Study Finds Tarantulas Spin Silk From Their Feet,

What does a tarantula do when it comes across a slippery surface in its travels ... It spins silk out of its feet to aid in locomotion. It is believed that tarantulas are the only animal to use silk in locomotion. The study was written by Stanislav Gorb, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart, Germany.

Gorb and colleagues found that zebra tarantulas secrete tiny bits of silk from nozzlelike structures in their feet. These tethers allow the arachnids to scale vertical surfaces.

The discovery supports a hypothesis that ancient spiders first evolved to produce silk from their feet before changing to the modern configuration of producing it in their abdomens.

"It makes sense actually," Gorb said. "We know that all the extremities of ancestor arachnids probably had this possibility to adhere during locomotion, for example, or during prey capture."

Alternatively, the foot secretions may have evolved independently in tarantulas to help the relatively large spiders move around safely, he adds.

The study can be found in the current issue of Nature, which if you don't have a university paying for it, costs a fortune.

Bush Administration Blocks Hurricane Report

The Bush Administration has blocked a report that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has compiled which suggests that Global Warming may be a cause of stronger and or more frequent hurricanes.

The Bush administration has blocked release of a report that suggests global warming is contributing to the frequency and strength of hurricanes, the journal Nature reported Tuesday.

The possibility that warming conditions may cause storms to become stronger has generated debate among climate and weather experts, particularly in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

In the new case, Nature said weather experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ? part of the Commerce Department in February set up a seven-member panel to prepare a consensus report on the views of agency scientists about global warming and hurricanes.

According to Nature, a draft of the statement said that warming may be having an effect.

In May, when the report was expected to be released, panel chair Ants Leetmaa received an e-mail from a Commerce official saying the report needed to be made less technical and was not to be released, Nature reported.

Is anyone surprised that this administration blocks science that does not agree with their world paradigm.

Cactus Bloom Photo Blogging

Ariocarpus fissuratus

If you aren't checking in with the guys over at the Cactus Jungle blog a few times a week you are really missing out. They have been posting a ton of beautiful bloom pictures. If you see something you like head on over there because they tend to have cactus for sale that are a few weeks away from blooming, so you will get to enjoy the flower at home for the entire length of it's bloom. And as far as I know, unlike a lot of other nurseries, blooming or pre-bloom plants won't cost you a dime more.

More Andes Pics

The Andes Mountain range outside of Mendoza, Argentina. (See map below)

Friday Gecko Blogging

Rhachodactylus ciliatus

Photo from good friend of the store Ryan Garrett. Go tell him to update his photo blog, Observing the Process Will Change It, more than once a month.

Big Reptile Show Weekend

For the first time in recent memory we will be doing two reptile shows in the same weekend. The bigger show is the NARBC in Anaheim, Ca. Stop by the booth and say hello to Sean and John.

The second show is the North Bay Herpetological Society's Tenth Annual Reptile Bazaar in Petaluma, Ca on Saturday only. Myself and Carlos will be manning the booth.

Feel free to drop off beer at either show.

Electoral College

I read about this a few months ago, but had no idea that the bill was sitting on Ahnold's desk. A Stanford University professor has devised a way around the electoral college with out needing the 2/3 vote to ratify the constitution. Basically if enough states (an electoral college majority) create state laws that their electoral college votes will all be awarded to the winner of the popular vote in the presidential election, it will guarentee that the winner of the popular vote wins the election. It will take 11+ of the most populus states for this plan to work, but it behooves the larger states to pass laws like this in order to weild more power on the national landscape. Our last two presidential elections were basically decided by Floridians (with the aid of the Supreme Court) and Ohioans. the most populus states all tend to be blue, with the exceptions of Texas and Florida, so this idea will require bipartisan support. But it would transform our Republic (or is it a Federation) into a more of a true Representitive Democracy. Everyone's vote would actually be equal under a true Representitive Democracy.

The first fruit of his effort, a bill approved by the California legislature that would allocate the state’s 55 electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, sits on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk. The governor has to decide by Sept. 30 whether to sign it, a decision that may well determine whether Dr. Koza’s scheme takes flight or becomes another relic in the history of efforts to kill the Electoral College.

“It would be a major development if California enacts this thing,” said Tim Storey, an analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures. “It will definitely transform it from a smoldering thing into a fire.’’

There have been many efforts over the decades to kill the Electoral College, the little-known and widely misunderstood body that actually elects the president based on the individual states that a candidate wins. Most recently, former Representative John B. Anderson of Illinois and former Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana spearheaded a drive, Fair Vote, for a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College.

Concert Review

So a bunch of us went to a show at the Stork Club in Oakland last Saturday night.

The opening band, Harold Ray Live, was pretty good. Six guys or so in suits playing James Brown-esque toons. They were very high energy and the organ player hit the keys so hard the entire organ bounced around the stage.

Up second was Bob Log III who was amazing. From the Kansas City Star ...

"He keeps time with two busy feet, kicking a cymbal and a bass drum and tow-tapping two drum machines. The first thing you'll notice about him, though, is the bubble-mask motorcycle helmet he wears, which is wired with a microphone - a masquerade that hides his face and warps his voice.

And as for the swizzle stick - the frank truth is he'd rather his drink be stirred by a bare female breast, and these days Bob Log is so popular (or persuasive) he's been getting his way. He is a one man band playing a bass drum with one foot, a snare drum with the other and slide guitar."

If you are familiar with his Fat Possum label mates The Black Keys, the sound is similar. Throw in a little Squidbillies, and some Howard Stern humor and you have Bob Log III. He definitely stole the show.

