February 2012 volume 27, issue 2

Jerry Novak of Pacific Northwest Turtleworks

will be speaking about the “Western Pond Tur-

tle Project.”

Next Meeting:

February 12, 2012 Upcoming Events…… 2

General information……. 3

Letter from the

President………………..

4

Leaping Lizards &

Dinosaurs Inspire

Robot Design...…...….

6

Minutes of the Board

of Directors Meeting

9

Classifieds………………..

10

Contacts & Vets……. 11

Membership Application 12

Inside this issue:

March PNHS

Newsletter Deadline:

Feb. 29, 2012

Pacific Northwest

Herpetological Society

Meeting Location:

Highline Community College Board Meeting 4 p.m.

2400 S. 240th St., Des Moines, WA General Meeting: 6 p.m.

Speaker Presentation:

PNHS:

Come hear a

fascinating

presentation!

February is “American Heart Month”

For more information, go to: www.Heart.org.

The American Heart Association will be participating in the upcoming ECRE 2012.

Above: Jerry Novak speaking. Photo

courtesy of The Seattle Turtle & Tortoise

Club.

Pa g e 2

Upcoming PNHS Events

February 07, 2012: PNHS Outreach, Location: Wallingford, WA Make-up due to snow:

Science night at Wallingford Elementary

Contact VP/Outreach Coordinator to participate.

February 10, 2012: PNHS Outreach, Location: Edmonds, WA Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Set-up after 5 p.m. Contact VP/Outreach Coordinator to participate.

February 12, 2012: PNHS Regular Meeting

Herp-of-the-Month: “ Chelonians ” ( Turtles, Tortoises & Terrapins)

Speaker: Jerry Novak of Pacific Northwest Turtleworks

Topic: The Western Pond Turtlwe Project

March 3, 2012: Leap Year Event at Woodland Park Zoo

“ L eaping Ahead of Extinction: A celebration of good news for amphibi

ans in 2012, ” sponsored by the Amphibian Ark. For more information,

go to www.LeapDay2012.org or www.zoo.org .

March 11, 2012: PNHS Regular Meeting

Herp-of-the-Month: “ Green-colored herps ”

Speaker: Dr. Elizabeth Kamaka of Kamaka Exotic Animal Veterinary Ser

vices, Topic: Lizard Dilemmas in Captivity

Page 2

Come be a part

of our biggest

show ever!

Save The Date!

June 2nd—3rd, 2012

Emerald City

Reptile Expo

Seattle Center Exhibition Hall

General Information

The Pacific Northwest Herpetological Society (PNHS) is a non-profit organi-

zation registered with the State of Washington. PNHS is dedicated to the

education of its members and the public, as well as the conservation, ecol-

ogy, and captive care and breeding of reptiles and amphibians. The society

also takes an active role in legislative and environmental issues affecting

these animals and their habitats.

Meeting Information

PNHS holds its general meeting on the third Sunday of every month (with

exceptions for holidays) at 6:00pm at Highline Community College in Des

Moines, Building 12 Room 101. The Board meeting begins at 4:00pm.

Doors open at 5:30. Other business and socialization occurs between 5:30

and 6; then the General Meeting starts. Meetings are open to the public,

and the society encourages anyone with an interest in herpetology to at-

tend. Please purchase a membership to show your support for the society.

Animal Donations

Looking to adopt, release an animal or donate cages and equipment?

Please contact the Adoptions Committee by email at adop-

tions@pnwhs.org, or by voicemail at 206- 583-0686. We will contact you

and make arrangements.

Other Donations

The Adoption Committee receives minimal financial support from the Soci-

ety, so donations of money, food, cages, and equipment are always needed

and appreciated. Please contact the Adoption Chair to make a donation.

Adoptions

To adopt an animal that is in the care of the Committee, you must be pre-

sent at the meeting, be a current member (of at least one month), and be

over 18 years of age or have parental consent. For more details see the

web site or contact the Adoption Chair.

Newsletter Information

A monthly newsletter absorbs the lion’s share of the price of a PNHS mem-

bership. In order to keep it interesting, we encourage contribution of origi-

nal articles, book reviews, letters, ads, and cartoons for publication.

Items for incorporation into articles are also welcome, though with no guar-

antee of their use. Submissions may be sent to the Newsletter Committee

or to the Society through the contacts listed on the following page.

Editorial Policy

The views expressed in this publication are solely the views of the authors

and not necessarily the views of the Society, its members, or the Newsletter

Committee. The Newsletter Committee reserves the right to edit all submis-

sions including advertisements.

