Whit Gibbons, Herpetologist and Author
COULD AN EAGLE CARRY OFF A CHILD? A while ago a YouTube video made the rounds that purported to show an eagle swooping down from the skies and carrying off a small child. (Further evidence, if it’s needed, that not … Continued
CAN AN ELECTRIC KILL A PERSON? A recent email inquiring if an electric eel can kill a person jolted my memory and I recalled an encounter I wrote about several years ago. I was 11 years old, behind the scenes … Continued
SOMETIMES PEOPLE ASK UNUSUAL QUESTIONS ABOUT SNAKES I have answered questions about snakes for decades. During the last two, with the advent of camera phones, I enjoy being able to identify snakes people encounter. Equally enjoyable is educating folks about … Continued
Q. I know tortoises live on land. Does that mean box turtles (which also live on land) are tortoises? How many true tortoises are there, what parts of the world do they live in and how big do they get? … Continued
President Teddy Roosevelt, the quintessential conservationist, said, “A grove of giant redwoods or sequoias should be kept just as we keep a great or beautiful cathedral.” Each time I am in Tucson, Ariz., I have been able to fully appreciate … Continued
Last week a college student majoring in ecology asked what my favorite turtle is. My answer: the diamondback terrapin. Anyone who has held this charismatic creature would agree it’s hard to find a more captivating turtle. Terrapins, the only U.S. … Continued
If ever a salamander was an unsung hero, it is the amphiuma. Reaching lengths of 4 feet, amphiumas are longer than any other amphibian in the Western Hemisphere. So few people ever see one, they do not even have a … Continued
I received two questions last week that are similar to ones I get each year about the dilemma facing people who have unwanted wild animals. Q. I currently have a 2-year-old female ball python. I did not think about the … Continued
Conservation gets complicated when a native U.S. species is appreciated in one part of the country but despised in another. Consider, if you will, the American bullfrog. “In the Eastern US, where it’s native, its oversized impact is a good … Continued
The ecological importance of American alligators as top predators has long been established. A paper recently published in the online scientific journal Animals (MDPI) presents new information about these imposing animals. Thomas Rainwater, a research scientist at South Carolina’s Tom … Continued