Reptile & Amphibian Forums

really sad, I see noway they will be able to eradicate them, unless of course they hire all of us

Madrid (AFP) - A Spanish island has summoned world experts to help it stamp out an invasion of white snakes that threaten to eat all its rare lizards, a conservationist said Tuesday.

Rangers on Gran Canaria, the biggest of Spain's Canary Islands, have killed thousands of Californian Kingsnakes, which have spawned from pet snakes that slithered into the wild.

The snakes pose no threat to humans but have been munching up other creatures such as the rare Gran Canaria Giant Lizard, environmentalist Ramon Gallo, head of a project to control the snake population, told AFP.

"That lizard is unique to Gran Canaria and if the snakes end up spreading all over the island they will make it an endangered species," he said.

"We are talking about saving the Canary Island's biodiversity, which is one of the greatest assets the islands have for the world. The Canaries are a biological laboratory and the snakes are putting at risk one of its most important species."

Gallo's team won EU funding in 2011 for a four-year campaign to cull the snakes. On Thursday and Friday it will host international experts, including US snake specialists, for a conference to raise awareness of the threat.

He said the snakes were first detected in the wild on Gran Canaria in 1998, apparently spawned from a small number of pets that made it into the bush. The Kingsnake is a popular pet, growing to no longer than 1.8 metres (just under six feet).

They thrived in the mild, sunny climate of Gran Canaria, where they found no natural predators and plenty to eat -- chiefly lizards, which they corner or squeeze to death.

The kingsnakes come in various colours, but in the main area where they live on Gran Canaria, most of them are the albino type -- white with light yellow stripes and pink eyes.

Since 2007, Gallo said, about 2,000 of them have been killed -- clubbed to death by rangers or members of the public, or caught by trained falcons, dogs or in traps.

But uncounted swarms of them are thought to be living out of sight underground, he added.

The International Seminar on the Management of Invasive Exotic Reptiles runs from May 8 to 9 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
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lets all go to spain!,,,,,,,,thomas
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Morphs... just like baseball cards BUT ALIVE, how cool is that???

my website www.barmollysplace.com

Did I DO THAT????????????? who would have thunk?

I was in Spain last July and I was not looking for no dang kingsnakes.

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FR quote:
"Doing the same things over and over expecting to learn something else, is the definition of insanity"

looks like you still had a great time even if you werent snake hunting...

Brian Hinds is there this week giving them advice on how to catch and trap them. They paid his way there.
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Brian Hinds is there this week giving them advice on how to catch and trap them. They paid his way there.

I wonder how he managed that deal.

Good for him!
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FR quote:
"Doing the same things over and over expecting to learn something else, is the definition of insanity"

I'm not sure, but he is the president of the NAFHA Southern CA chapter one of the top Cal king hunters in the world. Probably only Hubbs has more experience. Here's a little interview he did right before leaving. Click the blue play button on the left side of the picture.

http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2014/05/01/37232/california-kingsnake-wreaks-havoc-in-the-canary-is/
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I find this subject to be interesting. As the originator of Albino cal kings, and a long time field guy.
I was told about them many years ago by Jim Pether.
I found it odd that Albinos took so well.
My bet is, without introducing some sort of genetic roadblock, they are not going to get rid of them. As mentioned, Cal kings are primarily fossorial and do not require the use of the surface. Which will make collecting and trapping a bit questionable.
I wish them luck

Yeah, Hubbs doesn't think they will get rid of them either. I have to say, it would be the coolest thing to find albinos there. lol
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They could, but if they think collectors are going to do it, then no. You have to think out of the box, like I tend to do. hahahahahahaha

First off, I would recommend they offer bounties on the kings. Enough that locals could profit, not make money, profit. Then they would be gone, like passenger pigeons. That's a tried and true method. Its funny how simple answers can be.
Without ever going there, my bet is they inhabited old agro fields. Not natural areas. How you heard anything.

If they are willing to put out the money, it could be effective. Hey, they could gas the holes. lol All I know is that Hubbs said the island is rocky and they would never get them all.
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The price is what its worth to save their native species.
The point is, it has to be something that motivates folks for a long period. Most of the species where a bounty was paid, were hunted to extinction, or near extinction, before the bounties were halted.