General information &

guidelines

re PNHS’ Monthly Meetings

are a great place to learn

something new, purchase

feeders at a discount, and

meet new people

V o l . 2 7 N o . 2 Pa g e 3

Above: Both Green Tree Python

Photos courtesy of the Adams’

Family.

Page 4

Letter from the President By Brenda Huber Vol. 27, No.2

Continued...

Our family has been actively volunteering and involved with PNHS for over ten

years. A chance meeting with my childhood hero two years ago, however, forever

changed the way I view “involvement.”

I was about 6 years old when I first saw Joan Embery on the Tonight Show with Johnny

Carson. She was showing Johnny some amazing creatures (I believe it was the episode

when the pygmy marmoset “marks” Johnny Carson’s head.) I remember thinking to

myself, “That’s who I want to be when I grow up.” However, I dared not speak of it

aloud in my family. Animals, according to my mother, were either: 1) food, or 2) ver-

min (not food.) A career in animals was unacceptable and beyond comprehension.

Fast-forward to 2010: a postcard from Woodland Park Zoo advertising an event with

special guest Joan Embery arrived nonchalantly in my mailbox. I literally jumped.

How does one maintain composure in the presence of a childhood

hero? Somehow, I managed to contain myself. Upon meeting Joan

Embery, I told her that she was an inspiration. I thought she’d just

respond with a “Thank you,” and move down the line to the next

person.

Instead, she turned her head and said, “Oh really? What have you

done?”

The Hot Seat Question: What have you done?

Luckily I have plenty of Hot Seat experience, and was able to im-

mediate respond by rattling off all that we do in PNHS, emphasizing our primary mis-

sion of education and outreach in the community, and our participation in “Science

Nights” at elementary and middle schools all over the Pacific Northwest.

Joan replied politely, “Oh wonderful,” and then continued on to the next person. How-

ever, her blunt “What have you done?” question remained in my head. Her emphasis on

“action” remains with me. I feel compelled to “do” even more.

The Hot Seat Question

Somehow,

I managed

to contain

myself…

- B.Huber

V o l . 2 7 , N o . 2 Pa g e 5

So this year, as I begin my presidency and PNHS heads into its 47th year, I put this question

out to our membership:

Do you have an answer to the hot seat question?

If you are ready to make a difference, join us, and just “do.” PNHS welcomes everyone and

has programs available for everyone. Whether your interests lie in participating in our out-

reach program, fostering in our rescue program, participating in our Emerald City Reptile

Expo, or just in making friends and furthering your herp knowledge with our informative

monthly lectures, we have an activity just right for you.

You are most welcome.

Brenda Huber

PNHS President

Letter From The President Continued….

Above: Joan Embery and Brenda Huber at Woodland Park Zoo’s Thrive! event,

March 2010. Photo courtesy of B. Huber.

“Never doubt

that a small

group of

thoughtful, com-

mitted citizens

can change the

world; indeed, it

is the only thing

that ever has.”

- Margaret Mead

V o l . 2 7 , N o . 2

Leaping Lizards and Dinosaurs

Inspire Robot design

By Science Daily, Jan. 4, 2012

Leaping lizards have a message for robots: Get a tail!

University of California, Berkeley, biologists and engineers -- including undergraduate and graduate students -- studied how lizards manage to leap successfully even when they slip and stumble. They found that lizards swing their tails upward to prevent them from pitching head-over-heels into a rock.

But after the team added a tail to a robotic car named “Tailbot,” they discovered that coun-teracting the effect of a slip is not as simple as throwing your tail in the air. Instead, robots and lizards must actively adjust the angle of their tails just right to remain upright.

"We showed for the first time that lizards swing their tail up or down to counteract the rota-tion of their body, keeping them stable," said team leader Robert J. Full, UC Berkeley profes-sor of integrative biology. "Inspiration from lizard tails will likely lead to far more agile search-and-rescue robots, as well as ones having greater capability to more rapidly detect chemical, biological or nuclear hazards."

Agile therapod dinosaurs like the velociraptor depicted in the movie Jurassic Park may also have used their tails as stabilizers to prevent forward pitch, Full said. Their tail movement is illustrated in a prescient chase sequence from the 1993 movie in which the animated animal

leaps from a balcony onto a T. rex skeleton.

"Muscles willing, the dinosaur could be even more effective with a swing of its tail in controlling body attitude than the lizards," Full said.

Full and his laboratory colleagues, including both engineering and biology students, will report their discoveries online on Jan. 5 in advance of publication in the Jan. 12 print edition of the journal Nature. The paper's first author, mechanical engineering graduate student Thomas Libby, also will report the results on Jan. 7 at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Bi-ology in Charleston, S.C.

