Welcome to Lancaster Herpetological Society! RESTROOMS : Out of the room around the corner to the right TRADING POST : Check out the Trading Post where members can sell or trade herp stuff. SIGN IN : Sign in to make sure you re on our e mailing list. T SHIRTS : LHS t shirts FREE with your membership. MEMBERSHIPS : Memberships available through treasurer, Roy, or online. Membership fees support our website, snacks, speaker fees, and annual gift to the library. $25/year or $45/family. HOSTESS : Please see MaryAnne, library staff, for first aid or logistics needs. Thank you Mary Anne!! Lancaster Herp Society Board Members Caleb Hulse, President Jesse Rothacker, Vice President Roy Mellott, Treasurer Kelsey Frey, Secretary and Media Director Dave McNaughton
Pam Hartmoyer Kent Hartmoyer Adam Mattel 1. Ice breakers 2. Blessing 3. FOOD!!! 4. Elections 5. Regular Business Ice Breakers Most Countries winner 21+ Most Species of Herps Seen (wild) Jake 40 species! Attends the Most Nature Clubs Dave (10!)
March Speaker Best Idea Darren Nash (from Britain), Jack Hubley, Doug Tallamy, Bernie Sanders. Who s vehicle looks most like a turtle. JESSE Jesse gave a blessing and we ate!
Kate Dendrobates tinctorius Poison Dart Frog Cake Jesse and Kim Rare Species of Kiwi Turtle Cake from New Zealand, Super Green Turtle Cuisine! >WINNERS!!! Board Member Elections: Board President: Dave McNaughton Vice President: Jesse Rothacker
Secretary: Pam Hartmoyer Media Director: Kelsey Frey Treasurer: Roy Mellott General Board Members: Kelsey Frey Jesse Rothacker Pam Hartmoyer Roy Mellott Monica Bortz
Kent Hartmoyer Linda Mengak pending Since there were no competing positions, we skipped paper ballots this year and voted all in favor as the list was read. Thank you to our retiring board members for their service this past year, Adam Mattel and Caleb Hulse. Has anyone been herping lately?? Redback Salamander, Bullfrog Tadpoles, and
Red spotted Newt, Sparrowbush NY, Nov29/Dec1 Kelsey Sightings at Susquehannock Wildlife Society Dec 14
Brown Anole Dave McNaughton Lebanon County
Jesse Lots of green frogs in Manheim, active green frog tadpoles Spring Peeper calls Jesse, Kelsey, etc.
Jake Cramer Sightings from this year! Jake shared his beautiful photos on a thumbdrive. Lots of neat sightings.
Has anyone gotten any new pet herps, etc?
(Kelsey s) Baby Fire bellied Newts Erica Shallcross:
Pet Updates from Hartmoyer House:
Aaron Ball Python Spider Het Ghost from Hamburg, Glaze
Available at the rescue: ball pythons redtail boas start with at least a 50 gallon, or a stackable plastic container
King Snake
Find out more on www.forgotten Friend.org
Herps in the News? Alligator eats suspected Florida burglar who hid from police in lake From: WFTV (Florida) A suspected Florida burglar evaded police only to become a late night snack for an 11 foot alligator. Matthew Riggins body was finally identified on Monday after police discovered it in a lake on November 23, 10 days after he and an accomplice allegedly burglarized several homes in Barefoot Bay, Fla, WFTV reported. Riggins was missing his lower extremities and part of an arm when police found his body, according to The Orlando Sentinel. Feds seize 274 pairs of Manolo Blahnik shoes because they are made from an endangered species From: Daily News The feds seized 274 pairs of snakeskin Manolo Blahnik shoes at Kennedy Airport because they are made from an endangered species. A geography challenged importer for the luxury shoemaker goofed up the paperwork accompanying the shipment on July 28, 2013, claiming the snakeskin had originated in China. Inspectors from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service knew better. The dog faced water snake, Cerberus rynchops, is not known to have a wild population in China, Assistant U.S. Attorney Karin Orenstein stated in papers filed
Tuesday in Brooklyn Federal Court. This particular snake resides in the southeast Asia. Scientists Trying To Genetically Resurrect Extinct Galapagos Tortoise An extinct species of Galapagos tortoise, whose last living example died in 2012 at age 100, may be resurrected with the genetic help of some close relatives, scientists say. When the iconic tortoise dubbed Lonesome George so named because, as the last survivor of his species, he was alone died on Pinta Island in the Galapagos, it meant extinction for the Pinta Island saddleback tortoise. However, scientists say they will breed tortoises from another of the Galapagos Islands species found to have the closest genetic makeup to the Pinta species, in an effort to return George's species to its native island. http://www.techtimes.com/articles/116654/20151216/scientists trying to geneticailly resurrrect extinct galapagos tortoise.htm
