Practical Reptile Keeping Magazine No.53 Satanic leaf-tailed Geckos Back Issue

The sun has been shining, people have been enjoying their holidays, and the so-called “silly season” of stories that traditionally appear in newspapers at this time of year has resulted in a number of reptile-related reports. On the basis that the old ones are still the best, the story of monstrous abandoned terrapins surfaced again, with the claim this time being that they could be ripping the fingers off unsuspecting visitors to the peaceful Lake District, and maiming ducks too. But there are now welcome signs that some papers may no longer be as easy to convince with stories of this type. The Observer reported these claims and then carried out its own search, talking with local people and visitors in the area. Nothing suspicious was seen – indeed, the only defi nite thing to emerge was that the pond at one of the locations in question had recently been drained when building work took place, and no signs of any terrapins had been found. Plus there were no limbless ducks spotted either. Terrapins as they get older become essentially vegetarian in their feeding habits, as studies in their North American homeland confirm. They are not aggressive predators. The cause of ducks' missing legs is far more likely to be the result of attacks by predatory pike. These native fish are well known for taking ducklings, as YouTube will confirm. But as is often the case with reptiles, never let such inconvenient facts get in the way of a good story! There’s still a lingering prejudice against reptiles, particularly in the USA, where venomous species are more numerous and could represent a threat to people. Education is the answer to addressing the problem. As we report elsewhere, the latest discovery about how rattlesnakes are helping to protect us from a potentially fatal illness should cause people to rethink their attitude to these snakes. It will
hopefully also hasten the end of rattlesnake round-ups, when large numbers of these reptiles are
caught and killed every year.