OFFICIAL PUBLICATION FOR THE BAY AREA AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE SOCIETY

BEHIND BAARS September 2012

Next General Club Meeting :

Friday September 28th @ 8pm

Guest Speaker: Gerold Merker on Snakes

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President’s Report By Scott Alexander Hello BAARS Members and Supporters: We have a great guest speaker this month (September), a noted herpetologist with extensive

field and breeding experience, as well as being a great herp photographer. First time BAARS

speaker, long time herper, I am proud to announce that we will feature Gerold Merker, who has

co-authored several books on herps, including “Alterna: The Grey-Banded Kingsnake” and

“Rosy Boas: Patterns in Time”. He is a long-time field herper as well a successful breeder, and I'm

glad that he's decided to share his experiences and pictures with BAARS.

Last month’s Turtle and Tortoise night was a big success, with dozens of raffle prizes and a lot of interesting chelonians. It was great to see a lot of folks in attendance and exciting to see both new and old members having so much fun. We had interesting turtles and tortoises, including a pancake tortoise, a radiated tortoise, some Burmese stars, and others. I want to give Kevin Norred a big hand for making this event so successful, from organizing the raffle prizes to getting the word out--he was a key player in making this meeting so much fun!! If you’ve been thinking about getting more active with BAARS, we’re now taking officer

nominations!!! We’ll have a number of board positions open and can use with publicizing our

meetings and events through social media. As you probably know, BAARS does a lot of events, from

the general meetings and the guest speakers, to educational shows, to field herping. I really believe

that every member should consider what events they have the most fun doing, and then get more

involved in participating and leading events!

As most folks know, I have a strong interest in growing the club through events and building

BAARS’ membership. However, after considerable reflection and contemplation, it’s time for me

to step down as president and give someone else a chance to lead. I’m planning on staying

active and playing a supportive role in helping to continue to make BAARS a success, just not as

president. If you'd like to get more involved with BAARS, please come to the holiday party, on

December 8th, where we will be voting in new officers.The holiday party will be in room H-6, at the

Cubberly Community Center in Palo Alto.

Please remember to help support BAARS in these challenging times, by remembering to renew your membership, making suggestions, and getting involved! We have a lot of activities such as educational herp shows, field herping, and general meetings, and we can certainly use your help! Please tell a friend about BAARS, check out our facebook page, look up events on our web-page (www.baars.org), or come to a meeting! Sincerely,

Scott Alexander  President, BAARS, 2012

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CURRENT EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

September 2012 Friday, September 28, 7:30pm: BAARS General Meeting Cubberly Community Center, Music Room M-2, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303 Doors Open: 7:30pm, Meeting: 8-10pm Presenter: Gerold Merker on Snakes

NON-BAARS event:

September 29-30, Upscale Reptiles Sacramento Reptile Show Sacramento Convention Center, 1301 L Street, Sacramento.

13 & up: $12/day or $17 for 2 days, child 6-12 $8/$11, under 5 free per website).

http://upscalereptiles.com/2011/ BAARS will not be participating at this event; info is for interested attendees.

October 2012 Sunday, October 7, 11am-4pm: YSI Wildlife Festival YSI Nature Center, Alum Rock Park, 16260 Penitencia Creek Road, San Jose 95127. Contact Joanne

Petersen (joanne.hiratsuka@gmail.com) if interested in helping out.

http://www.ysi-ca.org/Events/Events.html

Saturday, October 20th, 3:00pm to Sunday, October 21st 3:00pm: BioBlitz

Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge, 2 Marshlands Road, Fremont, CA.

Join the 24-hour BioBlitz, a species survey of living things at the refuge! The Refuge will organize the

natural history talents of local scientists, naturalists, and YOU to document the biodiversity present

at the Refuge Headquarters in Fremont. Come for guided programs like plant walks, bird walks,

plankton lab, and aquatic invertebrate lab. Sign up to help biologists conduct reptile surveys using

sound, scientific protocols. Or you can walk the trails on your own and document what you see.

Sunday, October 21st 8:00am – 10am BioBlitz talk and demo

Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge, 2 Marshlands Road, Fremont, CA. Contact Joanne Petersen

(joanne.hiratsuka@gmail.com) if you want to show your native reptiles and/or amphibians.

Friday, October 26: BAARS General Meeting Cubberly Community Center, Music Room M-2, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303 Doors Open: 7:30pm, Meeting: 8-10pm Pet & Owner Halloween Contest

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Saturday, October 27th, 10am - 2pm, Audubon Wildlife Education Day McClellan Ranch Park, Cupertino; arrive by 10:30 am for setup. Contact Joanne Petersen (joanne.hiratsuka@gmail.com) if interested in showing your herps.

