapping ... More >>

Dan Rather Jumps Into The Everglades' Burmese Python Problem (VIDEO)

See also "Feds Likely To Face Legal Battle Over Python Ban" and "JAVMA Probes Whether Burmese Pythons Are Mere Hype or Destructive Force"Want to see a guy get bit by a relatively huge and very pissed off Burmese python? Then keep reading because esteemed broadcast journalist Dan Rather has you ... More >>

Largest Burmese Python Found In Everglades Measures 17 Feet, Has 87 Eggs Inside

See also "Feds Likely To Face Face Legal Battle Over Burmese Python Ban" and "Are Burmese Pythons Slithering, Destructive Force?"The University of Florida announced a startling discovery Monday: A 17-foot-7-inch Burmese python had been pulled from the Everglades. The record-setting reptile weighed 1 ... More >>

Center for Biological Diversity Demands Protection for Ten Florida Species

See also "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Faces Lawsuit For Not Protecting Ten Florida Species"The nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity has filed a massive petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service demanding that a total of 53 reptiles and amphibians be granted protection under the Endangered Spe ... More >>

Feds Likely To Face Legal Battle Over Burmese Python Ban

Most of us rejoiced earlier this year when Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar announced a new set of restrictions on the much loathed, much feared, much hyped Burmese python.  But six months after the feds announced a ban on the importation and interstate sale of Burmese pythons and th ... More >>

Burmese Python Eats 10 Bird Eggs, Vomits. Scientists Worried

An 8-foot-long Burmese python captured in Miami-Dade last year either watched Cool Hand Luke far too many times or was just very stupid and very hungry.According to a new study, the snake puked up ten intact bird eggs soon after the Miami-Dade Venom Response Program captured it. Meanwhile, the ... More >>

Forest Ranger Beats Huge Python to Death With Rake, Posts YouTube Video, Retires for Unrelated Reasons

​Most people eat cake and slack off on their last day of work. Not Jean Bernard Tarrete. The former forest ranger wrapped up his career with the Florida Forest Service at the end of March by hunting down a 15-foot Burmese python, wrestling with the beast while a coworker beat it to death with ... More >>

JAVMA Probes Whether Burmese Pythons Are Mere Hype or Slithering Destructive Force

​Despite the string of national headlines, television specials, a federal ban, and grotesque photographs, it's becoming increasingly unclear whether Burmese pythons are permanently wrecking the Everglades or if they're just an overhyped nuisance. Earlier this year, scientists r ... More >>

Expanding Snake Ban Could Cause Economic Woe, Feed Python Hype, Reptile Group Says

​Earlier this year, our cowboy-hat-wearing secretary of the interior, Ken Salazar, hosted a news conference in the Everglades to announce a federal ban on importing four species of snakes, including the much-loathed Burmese python. Now, a new proposal from Reps. Tom Rooney and Ted Deutch ... More >>

Python Destruction of Everglades May Be Overhyped

​At the end of January, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a study suggesting that Burmese pythons were decimating mammal populations in the Everglades. The numbers were shocking: a 99 percent decline in raccoon sightings, a 98 percent drop in opossum  ... More >>

Horrible Ancient Animals

Hungry Hungry Pythons Decimate Mammal Populations in Everglades

​It's no secret that Burmese pythons have been wreaking havoc in the Everglades, but the extent of their destruction has been hard to grasp. A new study provides some of the first hard statistics on how these invasive reptiles are altering the food chain, and the numbers are downright scary.Betwee ... More >>

Monster Pythons From the Everglades Get Dissected on PBS Show (Video)

​Nature shows are simply brilliant television. Sharks devouring seals in midair, a Golden Eagle dragging a helpless mountain goat to a savage death, and monkeys getting wasted off fermented fruit -- these are things dreams are made of.  Now South Floridians can puff out their chest with local ... More >>

Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods America: Get Your Own Turtle, Raccoon to Eat

​Get ready for another season of Bizarre Foods, as host Andrew Zimmern eats his way through the entire wildlife encyclopedia. This year, Zimmern's staying in the United States, giving us at home the opportunity to try strange foods in our own backyard.This morning, Zimmern visited the Today Show t ... More >>

Burmese Pythons Can Survive in Saltwater. Damn.

​As if snakes large enough to swallow -- or at least try to swallow -- alligators in the Everglades aren't frightening enough, U.S. Geological Survey researchers delivered a bit of unsettling news this week about Burmese pythons. These massive beasts can't be held back by saltwater. The resea ... More >>

Florida Has World's Worst Invasive Amphibian and Reptile Problem, According to UF Research

University of FloridaThis iguana doesn't belong in Florida, but here it is at someone's front door in Lake Worth.​If you're looking for a reptile or amphibian species that "causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health," chances are, it's in Florida.According ... More >>

Mayor Jack Seiler Responds to Sea Turtle Activists Clamoring for His Attention

Hmm, Quite.​Activists protesting the death of baby sea turtles because of Fort Lauderdale's flawed beach lighting know how to get Mayor Jack Seiler's attention: holding signs up against the windows of City Hall during a commission meeting, passing out his private cell phone number, calling him a m ... More >>