Full is enthusiastic about the interplay fostered at UC Berkeley between biologists and engi-neers in the Center for Interdisciplinary Bio-inspiration in Education and Research (CiBER) lab, within which he offers a research-based teaching lab that provides dozens of under-graduate students with an opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research in teams with

Reprinted with permission from HerpDigest.org; Vol.12 No.4, Dated 1/19/12

“Inspiration from

lizard tails will

likely lead to far

more agile search-

and-rescue ro-

bots…”

- Robert J. Full, Profes-

sor, UC Berkeley

Continued...

Pa g e 7

Leaping Lizards, continued...

graduate students. Each team experiences the benefits of how biologists and engineers ap-

proach a problem.

"Learning in the context of original discovery, finding out something that no one has ever know

before, really motivated me," said former UC Berkeley integrative biology undergraduate Talia

Moore, now a graduate student in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at

Harvard University. "This research-based lab course showed me how biologists and engineers

can work together to benefit both fields."

"This paper shows that research-based teaching leads to better learning and simultaneously can

lead to cutting-edge research," added Full, who last year briefed the U.S. House of Representa-

tive's Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Caucus on this

topic. "It also shows the competitive advantage of interdisciplinary approaches and how in-

volvement of undergraduates in research can lead to innovation."

Full's research over the past 20 years has revealed how the toe hairs of geckos assist them in

climbing smooth vertical surfaces and, more recently, how their tails help to keep them from

falling when they slip and to right themselves in mid-air.

The new research tested a 40-year-old hypothesis that the two-legged theropod dinosaurs; the

ancestors of birds; used their tails as stabilizers while running or dodging obstacles or predators.

In Full's teaching laboratory, students noticed a lizard's recovery after slipping during a leap and

thought a study of stumbling would be a perfect way to test the value of a tail.

In the CiBER lab, Full and six of his students used high-speed videography and motion capture

to record how a red-headed African Agama lizard handled leaps from a platform with different

degrees of traction, from slippery to easily-gripped.

They coaxed the lizards to run down a track, vault off a low platform and land on a vertical sur-

face with a shelter on top. When the friction on the platform was reduced, lizards slipped, caus-

ing their bodies to potentially spin out of control.

When the researchers saw how the lizard used its tail to counteract the spin, they created a

mathematical model as well as Tailbot -- a toy car equipped with a tail and small gyroscope to

sense body position; to better understand the animal's skills. With a tail but no feedback from

sensors about body position, Tailbot took a nose dive when driven off a ramp, mimicking a liz-

ard's take-off. When body position was sensed and fed back to the tail motor, however, Tailbot

Vol. 27, No. 2

Continued...

P a g e 8 Page 8

Vol. 27, No. 2

Leaping Lizards, Continued...

was able to stabilize its body in midair. The actively controlled tail effectively redirected the

angular momentum of the body into the tail's swing, as happens with leaping lizards, Full

said.

Tailbot's design pushed the boundaries of control in robotics in an area researchers call iner-

tial assisted robotics, an attention-grabber at last October's meeting of the International

Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. The UC Berkeley researchers' paper, pre-

sented by Libby and fellow mechanical engineering graduate student Evan Chang-Siu, was

one of five finalists there among more than 2,000 robot studies.

"Engineers quickly understood the value of a tail," Libby said, noting that when he dropped Tailbot nose-down, it was able to right itself before it had dropped a foot. "Robots are not nearly as agile as animals, so anything that can make a robot more stable is an advancement, which is why this work is so exciting." Full and his students are now investigating the role of the tail in controlling pitch, roll and yaw while running. UC Berkeley coauthors include Full and students Moore, Libby and Chang-Siu, along with Department of Integrative Biology undergraduate Deborah Li and graduate students Ardian Jusufi in the Department of Integrative Biology and Daniel Cohen in the Department of Bioengineering. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation, including the NSF's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program, and the Micro Autono-mous Systems Technologies (MAST) consortium, a large group of researchers funded in part by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory that is focused on creating autonomous sensing robots.

L and R: The ve-

lociraptors from the

1994 film, “Jurassic

Park.” Photo cour-

tesy of Wikipedia

Commons.

Pa g e 9

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

The regular meeting of the Board of Directors for the Pacific Northwest Herpetological Society convened on Sunday, January

22nd, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at Highline Community College. This date was a make-up for the originally scheduled January 15th,

2012, the previous Sunday, which was cancelled due to snow. Present were 2011 President Aimee Kenoyer, 2012 President

Brenda Huber, 2011/2012 Treasurer Dale Drexler, 2012 Membership Secretary Geoff Sweet, and 2012 Members-At-Large

David Brunelle, Carol Dean, and Matt Lee. There were no Minutes from the previous meeting. Since neither the 2011 Secre-

tary nor the 2012 Secretary were present, Brenda agreed to take notes. The meeting was called to order at 4:22 p.m. by Aimee.