November 2012 No Scheduled Meeting-Happy Thanksgiving

December 2012 Saturday, December 8, 4-8pm: BAARS Annual Holiday Party Cubberly Community Center, Activity Room H-6, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303 Pot Luck & Gift Exchange. Annual Officer Elections.

Membership Secretary’s Report

By Kyna Henra Hello!

You should have received an email with the information we have for you in the BAARS database. To

those of you who replied, THANK YOU!

If you have not yet replied, please do so (so I know I have your correct and current email address, as

well as other membership information)

If you have email access and did not receive any "data check" message, please send a message to

Membership.BAARS@gmail.com to update your membership record.

Thank You,

Kyna Hendra, 2012 Membership Secretary

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Cupertino Fall Fest

by Gisele M., BAARS Member-at-Large

Gisele with Deuce and Austin with one of the O.p. coxi (photo courtesy of Elizabeth from MickaCoo Pigeon & Dove Rescue)

Another BAARS event tackled and done well!

Saturday, September 22nd was the first appearance

of BAARS at the Cupertino Rotary/World Journal’s

“Fall Festival” event. We were invited to attend

with our critters, and attend we did! It was a full

day with gorgeous weather and well attended, but

the crowd never became too much for us to handle.

That’s definitely the makings of a very good event.

Austin, Aria, their dad, and mother Tania (representing BAARS as well as Critter Kids and Art For The Birds) brought several snakes, a bearded dragon, a spider or two, and a couple scorpions. Dorothy and Gilbert Castro (representing BAARS and California Turtle and Tortoise Club) brought several smaller tortoises including a couple of adorable 3 year old California desert tortoises. I added to the mix with some colubrids (most popular of which were the bamboo ratsnakes, Oreocryptophis porphyraceus coxi), a tarantula and a scorpion.

The crowd loved them all and it was fascinating to see several people who had nervous feelings

about snakes touching them and quickly become relaxed. As Tania put it, “When they see their own

children touching a snake or other creature, then they become more open to the possibility [of

keeping reptiles as pets].” And it is rewarding to see a person touch a snake for the first time and

watch as a smile eases from their tense expressions.

The event was a success, not just our booths, either. There were designer roach coaches providing

tasty eats and fancy drinks (they like to call them “food trucks” but they are what they are, roach

coaches, sans roaches, of course…), emergency preparedness and health education booths, “green”

environmental education booths, as well as multiple cultures represented with singers and dancers,

and a fun zone with children’s rides and games – which is where we were strategically placed beside.

We had shade and a generously loaned EZ-Up by Elizabeth of MickaCoo for the moments the sun

graced us with its warmth. In addition to BAARS and the organizations mentioned earlier, MickaBoo

(avian/parrot rescue) and MickaCoo (dove and pigeon rescue) also came to share their adoptable

birds, educate the public and sell bird toys to benefit the avians. Representatives of the Audubon

Society’s Silicon Valley chapter also stopped by our booth to say “hi!” as they were also presenting at

the even, but from a different area.

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Speaking from my personal perspective of the event… I had two new experiences! Both involved

invertebrate pets. First was with Austin’s Mexican Red Knee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi). While

handling this young animal I took my attention away briefly and accidently pressed against its front

legs as I offered it a new perch. Oops! She was startled and bolted where it could… to hang inverted

and upside-down on the backside of my hand! As my heart regained its normal pumping rhythm, I

was thankful that she didn’t decide to bite in self-defense. Lucky me!

Austin’s Emperor Black scorpion that doesn’t mind being held (photo courtesy of Elizabeth from MickaCoo Pigeon & Dove Rescue)

The second event happened while handling Austin’s Emperor Black Scorpion (Pandinus imperator). After several minutes of handling her she (seemingly out of nowhere) grabbed my ring finger with both pinchers and began squeezing! Wow!! I kept calm somehow and eventually she let go. Whew! Not even a minute later she positioned herself at the edge of my hand, uncurled her tail, straightened it, and pointed it down and forward, like Spiderman does with his hands when he’s web shooting… and what came next none of us predicted! She was going potty. Ha! All of us admitted we didn’t know scorpions eliminated from the near end of their tail. Duly noted for the next game of trivial pursuit. After that I opted to let the scorpion rest in her travel enclosure while I gathered myself. My fascination for “inverts” has been cultured as I do have 4 marvelous tarantulas and 1 scorpion, but I’m still new to keeping these enigmatic animals and can be easily overwhelmed!