Mayor Jack Seiler's Curt Email Response to Sea-Turtle Activists: "Your Facts Are Wrong"

S.T.O.P.Roadkill baby turtles​"MAYOR SEILER HATES BABY TURTLES!" That's a popular refrain these days among advocates for sea turtles on Fort Lauderdale's beaches. Around this time of year, eggs buried by mother turtles on the beach hatch, releasing inch-long baby turtles who need to find their way ... More >>

7-Foot Burmese Python Escapes in West Palm Beach

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation CommissionThe 7-foot snake that was slithering around West Palm Beach​The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission isn't too happy with David T. Beckett after they say his 7-foot Burmese python escaped its enclosure and began wandering around res ... More >>

Burmese Pythons Not Going Anywhere

Courtesy, AP/Everglades Nat'l Park​At left, you'll find the single most interesting picture taken in Florida in the last five years. (Other than this one, I mean.) Pictured is a 13-foot Burmese Python which has bitten off more than it can chew -- except the python has dispensed with the biting, an ... More >>

Crocodiles Take a Bite Out of Grand Central

A Night With Sea Turtle Hatchling Rescue in Fort Lauderdale

​Here is a heartbreaking video from YouTube, posted by an activist group known as Sea Turtle Oversight Protection. It's called "Ten Minutes in the Night of a Rescue Volunteer." The date of the clip is the evening of July 10, and a map shows the location where it was shot: on the sand behind the Sh ... More >>

A Breeder's View on the Proposed Python Ban

Courtesy of Greg Bryant​Greg Bryant raises reticulated pythons, the longest snakes in the world. From the Retic Ranch in Delray Beach, he breeds animals that can grow to 20 feet and top 100 pounds and sells them around the world. His livelihood is now threatened by federal legislation, proposed la ... More >>

Morning Juice: Aid to Haiti Trickles in; FPL Rate Hike Denied

​The catastrophe in Haiti dominates the headlines in South Florida and around the world:The Port Au Prince airport is now taking chartered flights and aid has arrived -- just nearly enough to meet the dire need for water and fuel. [New York Times]Lynn University in Boca Raton learned late last nig ... More >>

Manatees to Pythons: A Rough Weekend For Local Wildlife

Baby, it's cold outside.​Iguanas falling from the sky.Pythons slithering from the swamps and into suburban yards in search of warmth. It would make a great horror movie if it weren't true life. It's been so frigid in South Florida this week that 250 sea turtles in cold shock have already been pick ... More >>

PETA Fretting Over Humane Deaths for Giant Snakes

PETA says: Stun and decapitate​Florida Fish and Wildlife has yet to respond to a July 30th letter from Lori Kettler, senior counsel for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), concerning humane death for Florida's thousands of Burmese pythons. Tori Perry, senior cruelty caseworker at P ... More >>

Man and Beast: State Bird Gets the Heave-Ho; Monkeys Go Home; Pythons Morph Into Man-Eaters

The rock python's scary-sexy maw.​Amnesty Day is coming up on October 3, but that's amnesty for you, not for our scaly friends. Owners of exotic reptiles may turn in their anacondas at Gatorland in Orlando, no questions asked. It's time for Spot the reticulated python to find a new home, if he sur ... More >>

Please Don't Eat the Pythons... or Freeze the Iguanas

Our friend, the Burmese python.​Wild critters in Florida have many subtle ways of fighting the predations of man. And now that Florida has declared open season on invasive pythons, it's a good bet that the snakes are going to have the last word, even if it's spoken with forked tongue. Python meat ... More >>

On the Hunt for Exotic Lizards in the Florida Everglades

Whacking Day Comes to South Florida

 The day is upon us. Yes, every Simpsons fan knows Whacking Day started in 1924 as an excuse to beat up the Irish. And yes, technically Texas has had organized snake whacking for years. But now Florida's bravest most cunning snake-hatingest citizens will descend upon the swamps of this state ... More >>

Man and Beast: Temps Rise, Tempers Flare

Kitten terrorizes Wellington teensThe heat index climbed over 110 last month and we've had more rain than you could shake a wet cat at -- two factors likely to get everybody feeling ornery. Judging from the number of weird animal incidents this week, that includes our furry, feathered, and scaled ... More >>

Reptile Style

The Gator People!

Strange creatures haunt the Everglades. And that's just the humans.

Off the Leash

In the exotic pet universe, it's all about whose is weirder than whose.

Bulldozers Gone Wild

Bad, CRA! Bad, Bad CRA!

Best Pet Store

Wild Cargo Pets & Supplies

Turtle Tryst

Save the baby sea turtles!

Best Tacky Florida Kitsch

Alex's Gift Shop

Cold-Blooded Smuggling

The recent bust of a Hollywood importer sheds light on an illegal reptile trade that has adventurous smugglers making easy money