Zoologger: World s first venomous frog has the kiss of death Meet the two species that just happen to be the world s first, and so far only venomous frogs. We knew that some frog species secrete poison onto their skin that can make predators ill if they swallowed them. But the two species from Brazil have tiny spines on their heads particularly on their upper lips that enable them to inject lethal venom directly into the bloodstream of any assailant. Just a single gram of venom from one of the species Bruno s casque headed frog, aka Aparasphenodon brunoi would be enough kill 80 people, or 300,000 mice. The frog s venom is 25 times more poisonous by weight than that of Brazilian pit vipers. Venom from Greening s frog, Corythomantis greening, is less dangerous, but still twice as potent as a pit viper s, as Carlos Jared of the Butantan Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, discovered to his cost during a field trip to Caatinga in the state of Rio Grande del Norte. Carlos was jabbed by spines while collecting the frog, says Edmund Brodie of Utah State University in Logan. Intense, immediate pain radiated up his arm and lasted five hours. He was many hours from any medical services, so just toughed it out. The other, more lethal Bruno s frog was discovered in the dense vegetation of Brazil s Atlantic Forest in Espirito Santo
state but luckily, no one touched it with bare hands this time. Back in the lab, Brodie, Jared and their colleagues analysed 15 frogs of each species, testing the potency of the venoms by injecting them into mice. They also killed five of each species and took detailed scans of their flesh, skin and skeletons. This revealed the tiny spines on the faces of both species that take venom from neighbouring glands and inject it into assailants. The spines pierce through the frogs own skin and are abundant on their upper lips. Unusually, the frogs can wiggle and flex their heads up, down and sideways, and this is how they inject their venom, jabbing their spiny upper lips into their attacker s flesh. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28013 zoologger worlds first venomous frog has the kiss of death/ Komodo Dragon gets acupuncture for aching back Hannah the Komodo Dragon has been in pain. To relieve it, her doctors and keepers are taking an approach that has not yet been tried on an animal at the Palm Beach Zoo: acupuncture. Dr. Cara Pillitteri, who has been treating Hannah, said, "Although the research is still inconclusive, current findings suggest that the mediators released by acupuncture may serve to lessen or block the pain response." Additionally, Hannah recently had a CT scan, commonly known as a cat scan, to try to better pinpoint the source of her pain. Neck pain has left her unable to eat at times and has her sidelined from the breeding program. Hannah is the first animal at the Palm Beach Zoo to have acupuncture treatment. http://www.sun sentinel.com/video/originals/sun sentinel shorts/sfl komodo dragon gets acupuncture for aching bac k 20151113 story.html
Found prehistoric snake with four legs. find article PA Fish and Boat proposed not listing Timber Rattlesnakes as threatened/endangered. Upcoming LHS events Friday, January 22, 2016, 7pm Bob Ferguson s Adventure Stories, Manheim Township Public Library. ****FOURTH FRIDAY**** Friday, February 19, 2016, 7pm Sand Boa Ecology, Husbandry, and Breeding with speaker Patrick Walker, at the Richard M. Nixon County Park, 5922 Nixon Drive, York, PA 17403. Talk followed by a nature center behind the scenes tour. Friday, March 18, 2016, 7pm TBD, Manheim Township Public Library. Friday, April 8, 2016, 7pm Pinchot Park Herping Field Trip! Friday, April 15, 2016, 7pm American Toad Migration Adventure, Manheim Township Public Library. Friday, May 20, 2016, 7pm Art Through Chemistry with speakers Mark Sterlin and Mark Breen Klein of Lucent Morphics Laboratory. Manheim Township Public Library.
Friday, June 17, 2016, 7pm Critter Encounter, Manheim Township Public Library. Friday, July 15, 2016, Best Beginning Herps with speaker Zach Barton, Manheim Township Public Library. Friday, August 19, 2016, 7pm, Kids Night, Manheim Township Public Library. August TBD Camping Trip Blue Rocks Family Camp Ground, Berks County with Metropolitan Herp Society! Other Upcoming Nature Events????
Happy Holidays and New year! See you in January!