Changing how people view and treat snakes
July 16 is World Snake Day! While snakes are threatened by many of the same issues that affect all wildlife (habitat loss, climate change, and disease), negative attitudes toward snakes may be the biggest barrier to their conservation because it often impedes efforts to address other threats. So do your part by spreading positive messages …
My favorite example of convergent evolution is that between old (e.g., lappet-faced vulture) and new (e.g., turkey vulture) world vultures. Both groups of scavenging birds fill the same niche in their habitat and look so much alike that scientists classified them together until we had genetic tools to tell us otherwise. Turns out that new …
Listen to our friend Erika Nowak discuss the problems with rattlesnake translocation, commonly viewed as the humane solution to snakes showing up places where they are not wanted. http://cpa.ds.npr.org/knau/audio/2015/03/bf031915.mp3 You can read the transcript here.
New videos in our YouTube series Snake Peeks Even where snakes are common, they can be difficult to observe because they are shy and easily disturbed. Through good fortune and patience we’ve been able to record brief moments in the lives of wild snakes. These portraits of behavior may oppose what many (most?) people …
Snake Peeks: Lovers, Fighters, Drinking, Hunting Read More »
New videos in our YouTube series Snake Peeks Even where snakes are common, they can be difficult to observe because they are shy and easily disturbed. Through good fortune and patience we’ve been able to record brief moments in the lives of wild snakes. These portraits of behavior may oppose what many (most?) people …
It’s Wednesday, which means we have a new #SnakePeeks video for you! Today’s episode stars Jaydin, one of my favorite snakes of all time. Unfortunately he is no longer with us, but he left us with many fond memories, videos, and photos to remember him – he was always up to something cool. If you’d …
Even where snakes are common, they can be difficult to observe because they are shy and easily disturbed. Through good fortune and patience we’ve been able to record brief moments in the lives of wild snakes. Snake Peeks, our new video series on YouTube and Instagram, brings you glimpses of the daily lives of …
Here lie the answers to our quiz. If you landed here without taking the quiz first, STOP, and go back and check it out before reading below. Now the answers from our dear friend, Roger Repp: Well, I hear that my very first posting has brought about an avalanche of interest and comments. Thank you …
Today we feature a guest post from our dear friend, Roger Repp, originally posted on our Facebook page. Hopefully the first of many – enjoy! Greetings honored visitors from other places, This is to be my first official posting to the ASP Facebook page. (Or any other Facebook page, for that matter). I would like …
Ecologists study how interactions between species affect populations. Trophic (feeding) interactions are the most obvious (e.g., lions eat zebras), but competition and mutualism are also important in structuring populations residing together. Food webs consider how seemingly non-interacting populations of species may influence each other indirectly, often through the actions of other species. How individuals interact …