Reptiles and Amphibians

The Search for Gustave: Burundi's Great Lake Monster

Gator-Eating Pythons: A Myth?

Snakes Alive

Stinky, Crunchy, Paint-Eating Hermaphrodites

The USDA stopped the importation of giant African snails to Florida, but there were a couple left behind...

Hog Huntin' in the Glades

A lost art or a horrible slaughter? It's all in the eye of the hunter.

Letters from the Issue of August 21, 2008

"The python is dangerous and can attack, strangle, and easily kill even a grown man. Why doesn't Selene try hunting pythons?"

BEST SNAKE HUNTING

Pythons in the Everglades

A Real Slip ’n’ Slide

Slither on into Jungle Island today

Swamp Man

Glenn Wilsey reinvented himself around the lure of the alligator

Lizard Breadth

Tip the scales at Repticon

Wet Foot/Wet Foot

American crocodiles: We just want freedom to go back home

BEST BIRDWATCHING DAY TRIP

J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge

Hope on the Half-Shell

Note to self: Help save sea turtles while watching them hatch!

BEST FARMERS MARKET

Robert Is Here

Best Place To Kiss A Baby Alligator

Everglades Alligator Farm

Shell Game

Bill Ahern and his fellow turtle rangers are helping keep endangered crawlers from extinction

Crocodile Fears

Golfers and fishermen beware! The endangered reptile is making a comeback.

Do Not Try This at Home!

Like a lot of people, Manny Puig has a hobby. Unlike a lot of people, his hobby involves riding alligators and sharks.

Chomp in the Swamp

Tracking South Florida's endangered crocodiles is a business best left to experts and maniacs

Crocodile Rock

Tracking South Florida's endangered crocodiles is a business best left to experts and maniacs

Florida Senate Delegation To Remain Firmly Anti-Burmese Python

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will be touring the Everglades tomorrow at the invitation of Sen. Bill Nelson. The day will kick off with a briefing on the efforts to trip and track invasive Burmese pythons that make their home in the 'Glades Most of the snakes loose in the& ... More >>

Drink a Smoothie, Help a Sea Turtle at Jamba Juice Today

Jamba Juice and Caribbean Conservation CorporationSlirp for a good causeIt's a win win, folks.  Show up to Jamba Juice today, purchase a smoothie or other healthful snack, and the company will donate 20 percent of the sale to help ensure the survival of sea turtles.  It's all in cooperatio ... More >>

Senator Nelson Takes Strong Stance Against Burmese Pythons

via Wiki CommonsLast week, a 12-foot-long pet Burmese python snuck into the crib of a 2-year-old Florida girl and killed her. Now, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson has taken to the Senate floor to push a ban on importing the potentially dangerous snakes. "Sooner or later, a Burmese python will get the end ... More >>

Bill Nelson Proposes a Giant Python-Killing Party in the Everglades

In certain times and places in U.S. history, the answer to every political problem was probably "Let's get a bunch of guys with guns together and solve this." Nowadays, this idea seems to be seriously considered only in matters of Middle East diplomacy, but Florida Sen. Bill Nelson is suggesting a ... More >>

Seventeen-Foot Python Caught in Okeechobee

via Florida Fish & Wildlife​ Here's the giant snake that's on the front page of every local news website, so why not ours too? Slow news day. As part of the insane/awesome new government initiative to kill every Burmese python in the wild, this 17-footer was caught yesterda ... More >>

Glades Invaders

It's too late to stop the pythons. The real question is, what's next?