General Business:

1. Since a Board of Directors “Quorum” was not present, Geoff suggested to “cue-up” all old business in order to vote at

the next Board Meeting.

2. Branch vs. Charter for Kitsap: Geoff had sent around information regarding this topic. David asked why we are inter-

ested in setting up something. Aimee responded that the topic has come up in the past since she’s been involved with

PNHS (6 years.) According to Troy, 15 people are actively involved, wanting to do outreaches, with oversight by us.

Geoff stated that since they are PNHS members, they must participate using our Bylaws, etc. They maintain leader-

ship, extend them autonomy, but not damaging our good name. There has been a slow rise of interest regarding this

topic over the years. Aimee stated that even if it was just a couple of people, they still would need to be following our

rules. Geoff stated one of the first questions is how to organize leadership within a branch. He suggests a small change

in our Constitution to add “Branch Chairperson,” which the Board can vote to create as an Ad Hoc Committee leader,

and then that person is liaison to the main Board. Also add a stanza for Branches that includes how a Branch is respon-

sible to us and how their leadership is established. PNHS recognizes branches of 5 people. If they grow bigger, we can

re-visit. Geoff mentioned that the “Lion’s Club” does an excellent job of defining Branch vs. Charter.

3. Aimee brought up changing the verbage around the venomous language. The goal is build clear and concise policies

for the group, not whittling away at minutia. Carol asked why, and Geoff responded with the following: Venom weeds

out stupid real quick… Many years ago there were some issues, and there were people who were adamantly against

venomous herps, and people that were equally passionate but acceptance of people who own venomous animals. Peo-

ple have expressed feeling “discriminated” when mentioning venomous herps. The line, as with the laws in WA State,

is unclear. We’d like to advocate responsible herp ownership, whether they are venomous or not. It was decided to put

it to a vote since the language will have to be changed in the Bylaws. Dale moved to table it until the next meeting.

Language changes would have to be presented at the next general meeting, and also go out in the Newsletter for com-

ment and vote.

4. Aimee will bring info (the Bylaws files) on a datastick.

5. The role of volunteers at the ECRE was discussed. Geoff brought up assigning people to blocks of time. If you are in a

shirt, you are working. Dave mentioned that there needs to be guidance, directon, and ownership towards the volun-

teers. Geoff said that either you’re a volunteer, or you’re a vendor, or a paid entry. One vendor did mention that they

had a problem getting “shirt people” to do something for them. We want to make the necessary changes to ensure that

our vendors are completely taken care of at the ECRE. We will assign one person solely to the Vendors, to go by each

booth at least once an hour. Geoff suggested there also needed to be clarifications on volunteer hierarchy, perhaps

sergeants or something along those lines. Brenda asked and Geoff accepted to take the “Volunteer Coordinator” posi-

tion for the ECRE 2012.

6. Discussed ECRE website. David was going to talk to Capitol Media to see if they would do the website. David men-

tioned there is perceived quality with online presence.

President-Elect’s Report: Brenda reported that the ECRE’s “Conservation & Education” section is already booked with atten-

dees, including all major zoos in the Seattle area. Registrations will be sent out to all attendees in the next few weeks.

Old Business: Geoff mentioned to take a look at the constitution stanza. If anyone has any changes, or proposed changes,

please let us know.

The meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.

Vol. 27, No. 2

Classifieds

Join the Global Gecko Association Today!

The GGA is a six year old international organization dedicated to the needs of all people interested in geckos.

Members receive the twice-yearly, full-color journal, “Gekko”, plus “Chit-Chat”, our quarterly newsletter.

Annual Membership is $32 US, $34 Canada/Mexico, $36 Overseas.

Email: ElizabethFreer@aol.com (503)-436-1064 or www.gekkota.com

Pa g e 1 0

Advertise in the PNHS Newsletter!

Business Card .............................$5

Quarter Page................................$10

Half Page ....................................$15

Full Page .....................................$25

If you would like to place an ad

in the PNHS newsletter, please contact:

newsletter.editor@pnwhs.org

GET PUBLICITY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

& SUPPORTING PNHS!

Feeder Insects & Rodents

I have superworms, giant mealworms, and lots more!Plus, I now carry frozen rodents.

Order in advance: special pricing for PNHS

members,,as well as quantity discounts!

