snakes news stories on Newser

Newt Lauds Romney: He's Like Eisenhower

Matt Cantor — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:27:42 CDT

Sure, during the campaign he wasn't Mitt Romney's biggest fan—but it looks like Newt Gingrich is ready to let bygones be bygones. In an interview with Chris Matthews last night, Gingrich hailed the "organized" and "methodical" Romney for being "a lot like Eisenhower," the Huffington Post notes. "He is...

Tiny Guam Battles 2 Million Snakes

Dustin Lushing — Sat, 12 May 2012 06:40:05 CDT

Two million snakes have taken over the tiny island of Guam, with devastating consequences. Described by the BBC as "one of the most successful invasive species ever," the the brown tree snake is believed to have first slithered onto the 30-mile-long US territory 60 years ago, likely carried there during...

PMS Helps Women Spot Snakes

Matt Cantor — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:11:02 CST

If you're planning a walk in the woods, you may be safest just before your period. A preliminary study suggests that women in the luteal or premenstrual phase of menstruation are quickest at spotting snakes. That could be because the hormones involved can influence the amygdala, part of the brain...

Pythons Squeezing Life Out of Everglades

Rob Quinn — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:32:00 CST

The native mammals of the Florida Everglades have been all but wiped out by huge numbers of pythons and anacondas descended from released pets, a new study finds. After nearly a decade of night-time road surveys in the 1.5 million-acre national park, researchers found that raccoon and opossum sightings...

Meet the World's Newest Snake: Matilda

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:10:36 CST

A brand-new species of snake sports yellow and black scales, two spiked horns, and a pretty cool name: Matilda's Horned Viper. Scientists discovered it in Tanzania two years ago and it got introduced last month as the world's newest snake species. It's only the third new snake discovered in Africa...

See Snakes Let Loose at Tax Office

Mark Russell — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:05:00 CST

As reported earlier , a venomous North Indian snake charmer got back at government bureaucrats the best way he knew—by releasing cobras in their office. The snake charmer told reporters he had been promised a plot of land for his reptiles two years ago by a district magistrate, but nothing...

Farmers Protest Bribery—With Bags of Snakes

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:38:13 CST

Two farmers in northern India just wanted to obtain property tax records from a local tax office, but officials allegedly demanded bribes for the info. The miffed farmers came back with three bags, filled not with bribe cash, but with around 40 live snakes—including at least four deadly cobras—...

Snake-Free Hawaii Fears Slithery Invasion

Tim Karan — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:54:27 CDT

Leave it to a snake to ruin paradise. Hawaiian officials are worried that a steady increase in illegal snake ownership—a 9-foot boa and a 7-foot python were captured this month after escaping—will threaten the islands' fragile ecosystem and kill off birds and flowers, reports the Associated Press . Environmental...

Ukraine Zoo Gets Two-Headed Snake

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:58:56 CDT

A two-headed snake has gone on display at a zoo in southern Ukraine. The "Skazka" (Fairy tale) zoo in Yalta on the Black Sea said today that the albino California Kingsnake has two heads that think, react, and eat separately, though one is more passive than the other. A zoo...