Scientists Worried Everglades Pythons Could Morph into Hybrid Man-Eating Monsters

Last week, I wrote about a coalition of scientists trying to stop the next dangerous exotic invader from taking over the Everglades. via Wikimedia CommonsAt this point, it's probably just best to run and scream.​Dennis Giardina, a botanist who co-chairs the group, took me on a hunt for nile monito ... More >>

14-Foot Python Found in Miami-Dade Raises Concern of "Super Snake"

via South Florida Water Management District/Sun-Sentinel​The great snake scourge of the Everglades continues to thrive despite the recent cold snap and Sen. Bill Nelson's giant snake killing parties.During a recent sweep, state officials found five African rock pythons, including a 14-foot-female ... More >>

News Roundup: Accused Cat Killer Wants to Go to College

Remember Tyler Weinman the accused cat killer? He's still under house arrest, but he wants the judge to make an exception so he can start classes at Miami-Dade college. [CBS4]Federal wildlife officials want to ban the import of Burmese python and other large exotic snakes that have a habbit of findi ... More >>

Reptiles of Concern: Let's Go Out and Shoot Giant Snakes!

As God as our witness, Florida will not rest until we put a bullet between the eyes of every alien python, anaconda, and monitor lizard in this state. They have taken our pets, they have taken our Everglades, they have taken our alligators, they have even taken our children, and this means war.The F ... More >>

The 'Turtle Dude' Quits in Ugly Fight Over Saving SoBe's Endangered Sea Turtles

Think about the sheer shitty luck to be a sea turtle egg laid on South Beach. Drunks and party girls stumble over you and the neon lights of Ocean Drive lure you to sure death. photo by TheCoffee via Wikimedia Commons Did 'The Turtle Dude' go too far in trying to save endangered sea turtles o ... More >>

Knives, Muggings, and One Ugly Fight to Save SoBe's Sea Turtles

Think about the sheer shitty luck to be a sea turtle egg laid on South Beach. Drunks and party girls stumble over you and the neon lights of Ocean Drive lure you to sure death. photo by TheCoffee via Wikimedia Commons Did 'The Turtle Dude' go too far in trying to save endangered sea turtles o ... More >>

You Have One Day to Kill a Snake Or Python Hunting Season is a Failure

The idea of the government asking people to take there hunting equipment out into the Everglades and swamps of Florida to end the lives of "reptiles of concern like" may not have been the most humane thing, but boy were we excited. We mean, these snakes could kills us and our young children and our ... More >>

Wildlife Cops Bust Man Selling Pythons on Craigslist

Bethany Berg Via Flicker CCThe ad on Craigslist Miami shows a photo of two large black snakes slithering on white carpet. "Ball Pythons for Cheap," the headline reads. "They are very tame and eat one mouse a week." Scroll down a bit and find a "dwarf pastel Colombian redtail boa" for $160. A bit f ... More >>

Pythons Banned in Florida

​Bad news for lovers of giant snakes, killing babies, Tiffany, and Debbie Gibson: Burmese pythons have been banned in Florida. On Thursday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission signed new rules that prohibit anyone from owning Burmese pythons and, actually, any other "reptiles of concern" as p ... More >>

Working With a Monster

​Bad news for lovers of giant snakes, killing babies, Tiffany, and Debbie Gibson: Burmese pythons have been banned in Florida. On Thursday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission signed new rules that prohibit anyone from owning Burmese pythons and, actually, any other "reptiles of concern" as p ... More >>

Cold-Blooded Race

​Bad news for lovers of giant snakes, killing babies, Tiffany, and Debbie Gibson: Burmese pythons have been banned in Florida. On Thursday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission signed new rules that prohibit anyone from owning Burmese pythons and, actually, any other "reptiles of concern" as p ... More >>

Crocodiles to Play "Kill Joe Arpaio" and Other Big Hits to Grand Central November 3

Sheriff Joe Arpaio says, "Bite me, Alligators!"​Some people don't know shit about music. And Arizona immigration zealot Sheriff Joe Arpaio can no doubt be counted among the hopeless, tone-deaf, and ignorant. Ever wonder what that guy blares while cruising the US-Mexico border in his personally p ... More >>

Crocodiles Cancel Its November 3 Show at Grand Central and Rest of US Tour

Photo by Alexandra Kacha​Only this morning, Crossfade hyped the upcoming Crocodiles concert at downtown cool kid club Grand Central with a hyperactive blurb about the San Diego band's recent single "Kill Joe Arpaio" and the Arizona sheriff's angry, Twitter-driven counterattack. This evening, thou ... More >>