I know the island has lots of rocky areas, but as we know, that is not prime habitat for Cal kings. Grassy fields are, and in particular, old agricultural fields And the corridors between active fields.
I find this to be an extremely interesting subject. As we SoCal boys know, you can hunt the above mentioned habitats continuously and not run out of kings. I would be interesting to see if people can hunt/trap/catch them out. I would think it would give us an understanding of how these type of snakes live and live "in" the ground. I hope we are kept informed. Its going to be interesting.

And speaking of this stuff, what's the deal on Brown tree snakes, did humans win, or did humans give up. Or was there some manner of truce?

You do make a good point. If that motivation is there for lots of people to collect them, it would definitely shore more of an effect than what we see at well known boardlines where not every king is collected. But just imagine the boardline wars they would be having over there if its all about money?

I have no idea what happened with the brown tree snake situation, but I imagine it is unstoppable.
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First off, I would recommend they offer bounties on the kings. Enough that locals could profit, not make money, profit.

How Old skool.. HA HA! Just as you guys guys did in Mexico. Pay the locales for each snakes turned in..Actually the locales there could use a little extra money..
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FR quote:
"Doing the same things over and over expecting to learn something else, is the definition of insanity"

I never did that, I have no problem finding all the snakes I wanted. But, hahahahahahaha I do have a stories. A wellknown American herp breeder. Did indeed offer a fella in San Luis De potosi, a bride to catch snakes. This fella owned a hotel. This well known herper sent him all manner of clothes and such and told him to keep these certain kind of kingsnakes. Well I stayed at that hotel one night and met that fella. We had been collecting to the north and I found several Thayeri, including the first Black thayeri. The hotel guy asked if he could see the snakes, so I showed them to him. We also had some Qkings. The hotel fella said his cousin owned a ranch in the mountains and there were lots of those snakes there, EXACTLY like the black one, only with yellow stripes down the top. hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha gardersnakes was my guess. So he was going to collect a bunch ahd have this N.A. herper come and get them. Sorry I am just tooooooo nice, I had to tell him they were not the same and were gardersnakes. I could picture someones face when he went all the way there to see a box of garders.
Lastly the locals did not see montane kings much. Even when they lived in the exact areas. I was on a trip with Bill Garska(permits included) when we took pics to show the locals. One Indian we found walking down this old dirt road said he had seem them. I said, how many, he said 3. I asked how long, he said, his whole life. Another story, we were hunting at the mouth of a canyon when I hear a car crashing down the road, it quickly stopped by us, a new Chev Blazer. The man asked what we were doing, so we told him. He gave us a look & said, OH you mean, culbre de pinta(painted snake) then said, not here, and pointed, they are over there. I almost crapped my pants from laughing. perfect name for thayeri.

What great stories. What is sad though is those days are gone forever with collecting laws and just herpetoculture in general has lost interest in trying new species and breeding new animals..Kids like me back then were all big eyed whenever I saw for the first time something new and unusual. I wish I could turn time back to those days again.

Today with more and more regulations from cites and other organizations as well as locale state laws (which should never have been on the books to begin with)...well it is no wonder all we have left is the Ball Python folks..

Somehow I wonder if the true herpers from just a couple decades back are extinct. Sure we have a handful here and there. But nothing like it used to be.

Makes me wonder why you FR, never jumped on the BB bandwagon? I know many friends who made quite a few million from them.
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FR quote:
"Doing the same things over and over expecting to learn something else, is the definition of insanity"

I read about this a couple years ago and thought it was pretty interesting.

granted, it's not good for the local lizards, but it's kinda cool that there is an amel population living in the wild.

maybe in a few years we will have Gran Canaria Island locale cal kings in the market... i'd buy a pair just for the novelty factor.

"maybe in a few years we will have Gran Canaria Island locale cal kings in the market... i'd buy a pair just for the novelty factor"

hahaha Same here.
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Those are my grandkids your talking about!

>>Those are my grandkids your talking about!
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