Reptile & Amphibian Forums

THE ENQUIRER (Battle Creek, Michigan) 25 March 06 'Gator park on planners' agenda (Nick Schirripa)
Convis Township: Proponents and opponents of a proposed alligator sanctuary in Convis Township will meet Monday to debate the future of David Critchlow's concept.
Critchlow, a Pennfield Township resident, has spent the past eight years building an alligator sanctuary in his back yard, and he is looking to move his rescued crocodilians about five miles to property in Convis Township.
Critchlow has applied to the township for special-use zoning for about 20 acres on S Drive North, but some of the neighboring residents said they aren't thrilled to have alligators as neighbors, nor do they want the increased traffic the sanctuary likely would bring.
Designed for the hills, valleys, tall grasses and wooded areas of the 20-acre parcel, Critchlow's proposed zoological park and alligator sanctuary would feature three ponds for dozens of alligators, an iguana display and a tropical nursery, all connected by walking trails and observation decks.
A public hearing is scheduled for the township planning commission meeting Monday. Township officials said they don't have a clear idea of what decision might be made, but they hope people on both sides of the proposal come to the meeting with an open mind.
Critchlow's proposal includes parking for 76 vehicles, including three buses, as well as a 60-seat amphitheater, but he said he expects an additional six to eight cars per day on S Drive North.
Julia Schafer, Convis Township supervisor, said she understands one of Critchlow's missions is reptile education, but the potential traffic increase remains a concern.
"The project provides for 73 automobile spaces and three bus parking spaces, as well as a 60-seat amphitheater," she said. "I don't know that the infrastructure can support that kind of traffic, and that's a lot of growth for the middle part of our township."
Karen O'Rourke and her husband own the 28 acres west of the proposed sanctuary. From her dining room, O'Rourke looks out a picture window at a creek, birds, acres of woods and wetlands. She said she often sees deer, coyotes and even otters.
"We walk our land and our swamp all the time. We enjoy our property," she said. "I moved out here in the country and expected a private, natural setting. If I wanted a public setting, I would have bought a home in the city."
O'Rourke said she enjoys the quiet environment of her country home, and she fears the sanctuary would bring a lot of traffic, as well as safety concerns.
"Will I feel safe in my own yard knowing there's a reptile park next door?" she said. "I'll always have that in the back of my mind."
The nine-acre sanctuary will be about 500 feet from O'Rourke's property line, Critchlow said, and all its features would be hidden from sight.
Ponds and displays will be in a valley, Critchlow said, and the view from bordering property and the road will be obscured by earthen banks and rows of trees. There will be a perimeter fence around the entire sanctuary, as well as additional fencing around individual displays.
"If people were to stand on their property or in the road, they wouldn't be able to see anything. Conserving the area and keeping it naturally pristine is important to me," he said. "I want to work with people. I want to be a good neighbor."
Eric Tobin, president of the Michigan Society of Herpetologists, said he has reviewed Critchlow's plan and supports the sanctuary.
"I think his venture is not only one much-needed in Michigan, but I think his operation will be very conservation-minded, educational and a great opportunity for economic development in the area," he said. "The residents probably won't even know it's there. They're not noisy, there should be no smell. Many reptiles have less odor than a cat's litter box."
Larry Holcomb, planning commission chairman, said the planning commission will make a recommendation to the township board, and planning commissioners and township trustees can put conditions on a special-use permit.
Schafer said if the planning commission makes a recommendation Monday, the township board will consider Critchlow's special-use application at the board's April 11 meeting.
'Gator park on planners' agenda

WWMT (Kalamazoo, Michigan) 28 March 06 Later, alligator: Decision on proposed reptile park delayed (Scott Noll)
Lizards, snakes and alligators - no way. That's the cry from people living near a proposed zoological park planned for Convis Township, which is located about 12 miles east of Battle Creek.
About 150 residents packed a township planning meeting Monday night, many opposing the Critchlow Zoological Park and its planned alligator collection.
"They're talking about putting a commercial zoo right across from our house," complained Penny Potter before the meeting. She and her fiance live across from the 20 acres eyed for the project.
"There's a lot of vacant land around this area and to put it across the street from residential, it's kind of inconsiderate," Potter's finace, Tony Tyndal told News 3.
Plans call for 12 acres of education displays, an amphitheater, a picnic pavilion, and gift shop to be built on the property along S Drive North.
David Critchlow wants to develop the property into what he calls a zoological park. He currently runs a smaller reptile farm from his home in Pennfield Township but says his collection needs more space.
"I don't play with poisonous animals. I don't plan on any poisonous animals. That's not my passion. My passion is for the alligators, mainly, and crocodiles,” Critchlow told the crowd, trying to ease fears. He promised display areas and the park would be encircled by fences and be watched by an on-site manager at all times.
Critchlow says he owns more than 30 alligators and crocodiles, but that number could swell to 100 if the park becomes a reality.
"When I walk out my front door, what am I going to see in my yard someday?" worried one resident at Monday's meeting.
Many believed an alligator escape was unavoidable. But people living near Critchlow's current collection of crocodiles and gators say they've never had a problem with the operation in more than 10 years.
"We haven't had anything like that," said Julie Thiel, who lives across the street. "David and [wife] Carmen have educated us and my grandchildren here so we don't feel afraid," said Thiel. In fact, she considers the reptile farm a good neighbor. "My relatives come and they all want to go across the street and see the reptile farm. It is an asset to us," she said.
That's fine with Potter. Looking down S Drive North at a line of homemade signs opposing the farm she said, "If they love him so much, why don't they keep him. He's not welcomed here at all."
Township planners say they need more information before deciding whether or not to grant the zoological park a use permit. The land is currently zoned for agricultural use.
Planners will revisit the debate in late May.
Decision on proposed reptile park delayed

