DNR Proposes to Ban Catching Lizards and Snakes

MDDNR, Public Comment Sought for Proposed Changes to Regulations on Maryland Native Reptiles and Amphibians

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is accepting public comment on proposed changes to the native reptile and amphibian regulations, designed to protect the species.

Due to conservation concerns including collection pressure, disease transmission, and illegal trade, DNR is considering changes to regulations under COMAR 08.03.11.

These changes would prohibit collection of native reptiles and amphibians from the wild – including turtles such as diamondback terrapins and box turtles, plus most native snakes and frogs – and limit possession, breeding, sale, and trade except by special permit. The public can view the proposed regulations, FAQs, and comment online now through November 27, 2026.

The regulations would only apply to amphibians and reptiles native to Maryland. Also, anyone who legally possesses any native reptile or amphibian species under the current regulations can qualify for a free grandfather permit to maintain possession of their pets.

Educational facilities and animal rescue organizations will still be able to obtain a Captive Reptile and Amphibian Permit to possess reptiles and amphibians.

In drafting these changes, DNR considered expert advice from wildlife veterinarians, scientific studies, and assessments by law enforcement that reflect changes since the reptile and amphibian regulations were last updated in 2016.

Public comments providing additional information and perspectives will help refine and finalize this proposal.

There should be a little boy exemption. Little girls too, if they want. And I guess I'll just have to let those baby snapping turtles I find in the cold bay in spring die.

No Insurance was Sold

A little gecko at breakfast yesterday:

Wind Power is for the Birds

Or rather, not for the birds, although it seems to be good for the lizards that the birds eat: Wind Farms Kill Off 75% Of Buzzards, Hawks And Kites That Live Nearby

Wind turbines are the world’s new ‘apex predators’, wiping out buzzards, hawks and other carnivorous birds at the top of the food chain, say scientists.

A study of wind farms in India found that predatory bird numbers drop by three quarters in areas around the turbines.

This is having a ‘ripple effect’ across the food chain, with small mammals and reptiles adjusting their behaviour as their natural predators disappear from the skies.

Birds and bats were assumed to be most vulnerable to the rise of the landscape-blotting machines.

But their impact is reverberating across species, experts warned, upsetting nature’s delicate balance.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru studied lizard and bird populations at three wind turbine sites in the Western Ghats.

They found almost four times fewer buzzards, hawks and kites in areas with wind farms – a loss of about 75 per cent.

And without buzzards, who would eat all the dead deer on the sides of the roads?

In areas without turbines around 19 birds were spotted every three hours, while nearer to the machines this number dropped to around five.

This led to an abundance of the fan-throated lizard, a species only found on the Indian sub continent and a favourite snack of the predatory birds. The reptile also had lower levels of the stress hormone corticosterone and this changed how it lived.

 Lower cortisol! I'm so happy for them!

For instance, humans were able to get much closer than usual before they ran off, as without predatory birds around, they had become less fearful.

The analysis has implications for wind farms all over the globe – including Britain, where the top predators include many birds of prey such as owls and eagles.

Study coauthor Professor Maria Thaker said: ‘We have known from many studies that wind farms affect birds and bats. ‘They kill them and disrupt their movement. But we took that one step further and discovered that it affects lizards too. ‘Every time a top predator is removed or added, unexpected effects trickle through the ecosystem.

Can Lizard Blood Save Our Lives?

It's doubtful, but: The Blood of Komodo Dragons Could Help Us to Slay Antibiotic Resistance

Protein fragments in the blood of Komodo dragons have antimicrobial properties that help them resist toxic bacteria, and they could be used to develop new drugs to counter antibiotic resistance, researchers have found.

The Komodo dragon is the world's largest lizard, growing up to 3 metres (9.8 feet) in length and weighing up to 70 kilograms (154 lbs). It lives on five small islands in Indonesia, where its massive size and sharp teeth enable it to feast on prey as large as water buffalo – but there's another, less obvious reason why you definitely don't want to get bitten by one.

Previous research has found that the mouths of Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) contain up to 57 kinds of dangerous bacteria.

It's not entirely clear, where this bacteria come from. More recently, scientists have suggested that it stems from Komodo dragons drinking from sewage-contaminated water sources.

Well, they do eat a lot of rotten meat, since their method of killing big prey involves biting it, and letting the bacteria (and the venom they have) give the prey a bad infection. Given such a method of feeding, it would be important to be relatively immune to infection by the bacteria in your prey.

Now researchers have figured out how these lizards became resistant to having such deadly bugs in their mouths.

A team from George Mason University took blood from Komodo dragons, and analysed it to see if they could find traces of what's called cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs).

These protein fragments are produced by nearly all living creatures, and work as an essential part of our innate immune system. Previous research by the team in 2015 had identified these peptides in alligator blood.

Gators aren't particularly closely related to the dragons, each representing very different branches of the reptilian lines. How far does this spread?

"It's that part of your immune system that keeps you alive in the two or three weeks before you can make antibodies to a bacterial infection," biochemist Monique van Hoek said at the time.

"It's part of your generalised immune response to the world."

So this is not really novel to Komodo Dragons, although it may well be better developed in some reptiles.

The team synthesised eight of these peptides, and tested them against two particularly nasty kinds of bacteria that have been labelled 'superbugs': Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus, aka MRSA.

Of the eight synthesised peptides, seven were effective at killing both bacteria in lab-grown cultures, while one was only effective against P. aeruginosa.

I suspect Komodo Dragons make very poor experimental test animals. Even if a reptile is useful in research, perhaps a less obnoxious species could be used.

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup" and links. Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Massachusetts Girl" ready at The Other McCain.

Stumpy

The Five-Lined Skink who lives around our front door:

I was going to say that he (or she, I don't really know it's pronouns) might be the reason the spotted cat has not been around lately, but a quick check of the internet suggests that rumors of the toxicity of their tails to cats may be exaggerated.

Nice Lizard!

The story here.

Wombat-socho  managed to get "Rule 5 Sunday: The Road To Sin City" done after all.

Pics From the Garden

I took a little stroll around the garden this afternoon, with an eye to some of the wildlife.  As often happens, we have a frog or two hanging out in the pond.  If I read this right, it's probably a Northern Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans melanota), from the ridges and the raised ear drum.

A little baby Five Lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) ventured out on the driveway.

 Now here is an odd one.  I found this moth hanging around with the butterflies in the Phlox.  I'm sure it's another sphinx moth, and probably the Nessus Sphinx Moth (Amphion floridensis), but I've sent the picture to butterfliesandmoths.org to be sure.

UPDATE:  Yep, I was right.  And that was quick; I'm impressed.

And another one for the "butterfly life list".  This is (according to butterfliesandmoths.org, who already answered my query on this one, a Red Banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops).  It's pretty strikingly marked, but it's awfully small and easy to overlook.

A Quick Stop in the Garden

I took a little camera walk around the garden a while ago, after having mowed the lawn and run out of important errands to run.  This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail set down in one of our trees and posed for me

Have I mentioned we have cicadas?  Even more than yesterday. Drone, drone, drone...

I wonder if these Five Lined Skinks could choke one or two down.  If so, they shouldn't have to worry about food for a few weeks.  These two appeared to be getting ready to rumble about something when I interrupted them by trying to get too close for a photo.