baars january 2015
DESCRIPTION
New President&Board, Childhood memoriesTRANSCRIPT
BEHIND BAARS
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE BAY AREA AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILE SOCIETY January 2015
Heloderma horridum exasperatum by Jeff Whitnack
Friday, January 23 @ 7:30 p.m. Doors open 7:00 p.m.
Cubberley Community Center, Room M-2, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto
BAARS is an educational and conservational group of amateur and professional herpetologists who want to share their
knowledge, enthusiasm, and friendship with others interested in these fascinating creatures.
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CONTENTS President’s Report
Welcome 2015 Board Members!
Calender: Events & Shows & Meetings
Early Herping, Reptiles, Birds, and Bees
Treasurer’s Reports - Dec 2014 & Jan 2015
BAARS Social Connections
Adoptions
Support BAARS
ONLINE RESOURCES OLDER NEWSLETTERS MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNTS East Bay Vivarium Berkeley - 10% Dr. R. Singh Veterinarian Sunnyvale - 10%
President’s Report
Greetings BAARS Members and Supporters.
This is my first report as President of this great club. I first want to express my appreciation
and thanks to all the members of the Board and active BAARS members. I’ve gotten help
with getting up to speed as President, help in understanding the other roles, help with
showing herps at our shows, and more.
I was a member of BAARS back in the 90’s, but life got super hectic and I got out of the
herp world. My older son moved back in after acquiring some snakes. My youngest
daughter was fascinated and wanted hers. So it just must be genetic as I got swept back
into it all. What a different world it now is with Facebook groups for virtually every species of herp.
At the last BAARS Board Meeting it was decided that our newsletter will no longer be tethered to paid membership,
but will now be available to all whom so desire. I will also be sharing our newsletter actively on various Facebook
sites. Please send in articles or links, AND pictures of your herps to [email protected]. [Editor: To subscribe,
email [email protected]. Later this year, we will update our website to allow visitors to easily donate,
subscribe, and become members. We are hoping, that this will help us recruit more members and supporters.]
Also, if you are a BAARS member and have herp to sell or adopt out and can bring the herp to our General Meeting,
please do the following. 1) Email me ([email protected]) a picture of the herp 2) State theadoption fee to BAARS
3) Include specific information about the herp such as species, age, and needs. I will then post it to various FB sites
and say it’ll be available at our meeting. This could generate more BAARS attendance as well as sales/adoptions. I
think most people would like to see the herp in question in person not just online.
Our next General Meeting is Jan. 23rd Friday at Cubberly Room M-2. Our speaker will be Wildlife Biologist Michael
Cardwell, and the topic is “The Private Lives of Rattlesnakes in the Gold Run Country”. For a video of him studying
rattlesnakes on YouTube go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrjaBYks4gg
Hope to see you all at the next General Meeting!
Hissfully yours
Jeff Whitnack, BAARS President, 2015
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Welcome 2015 Board Members! by Aleks Haecky
Welcome Jeff Whitnack, our new President. After years and years and years of service, Scott Alexander has stepped
down as president and Jeff has stepped up. Thank you Scott Alexander for all your dedication, faithfulness,
enthusiasm, optimism, and hard work! (And sorry for all the gray hair.) Jeff, they are big boots you are trying to fill,
and as a longtime herper and BAARS member, we think that you have what it takes to carry on the flag!
President: Jeff Whitnack, Vice President: Scott Alexander, [email protected] Membership Secretary: Kyna Hendra, [email protected] Treasurer: Scott Petersen, [email protected] Recording Secretary: Vacant Publicity Director: Vacant Newsletter Editor & Webmaster: Aleks Haecky, [email protected] Show Coordinator: Joanne Petersen, [email protected] Adoptions Coordinator: Austin and Tania Pleban and team, [email protected] Social Media MAL: vacant MAL: Gilbert & Dorothy Castro, [email protected] MAL: Michael Pleban & Aria Pleban, [email protected] MAL: Rhonda Velez & Tony Velez, Eric Koessel, David M., Zachary M.
3D Printed Prostetic Leg for Turtle
Fifth graders 3D print a prosthetic leg for Stumpy the turtle Link to article: http://bit.ly/1HlcXJj (Photo from article)
Building a Better Frog Oakland Zoo is buffing the immune system of yellow-legged frogs, hoping to give them a better chance at survival in the wild. [Editor comment: This is interesting research. However, I am puzzled as to why the zoo cannot breed their own frogs, which would save a ton of money; that could then be used to save more frogs…] Read more: http://goo.gl/cFjl1p Photo: USFWS/Rick Kuyper (CC-BY-2.0)
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Calender: Events & Shows & Meetings by Joanne Hiratsuka Petersen
Details are on our BAARS.org website under Shows.
Contact Joanne Petersen, [email protected].
BAARS Merchandise: http://www.cafepress.com/baars Wear a club t-shirt to an event to support and promote your club!
January 2015
January 23 7:30 p.m.
BAARS General Club Meeting - Room M-2 Speaker: Michael Cardwell on Rattlesnakes and latest research. START TIME: 7:30 p.m. (Doors open 7 p.m.)
February 2015
February 7 SATURDAY 7:30 p.m.
BAARS Board Meeting - 1 p.m. Rhonda’s place; potluck in Monterey area: 3211 Susan Avenue, Marina, CA 93933 For details, contact [email protected].
February 27 7:30 p.m.
BAARS General Club Meeting - Room M-2 Speaker: TBD START TIME: 7:30 p.m. (Doors open 7 p.m.)
March 2015
March 6 7:30 p.m.
BAARS Board Meeting - 7:30 p.m. Kyna's house in Milpitas For details, contact [email protected].
March 27 7:30 p.m.