Perhaps this is a good time to remind ourselves that reptiles and invertebrates are still wild animals

and caution should be exercised when handling them. And while these two animals belonged to the

same fellow member, it is no reflection on the keeper nor the animal, it is understanding and

respecting the natural tendencies and nature of the invert/non-domesticated animal. I take full

responsibility for my finger resembling a pinky mouse!

Overall we had a great turnout of volunteers, some very beautiful and cooperative animals, and a

good showing of visitors to our tables. If you are a BAARS member and interested in sharing your

passion for keeping reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, we’d love to have your company and

help at an upcoming show. Please let us know you by contacting our show coordinator, Joanne

Petersen, at joanne.hiratsuka@gmail.com. Join us at an event with your wonderful herps!

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Treasurer’s Report

By Scott Petersen

During the month of August, the club’s major expense was the general meeting room

rent. Income for the club came from 4 new/renewal memberships. While not reflected in

this report, thanks to the efforts of Kevin, Rhonda and several other board members,

the club took in significant funds at the August general meeting. Because of my absence

at that meeting, those funds were not transferred to me prior to the end of August. As

such they will be reflected in the September 2012 accounting. As can be seen below, the

club shows a year to date positive cash flow of $290.83. As of September 1st, the club’s

checking account stands at $1453.92. Currently anticipated expenses for the remainder

of 2012 include the monthly general meeting room rent (with the exception of November

when there will be no meeting) and the annual meeting room insurance bill for 2013 which

usually comes due in December.

Posting Date: Cumulative to Date: 7/31/2012 8/31/2012

Expenses: $ 1,058.09 $ 198.09 $ 96.00

Income $ 1,348.92 $ 300.00 $ 100.00

Cash Flow $ 290.83 $ 101.91 $ 4.00

©Photograph (and cover photo) by V.A. Haecky

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BAARS 2012 Board Members

ELECTED OFFICERS President-Scott Alexander 408-823-3675 alexander_scott@yahoo.com Vice President-Eric Koessel 510-847-4392 erickoessel@yahoo.com Membership Secretary-Kyna Hendra 408-946-2077 Membership.baars@gmail.com Recording Secretary-Rhonda Velez 831-442-3100 avelstude@sbcglobal.net Treasurer-Scott Petersen scottepetersen@gmail.com

Members-at-Large Gilbert Castro 408-582-4247 Tortoise.whisperer@yahoo.com Ken Felton felbell@earthlink.net Aleks Haecky 408-749-8920 vhaecky@gmail.com Jim Goehring 408-252-0338 jimathome@sbcglobal.net Megan Johnson 650-284-9955 Megancf85@gmail.com Gisele M. Gisele.baars@gmail.com

APPOINTED OFFICERS Newsletter Editor & Publisher Interim: Aleks Haecky vhaecky@gmail.com Librarian- Tony Velez 831-442-3100 aveltude@yahoo.com Show Coordinator-Joanne Petersen Joanne.hiratsuka@gmail.com Publicity Director- Caroline Alexander cello33dolly@yahoo.com Webmaster-Wolfgang Keil Adoptions Coordinator-Austin Pleban baars.adoptions@gmail.com

NEWSLETTER DUE DATES October newsletter submission deadline: October 12 (second Friday)

November newsletter submission deadline: November 9 (second Friday)

Send all submissions to: behindBAARS@gmail.com or the board mailing list (Aleks Haecky, interim newsletter editor) Accepted Content: We love herp-related original articles, trip and show reports, stories about your animals, and original photographs and drawings. You retain all rights but grant us permission to use, edit, and publish in the newsletter and on our website with attribution.

Accepted Formats: The newsletter editor can open almost anything. Plain text in an email is great. Attach images to email, or provide URL.

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Membership Application

I am requesting a: New Membership Renewal Membership Change of Address I would like a membership as an Individual or Family: 1 Year ($25) I would like a special contributing/membership:

Sustaining ($35) Contributing ($50) Patron ($100)

Institutional ($20) Circle to have your special gift mentioned in the newsletter Name:_____________________________________________________________________________

Address:___________________________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip:______________________________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________ E-Mail:_______________________________________________

Herp Interests:

________________________________________________________________________________

How Did You Learn About the Club: _____________________________________________________

BAARS Membership Secretary

c/o Palo Alto Junior Museum 1451 Middlefield Road Palo Alto CA 94301-3351

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