The closer was BlowFly, the self-proclaimed "original dirty rapper." And uh yeah ... he was quite dirty. Imagine a ~70 year old man, with an abnormally long, boney middle finger aggressively pointing to and fro while some of the funniest, dirties lines you have ever heard come out of his mouth. It was quite interesting indeed. I won't reprint any of his lyrics as this blog may be read by 12-year olds looking for leopard gecko pictures, but don't let your mom read them over your shoulder. Blowfly is a very charismatic, very entertaining man.

During one of the set changes herp student walks up to us and says "figures I would see a bunch of herpers at BlowFly." We were all wearing our EBV shirts, but yes BlowFly definitley fits in with the herping crowd.

The above photo is called "The freakish, funky finger of Blowfly points out a Hole Man in the crowd" and was taken at the April 12th, 2006 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506 by Michael Pilmer © 2006

Local Music

So I am going to expand the blog a bit to include some local music adventures since the fine employees of EBV tend to do the whole afterwork fieldtrip to a local music show about once a month or so. So if indie music is your thing look out for some concert and band reviews. Not all of it will be wimpy indie-rock; we'll have some indie-hip-hop and indie-punk and indie-fill in the blank, but a lot of it will be sensitive, ephemeral indie-rock.

Fish in the coal mine

A cnn.com story discusses municipalities using sunfish as a "canary in the coal mine" against terrorist attacks agianst drinking water. Glad to hear we are actually doing something besides "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here."

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A type of fish so common that practically every American kid who ever dropped a fishing line and a bobber into a pond has probably caught one is being enlisted in the fight against terrorism.

San Francisco, New York, Washington and other big cities are using bluegills -- also known as sunfish or bream -- as a sort of canary in a coal mine to safeguard their drinking water.

Small numbers of the fish are kept in tanks constantly replenished with water from the municipal supply, and sensors in each tank work around the clock to register changes in the breathing, heartbeat and swimming patterns of the bluegills that occur in the presence of toxins.

Will Ferrell as Dubya on Global Warming

Andean Condor

All the tegus were still in their winter holes ... so an Andean Condor picture instead. I'll post a few more Argentina pics this week.

Great White Shark

Monterey Bay Aquarium has a new White Shark on display in their Outer Bay exhibit. These are the most amazing creatures to see in person. Jaw-dropping is not an exaggeration.

For only the second time, there's a healthy young white shark in our Outer Bay exhibit. 5 feet 8 inches long and 104 pounds, he arrived on August 31 and is making himself right at home in the million-gallon exhibit. Each day he's here, he'll teach us more about white sharks and how we can protect these thrilling—and threatened—animals in the wild.

A little more than it could handle

A reticulated python in Indonesia needed to be removed from a roadway after eating a pregnant sheep. Apparently it was so bloated it couldn't slither off of the road. That's gonna leave some stretch marks.

Sacramento Show Pictures

The Sacramento Show was a big success. It was very crowded, especially on Saturday. Here are a few pictures from Sunday.

Super heros like beaded lizards

Sean explains animal husbandry

Emo kids like snakes

All the way from Japan

Smiling for the camera

Tashara, our ZooMed Rep, hurting Sunday morning

Best of the East Bay

This is a few months old but I never managed to blog it. East Bay Vivarium was named the Best Specialty Store in the "The Deadly Sins: Best of the East Bay 2006" category by the East Bay Express, a great weekly newspaper.

Ophidiophobes, arachnophobes, herpetophobes, and general zoophobes should steer clear. But if you adore snakes, spiders, reptiles, and amphibians, you've hit pay dirt at this West Berkeley institution. The specialty pet store and de facto zoo peddles a menagerie of nature's most curious and/or intimidating creatures.

...

Vivarium co-owner John Emberton estimates that half of his visitors stop in just to look around. Store regulars bring their newbie friends, and parents come looking for free kiddie entertainment. The staff is cool with all that. "We have school groups and birthday parties coming through, Cub Scout and Girl Scout groups, and they don't buy a thing," Emberton says. "It's free advertising. It's trickle-down. They're not all gonna come back and buy something down the road, but if one in twenty does, then it's worth it." So after your Sunday brunch on yupscale Fourth Street, walk over and view some stuff that would give those soccer moms the creepy-crawlies.

Resturant Review

Our friends at Cafe Rouge on 4th Street got a brief write-up in the East Bay Express this week.

Fur Seals Return to the Farallons

The SF Chronicle reports that for the first time since 1834 Northern Fur Seals have returned to the Farallon Islands off of the San Francisco coast.

A few started returning in the early 1970s, but this year their numbers surged -- an indication of the islands' enduring vitality and proof that a sensitive species can revive under favorable circumstances.

"We're ecstatic to see any marine mammal recovery, but it's especially gratifying when you're talking about a sensitive species like northern fur seals," said Clyde Morris, manager of the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. "Their comeback is probably due to the high protection from human intrusion the Farallones receive."

The Farallons are really a special place so its great to see it as a home to another species.

RIP Steve Irwin

RIP Croc Hunter

A DOCTOR and witnesses have told of the desperate efforts to save Australian icon Steve Irwin after the Crocodile Hunter was struck in the chest by a stingray barb today.

Irwin, 44, died this morning after being fatally injured while filming a nature documentary off Queensland.

The news has shocked the nation and prompted a rush of tributes from politicians and the public alike.

Irwin's wife Terri was in Tasmania at the time of the tragedy and had to be contacted by police with the terrible news.