According to the CDC’s “Morbidity and Mortality Report” this week, at least 103 people were sickened by Salmonella from small turtles in 2007.  The main portion of these people were young children.  It is a well known fact that turtles and other reptiles carry Salmonella.  Additionally, small turtles carry higher amounts of the bacteria, making them more likely to pass the germ to people.  In 1975, the FDA banned the sale of turtles measuring less than 4 inches in an effort to reduce the exposure of children to the bacteria.  However, since turtle sales are on the rise, so too are cases of Salmonella infection.  It is fairly easy, if you do own a reptile, to prevent illness.  First of all, it is best for children under 5 to avoid contact with reptiles at all.  Everyone should wash their hands before and after handling a reptile.  Washing before handling a reptile protects it from your bacteria, while washing your hands after handling the reptile will protect you from bacteria like Salmonella.  If the reptile is in contact with a surface like a table or the counter, clean the area with a disinfectant wipe.  Another good idea is to keep a waterless hand sanitizer near the animal’s cage.  For more information about keep yourself and your family safe from Salmonella, consult the CDC.

California ground squirrels have a unique defense against rattlesnakes; they can heat their tails and wave them at the snakes in order to intimidate them.  Since the tails are warmer than normal, the rattlesnake goes on the defensive, and no longer sees the squirrel as food.  Rattlesnakes, which are a type of pit viper, have a highy evolved organ that senses infrared heat.  The organs are much more sensitive than the heat sensors in boas and pythons, thus able to detect the variation in the tail temperature and core body temperature of the squirrel.  While it is unclear as to the physiologic mechanism by which the squirrel heats its tail, it appears to be voluntary to the point that the defense is used selectively against rattlesnakes.  Snakes without heat sensing capabilities do not elicit the defense response.  It goes to show that animal behavior and physiology is even more complex than we can imagine.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/10/AR2007081000581.html