Fish and Wildlife gets $30,000 to study sick turtles in St. Johns River- via Herp Digest

Since March 2018, an unprecedented 300 sick or dead turtles have been reported to FWC

Wednesday, May 1, 2019 ClayTodayOnline

TALLAHASSEE – The nonprofit Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida announced a $30,000 grant to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for freshwater turtle disease research.

The project will investigate the deaths of freshwater turtles in the St. Johns River watershed. Since March 2018, an unprecedented 300 sick or dead turtles have been reported to FWC. Prior to this event, only 75 undiagnosed cases of dead freshwater turtles had been reported since 2006. With a novel virus being the suspected culprit, the grant will support the development of diagnostic tools to further understand the virus and its reach in Florida.

Clay County is included in the St. Johns River watershed.

Foundation President and CEO Andrew Walker said, “The recent deaths of freshwater turtles in the St. Johns River are alarming. We are committed to finding the cause of the outbreak, as these turtles are an important member of the St. Johns River ecosystem.”

Grant funding came from the “Conserve Wildlife” specialty license plate fund managed by Foundation. The Foundation has raised and given away more than $32 million to support conservation, fishing, hunting and outdoor education for children, adolescents and adults. The Foundation recently completed a contest with Ringling College of Art & Design to redesign the plate in the hopes of increasing sales, and thus increased grant funding.

Seek and you shall find: Bees remain excellent searchers even when ill

Date: September 12, 2016

Source: Queen Mary University of London

Honeybees are hardwired to efficiently search the landscape enabling them to continue working for the greater good of their hives even when they are sick, according to new research co-authored by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

Radar technology has been used to show for the first time that bees remain nimble and able to search and respond to their environment even when they have infections or viruses.

Honeybees tirelessly commute between rewarding flower patches and their hive, often hundreds or even thousands of metres apart. Their remarkable navigational skills rely on distinct landmarks, such as trees or houses, which they very efficiently find and memorise on orientation flights.

Experts fitted a transponder, a tiny dipole aerial much lighter than the nectar or pollen normally carried by the bee, to the thorax of the bee. Tracking each bee individually they would pick up a radar signal form the transponder showing where and how it was flying.

Co-author Professor Juliet Osborne from University of Exeter, said: "We tracked the individual flying bees with a harmonic radar system. This involves attaching a very lightweight aerial to their back but it doesn't affect how fast they fly, or how much nectar they collect. It is still the only method for getting these really detailed data on where the bee flies."

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Reptile Food May Have Sickened People in 17 States (Via HerpDigest)

Reptile Food May Have Sickened People in 17 States

By MARY CLARE JALONICK (AP)

WASHINGTON - Reptile owners who have been feeding rats, mice and chicks to their pets may be at risk for salmonella poisoning. The company that sells the reptile food, Mice Direct, announced a recall of the frozen rats, mice and chicks Tuesday, saying that 30 human illnesses possibly related to the frozen reptile feed have been reported in 17 states.

The company says the recall is based on Food and Drug Administration sampling of the frozen mice. The products were shipped to all states except Hawaii, and the feed was available for purchase through pet stores, mail order and direct delivery.

A spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control said the agency is investigating the illnesses, which began in January. The most common symptoms of salmonella are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever. It can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems.