Ban Rattlesnake Gassing!

Happy (belated) holidays! It's still cold, but we're over the hump, days are getting longer, and spring (=snakes) will be here before you know it! But if you're missing warmer days and the reptiles they bring, no worries! We have more stories for you.

Upcoming event this Saturday, 18 January at Wings over Willcox
This Saturday at 10am we'll be presenting Real World Rattlesnakes in the Fireplace room at the Wings over Willcox free nature expo in the Willcox Community Center. Check out their website for a complete list of the presentations and exhibits you can see Saturday at this birding and nature festival. More information on this and other upcoming presentations can be found on our events page.

Ban gassing rattlesnakes in Texas!: http://blog.socialsnakes.org/ban-snake-gassing/
As you can imagine, we are not fans of rattlesnake roundups. In addition to torturing and killing thousands of rattlesnakes each year, the most popular way hunters collect rattlesnakes for roundups is terribly damaging to the environment and other wildlife. Texas is considering a ban on collecting animals using (or possessing animals that were collected by) noxious or toxic substances. Find out more, including how to submit comments in support of this much-needed change!

Year of the snake (family): http://blog.socialsnakes.org/year-of-snake/
As 2013 drew to a close, the blogosphere was full of "best of" and "year in review" type posts. And I realized we hadn't shared our favorite snake story of the year! Oops! Well, here it is. And of course it is about rattlesnake parental care.

Good neighbors make a greater impact: http://blog.socialsnakes.org/good-neighbors-greater-impact/
In our last newsletter we previewed an upcoming blog carnival we participated in on 9 December. The broad topic for all participants was ecosystem services provided by snakes and we focused on how viper behavior affects their service. Read our article here and find links to all the other articles in the carnival. Stay tuned for the next blog carnival coinciding with Darwin Day (12 February), which will have an evolution theme (of course).

Finally, we've added a new way for you to support Social Snakes and get snake stuff! Your contributions help us help snakes. Any amount you can give is greatly appreciated and we’re happy to offer full color greeting cards of some of our favorite photographs. Each illustrates social snake behavior and is blank inside, ready for your personalization. Social Snakes is non-profit in nature but we do not yet have 501(c)(3) status. 100% of your donations support our work as this is our only source of funding. We'd like to add more stuff in the future - what kind of snake stuff would you like to see? Let us know!

That's all that's fit to hiss at the moment, but remember you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more frequent updates!

- melissa