THE FREE PRESS (Mankato, Minnesota) 29 March 06 Parasites linked to many frog deformities - Researcher re-visits Henderson site, finds similar results (Tim Krohn)
Henderson: It’s been 10 years since school children’s discovery of deformed frogs in a pond near Henderson set off a worldwide search for answers.
Today there is no one answer on what causes the deformities, but there is growing knowledge about a variety of factors that are assaulting frogs.
“I don’t think we can point to Henderson and say we know what happened,” said Steve Mercurio of the biology department at Minnesota State University. “I think we know there are a number of factors that are putting pressure on a species, pushing it not to survive.”
While much of the intense frog study that initially took place has been curtailed, some research continues.
University of Wisconsin researcher Pieter Johnson has found that the cause of many deformities is a flatworm parasite that flourishes in some wetlands inundated with fertilizer nutrients.
The parasites need to live in snails to survive, and the snails thrive in ponds that are choked with vegetation, spurred by excess nutrients.
“The artificial wetlands, farm ponds, irrigation canals, these are the sites where we get the highest deformities. Nutrients — phosphorus and nitrogen — seem to be the factor that drives the increased levels of deformities,” Johnson said.
While the finding allays fears that the cause of the deformities could be a direct threat to human health, Johnson said there are still serious issues involved.
“It maybe isn’t a threat in the direct sense that humans are going to be deformed, but there are all kinds of risks from these kinds of environmental changes.”
Johnson was an undergraduate student at Stanford University in 1996 when students on an outing from the New Country School in Henderson found deformed frogs in Ney Pond in Le Sueur County. The frogs had missing, deformed and extra limbs.
In the next couple of years reports of deformed frogs would come from 40 states and other countries, and researchers were looking for answers. Leading theories were possible farm chemical contamination, ultra violet damage, or some type of parasite problem.
Johnson found deformed frogs in two ponds near Stanford in California, but noticed that another nearby pond had only normal frogs. He quickly noticed why the unaffected pond was different.
“That pond had crayfish in it. The crayfish eat snails.”
Because the flatworm parasites need snails as part of their lifecycle, the abundance of crayfish and lack of snails meant few parasites or deformed frogs.
Ponds that had excessive nutrients had lower oxygen and more plant growth. They also had few crayfish and lots of snails.
While the parasites — called trematodes — are the cause of the frog deformities because they settle in their joints, the snail is key to the parasites’ complex life cycle.
For the parasite to exist, a bird has to eat a parasite-infected frog. Inside the bird, the parasite releases eggs that end up in the bird’s droppings. If those bird droppings fall in a pond, the eggs hatch to larvae. The larvae must find snails to host them until they grow enough to move into tadpole frogs.
“So without the snails, the parasites don’t make it and don’t get in the frogs,” Johnson said.
With his theory in place, Johnson began duplicating his work across the country and in the laboratory.
“We started putting these parasites, in small doses, in water where tadpoles were swimming in the lab. They cause just a huge array of deformities — partial limbs, no limbs, up to six limbs, webbing, you name it.”
Johnson said the parasites cause similar deformities in all amphibians he’s tested, including salamanders and several varieties of frogs and toads.
When Johnson ended up at the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin, he and his team of assistants were able to continue the research across the Upper Midwest, including the original scene of the deformed frog discovery.
“We’re seeing the same thing, with the deformities even greater in Minnesota than in California.”
He’s been to Ney Pond many times collecting and studying deformed frogs with parasites in their limbs. But the pond nearly dries up some years, making it more difficult to study consistently.
His main study site in Minnesota is a pond in Eden Prairie that was once surrounded by farm fields and is now ringed by homes and businesses. It’s heavy with nitrogen, phosphorus, vegetation, snails and deformed frogs.
“The parasite numbers in that pond are just huge. In our lab tests we used 50 parasites per frog and they were badly deformed. We’ve recorded up to 1,000 parasites per frog at the Eden Prairie site.”
While there are no direct links to the deformities in frogs and human health, Johnson said there are many reasons to worry about the latest assault on the frog population.
“Amphibians are really declining already. If these nutrients are a serious threat, I think we have a responsibility to conserve and protect and mediate the problem.”
And Johnson said he believes a correlation exists between the role of parasites in frogs and the spreading of other pathogens that could affect other animals and humans.
“Parasites are sometimes going to relate to emerging diseases and infections in wildlife and humans. There can be all kinds of possibilities.”
As for the issue of excess nutrients, Johnson said the problem is widespread and will be difficult to slow. Nitrogen, contained in fertilizers, is less of a problem in water because it disperses quickly.
“But phosphorus is a real problem in water. It recycles and locks into the soil and water,” Johnson said. “It gets tied up in the soil and it’s almost irreversible. Even when you eliminate phosphorus, it’s going to be a problem for a long time.”
Minnesota recently banned the use of phosphorus in most lawn and garden fertilizer, but it is still widely used in agriculture.
While Johnson has consistently found the parasites in deformed frogs, he understands other factors can contribute to deformities.
Mercurio, who has studied the effects of pesticides and nutrients on tadpole development, says parasites undoubtedly have a role in deformities in some cases, but different situations produced different outcomes. “I don’t think parasites are the only factor.”
Studies in some higher altitude areas have shown that ultra violet radiation was causing deformities in frogs. Other studies in agricultural areas have shown that a combination of pesticides and nutrients cause deformities and deaths.
“There’s no one thing affecting all of them.”
Mercurio knows the public would like to have a clear-cut answer, but that’s not reality, he said.
“People want science to give them specific answers. Science works in gray areas. That doesn’t mean we’re confused and aren’t in agreement. It’s just that life is complicated.”
Parasites linked to many frog deformities