Crocodiles at Grand Central November 3

Photo by Alexandra Kacha​Only this morning, Crossfade hyped the upcoming Crocodiles concert at downtown cool kid club Grand Central with a hyperactive blurb about the San Diego band's recent single "Kill Joe Arpaio" and the Arizona sheriff's angry, Twitter-driven counterattack. This evening, thou ... More >>

Happy Birthday, Alice Cooper! Three Farcical Encounters With the King of Shock Rock

​Crossfade's favorite shock rocker, Alice Cooper, turns 63 today. And even though he's probably out at some exclusive country club working on his celebrity golf game, we like the image of vintage Alice that involves prop blood, live chickens, and nightly decapitations. So to celebrate AC's birthd ... More >>

Everglades Pythons Survived Last Year's Cold Snap

​The great alien python menace continues to ravage to the delicate ecosystem of the Everglades, and scientists hoped that last January's historic cold snap would put a big dent in the invasive snake population. Unfortunately, most of those slimy bastards managed to survive the big chill. Not even ... More >>

Have Some Extra Exotic Animals Around Your House? Give Them to Zoo Miami on March 12th

​Riptide recently moved, and as with every move came a long hard look at our possessions: what were we taking with, what was being donated somewhere, and what was to be shown the dumpster. Of course, as we understand is normal, we stressed over what to do with our vast private collection of exotic ... More >>

Snake Farm Shooting: Tom Crutchfield and Business Partner Bruce Stephenson Involved in Deadly Argument

via YouTubeTom Crutchfield was grazed by a bullet after an argument with his business partner. ​The story of the stand-off at a Homestead reptile farm has more twists and turns than a snake slithering through the jungle. Riptide has learned that Bruce Stephenson was found dead after a stand off wi ... More >>

State Senators Busy Picking Official State Amphibian

​It's good to know that during these hard times, our state senators are focusing on the big issues. Issues like addressing Florida's dire need for an official state amphibian. Thank goodness that state Sen. Steve Oelrich (R-Cross Creek) has taken up this pressing concern and is making sure the bar ... More >>

Rick Scott Would Be Open to the Idea of Shooting an Alligator to Promote Florida

​Rick Scott apparently hates alligators. He hates them so much he's had them skinned and made into his really tacky, gold embossed, custom "governor" boots. He hates them so much that he doesn't want to even be near a live one, unless he had a gun and is shooting at it. Apparently Scott thinks tha ... More >>

Crocodiles at the Vagabond May 20

​Rick Scott apparently hates alligators. He hates them so much he's had them skinned and made into his really tacky, gold embossed, custom "governor" boots. He hates them so much that he doesn't want to even be near a live one, unless he had a gun and is shooting at it. Apparently Scott thinks tha ... More >>

Pythons Can Survive in Saltwater, Could Invade Florida Keys

​For now, Florida's invasive python population has largely been relegated to the fresh water of the Everglades and surrounding areas, but a new study shows the alien snakes can survive for up to a month in saltwater. That means there's potential the snakes could expand their range and start poppin ... More >>

Burmese Python Imports Now Banned in U.S.; No More Snakes On These Motherf**in' Planes

A python exploded after trying to eat an alligator in 2006​​Ken Salazar, our cowboy hat-wearing Secretary of the Interior, is expected to announce a ban on importing Burmese pythons today while visiting the Everglades. "The Burmese python has already gained a foothold in the Florida Everglades, ... More >>

Pythons May Have Eaten All the Rabbits in the Everglades

via UFL.edu​Peter Cottontail's Florida cousin is no longer hopping down any bunny trails in the Everglades. That's because he was eaten by a python.A new study says that rabbits may have been completely eliminated from areas of the Everglades where invasive snake populations are the most heavy. Bo ... More >>