Post by joe on Jun 9, 2010 17:42:17 GMT
Snakes may be declining across the world, according to a global study.
Researchers examined records for 17 snake populations covering eight species over the last few decades, and found most had declined markedly.
For reasons that are not entirely clear, some populations shrank in number abruptly around 1998.
Writing in the journal Biology Letters, the researchers describe the findings as "alarming" but say much more work is needed to understand the causes.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8727863.stm
However, snakes can still be found in the strangest of places...
A snake had to be removed from a car after a mechanic discovered the reptile while clearing an impounded vehicle.
Lothian and Borders Police said the worker at West Bank Road Garage, Macmerry, East Lothian, came across the orange snake last week.
A spokesman said the man thought it was a toy, tried to remove it, but it slithered away behind a panel.
It was captured by the Scottish SPCA and is thought to have been a rat snake - which are not poisonous.
A section of interior panel had been cut away to get to the snake.
David Legge, the force liaison officer for the Vehicle Recovery Scheme, said: "Our contractors often contact me for advice on valuable or unusual property found in uplifted vehicles, but this takes the biscuit.
"Sometimes we can find knives or baseball bats hidden in vehicles, but the snake is something no-one would want to find, let alone handle."
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7555677.stm
Researchers examined records for 17 snake populations covering eight species over the last few decades, and found most had declined markedly.
For reasons that are not entirely clear, some populations shrank in number abruptly around 1998.
Writing in the journal Biology Letters, the researchers describe the findings as "alarming" but say much more work is needed to understand the causes.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8727863.stm
However, snakes can still be found in the strangest of places...
A snake had to be removed from a car after a mechanic discovered the reptile while clearing an impounded vehicle.
Lothian and Borders Police said the worker at West Bank Road Garage, Macmerry, East Lothian, came across the orange snake last week.
A spokesman said the man thought it was a toy, tried to remove it, but it slithered away behind a panel.
It was captured by the Scottish SPCA and is thought to have been a rat snake - which are not poisonous.
A section of interior panel had been cut away to get to the snake.
David Legge, the force liaison officer for the Vehicle Recovery Scheme, said: "Our contractors often contact me for advice on valuable or unusual property found in uplifted vehicles, but this takes the biscuit.
"Sometimes we can find knives or baseball bats hidden in vehicles, but the snake is something no-one would want to find, let alone handle."
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7555677.stm