For pick up and PNHS meeting delivery.

Jennifer Sronce (425) 750-0477

www.seattlefeeders@gmail.com

Bean Farm’s Creative Habitats

Slide-Top Aquariums

Various sizes available.

We can deliver the cages to the meetings, as well as any other item from the Bean Farm catalogue.

Please contact us by the Friday before the meeting in order for items to be delivered. Thank you!

Paula & Giovani Fagioli (877) 708-5882

Email: beanfarm@beanfarm.com

www.beanfarm.com

PNHS would like to thank “Animal Talk Pet Shop” & “Animal Talk

Rescue” for their generous donations of feeders for our foster animals!

Are you a Fluffy Foster? Kitten season is upon us &

Animal Talk Rescue is urgently looking for foster homes

for kitten(s).

Animal Talk Pet Shop 6514 Roosevelt Way NE

Seattle, WA 98115

(206) 526-1558 Find us on Facebook!

A full-line pet

store...and so

much more!

Contact Information

PNHS

P.O. Box 27542 Adoptions:206-583-0686

Seattle, WA 98165 Email: contactus@pnwhs.org

www.pnwhs.org General information: 206-628-4740

Area Representatives

N King & Snohomish Brenda Huber 206-334-7168 brenda.huber@pnwhs.org

S King & Pierce Dale Drexler 253-606-4328 dale.drexler@yahoo.com

Greater Seattle Aimee Kenoyer 206-200-1240 aimee.kenoyer@pnwhs.org

Peninsula, Island Troy Barnhatt

Oregon Elizabeth Freer 503-436-1064 elizabethfreer@aol.com

Officers for 2012

President Brenda Huber brenda.huber@pnwhs.org

Vice President Brandon Winter brandon.winter@pnwhs.org

President-Elect Rachel Shirk rachel.shirk@pnwhs.org

Treasurer Dale Drexler dale.drexler@pnwhs.org

Secretary Teresa Montoya secretary@pnwhs.org

Membership Secretary Geoff Sweet members@pnwhs.org

Members-At-Large Ted Adams ted.adams@pnwhs.org

David Brunnelle david.brunnelle@pnwhs.org Carol Dean carol.dean@pnwhs.org

Matt Lee matt.lee@pnwhs.org

Julie Sharkey julie.sharkey@pnwhs.org

Adoptions Coordinator Rachel Shirk adoptions@pnwhs.org

Event Coordinator Norm Hill norm.hill@pnwhs.org

Newsletter Editor Marian Huber newsletter@pnwhs.org

Webmaster Geoff Sweet webmaster@pnwhs.org

Find us on

FACEBOOK!

V o l . 2 7 , N o . 2 Pa g e 1 1

Recommended EXOTIC VETS

Dr. Tracy Bennett

Dr. Daniel Lejnieks

Bird & Exotic Clinic of Seattle

4019 Aurora Ave. N.

Seattle, WA 98107

(206) 783-4538

www.birdandexotic.com

Dr. Elizabeth Kamaka

Kamaka Exotic Animal Vet-

erinary Services

23914—56th Ave. W. #3

Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043

(425) 361-2183

www.kamakaexoticvet.com

Dr. Adolf Maas

The Center For Bird & Exotic

Animal Medicine

11401 NE 195th St.

Bothell, WA 98011

(425) 486-9000

www.avianandexoticanimalhospit

al..com

To join PNHS, please print & complete the following application,

enclose your yearly or multi-yearly membership fee and return to:

PNHS Membership Secretary

P.O. Box 27542

Seattle, WA 98165

Membership applications and fees may also be received at the monthly meetings by the Membership Secretary. With your yearly or multi-year membership fee you will receive the monthly PNHS E-Newsletter, access to membership pricing for adoption ani-mals, and the opportunity to participate in the many outreaches and special “Members Only” events held throughout the year.

Please select one of the options below:

Please select your preferred membership category:

Individual Membership Family Membership

(One person) (1-2 parents + Children)

Institutional Membership Correspondence Membership

(Institutions/Organizations) (E-Newsletter Only)

Please select the format in which you would like to receive your newsletter:

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Address: ______________________________________________________________

City: ____________________________________ State: _____ Zip: ______________

Email Address: ________________________________________________________

Phone: _______________________________________________________________

Would you be interested in volunteering for PNHS: YES / NO

Please make checks payable to PNHS. Thank you!

PNHS only: Membership Expiration Date: _______________________ Contacted: ____

Above: Kids are

intent on every-

thing Board Mem-

ber Geoff Sweet

has to say at an

outreach in Duvall,

2005.