Stupid people responsible for mass turtle deaths

Photo of loggerhead sea turtle from seaturtlenet.com.



Romantic proposal leads to turtle deaths

The Associated Press • September 25, 2009

HILTON HEAD ISLAND — A wedding proposal led to the deaths of dozens of federally protected loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings on a South Carolina beach.

The Island Packet of Hilton Head reports a man placed 150 waxed bags with candles inside on the beach on the resort island Tuesday night.

After the proposal, the couple left the candles lit. Sixty hatchlings emerged from a nearby nest and couldn't find the shore.

Town natural resources associate Sarah Skigen says some turtles circled the lights until they died or were eaten by crabs. Others headed toward dunes, lagoons and backyards.

The couple got a warning and Skigen says they showed remorse. The couple said they didn't know about light restrictions during nesting season.

Hilton Head is known for its wildlife. One of my favorite places in the world is the Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, a beautiful island adjacent to Hilton Head. Anyone who is so clueless that they think they can litter this area with their candles and trash, is a dope that doesn't deserve HH beach access EVER AGAIN. But that's just my opinion, of course.

The poor turtles. :(

Foothills Animal Rescue

Foothills Animal Rescue folks during their benefit yesterday on Pelham Road. Below: Holly Compton Harvell with Lala the cockatoo, and Frances Wilsher with DJ the Nanday Conure. (Yes, DJ poses for the camera!)

And Lightning, the really big turtle.

~*~

Screamworthy!

Left: Canebrake rattler photo from Kingsnake.com.



Lesson: Don't leave luggage open on the porch!

Snake crawled in man's luggage in SC and bit him when he unpacked in VA.

The Associated Press • March 25, 2008

McLEAN, Va. -- A high school coach emptying his luggage after a team trip to South Carolina was bitten by a small rattlesnake that had somehow gotten into his bag, authorities said.

Andy Bacas in was stable condition at Inova Fairfax Hospital, fire officials said. He remained hospitalized Tuesday morning.

Bacas, a rowing coach at Yorktown High School in Arlington, told authorities he felt a sharp pain on his hand Monday when he reached into his luggage. He then saw the nearly foot-long snake and slammed the suitcase shut.

Fire and rescue workers took the suitcase outside, opened it and blasted the snake, identified as a juvenile canebrake rattler, with a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher. The chemical essentially froze the animal to death.

"The guy who responded had seen (the fire extinguisher technique) done on TV," Arlington County Fire Department spokesman Ben Barksdale said.

Bacas' son, Peter, said the luggage had been left open on a porch during the trip to Summerton, S.C., which is about 75 miles northwest of Charleston. Barksdale said he had no information that the snake was deliberately put into the luggage.

Bob Myers, director of the American International Rattlesnake Museum in New Mexico, said it's conceivable that a snake would crawl into luggage seeking warmth or shelter.

The venom from a canebrake rattlesnake can be particularly harmful, but a young snake is not usually large enough to deliver enough to be lethal, Myers said. Adult canebrakes can grow to 6 feet.

"There's an old wives' tale that says a baby rattlesnake bite is worse than an adult bite, but that's just not true," Myers said.

Three or four people die each year from rattlesnake bites in the United States, out of perhaps 8,000 bites a year, Myers said.

(((screams)))
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