BAARS General Club Meeting - Room H-6 Speaker: TBD START TIME: 7:30 p.m. (Doors open 7 p.m.)
April 2015
April 3 7:30 p.m.
BAARS Board Meeting - 7:30 p.m. TBD For details, contact [email protected].
April 24 7:30 p.m.
BAARS General Club Meeting - Room H-6 Speaker: TBD START TIME: 7:30 p.m. (Doors open 7 p.m.)
May 2015
May 1 7:30 p.m.
BAARS Board Meeting - 7:30 p.m. TBD For details, contact [email protected].
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May 2 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Hartnell College Family Sciecne Day 1752 Alisal St., Salinas - room AC-C109 Ninth annual Family Science Day! This event is FREE and open to the public. So many young people haven't had any kind of animal experience outside of what they might have at their schools. It will be a great opportunity to educate them about the wonderful world of herps. The Family Science, Health, and Literacy Day will offer a wide range of activities and demonstrations, including: Hands-On computer workshops in the state-of-the-art Tech Mobile - Math magic and math games - Free Books for all ages and reading activities - Farm Stand for Kids - Astronomy, biology, nutrition, and healthy living activities - Many Hands-On Science and Family Fun Activities! - Free Food!! Contact: Joanne Petersen, [email protected] if you are able to bring herps. Please arrive by 10:30 am (Room AC-C109, available for set up after 8:00 am). Campus map: http://www.hartnell.edu/location/2-hartnell-college-alisal-campus Joni Black is the Hartnell contact: [email protected] Attendees: Tony Velez, Scott & Joanne Petersen
May 16-17 Saturday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
NorCal Reptile Expo Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton 94566 Formerly Bay Area Reptile Expo. BAARS may have a table there if I can get enough volunteers to man the booth. Otherwise, this information is provided for anyone who wants to attend. ($10 adults, $5 kids under 12, kids under 5 free last year.) Contact: Joanne Petersen, [email protected] -- if you are able to attend even for just part of a day, let me know which date and time you can be there. I'll confirm BAARS table when I have volunteers!
May 22 7:30 p.m.
BAARS General Club Meeting - Room H-6 Speaker: TBD START TIME: 7:30 p.m. (Doors open 7 p.m.)
General Meetings for Rest of 2015
June 26 July 24 August 28 September 25 October 23 December ??
BAARS General Club Meeting - Room M2 BAARS General Club Meeting - Room M2 BAARS General Club Meeting - Room M2 BAARS General Club Meeting BAARS General Club Meeting HOLIDAY PARTY & ELECTIONS
Yosemite Photos by Scott Petersen
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Early Herping, Reptiles, Birds, and Bees by Jeff Whitnack
One of my earliest memories I have was when I was in my high chair eating some baby gruel. My father was working
out in the yard and brought in a toad. He put it in a jar and placed it right in front of me. I was mesmerized and
remember it to this day. We lived in Yuba City, CA then, but by 2nd grade we moved to the southern CA desert to a
town called Apple Valley.
Living in Apple Valley was a herper’s paradise for me as a kid. We caught horned lizards and kept them. The local fire
ants were easy to catch and so they were kept alive somewhat easily. I used to go and raid ant colonies and even had
a desire to catch a queen and have a self-sustaining captive ant colony. I never succeeded but got lots of painful stings
in the attempt.
There was also an abundance of scorpions and we would keep those in jars and feed them insects. We had a Samoyed
dog named “Frosty” and he and I would spend many hours hiking around the local desert and turning over fallen
Joshua Trees and loose construction paper that was littering the area in the search for whatever was underneath.
My father worked for the Highway Division, and at the site in Barstow he found over time 4 CA Desert Tortoises. He
bought them home and they lived in our yard munching on the grass and burrowing. Before we moved back to
Northern CA, we released them back into the wild. I hope that since they were kept in the same area we didn’t spread
any diseases to the wild population.
I also got an American Anole and named him Charlie. I later got a female and was hoping for eggs. Now I was in 3rd
grade then, and totally ignorant of sex and such. But suddenly it dawned on me as I exclaimed to my mother, “Hey,
they don’t have a marriage ceremony, so how do they marry and have babies??” or something to that effect. I still
remember the look on my mother’s face (a rather Victorian morale type person!) as she was then forced to stutter
forth words and call in my father for backup.
When I think back on this, I am reminded why doing the BAARS shows and letting kids see some of nature’s creations
ties into so many things—reproduction in my case, but also geography, zoology, physics with temperature and
humidity regulation, and so on.
Yosemite Photos by Scott Petersen
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Treasurer’s Reports - Dec 2014 & Jan 2015 Scott Petersen
This report covers the month of November 2014.
With no general meeting (traditionally cancelled) in the month, and folks’ thoughts shifting towards the holiday
season, November was a slow month for the club. There was no income during the month, and our only two expenses
were for the November hardcopy newsletter printing & postage, and the monthly meeting room rent for December
(our contract states we must pay prior to the 1st of the month we will be renting a room). As a result, our monthly
castflow was -$116.70.
For those of you who wish to join or renew your membership, or donate to the club, PAYPAL offers a free, fast, easy,
secure way to use either your Credit Card, Debit Card, Checking, or Savings account right from your desktop or mobile
device. In the last 4 months 50% of the new and renewed memberships have used PayPal
(https://www.paypal.com/login ). If you use the “Send Money to a Friend” option, the club avoids paying a service
fee. The receiving e-mail address you should use once logged into your PayPal account is [email protected].
We have mentioned why it is a benefit to you; the advantage to the club is that your dues are directly deposited into
the club’s PayPal bank account.
For the month of November 2014, the club had the following allocated funds:
● Salamander Fund: $213 ● Tax/Legal Fund: $755 ● Petty Cash: $40.00
As of the end of November 2014, our checking account was $4874.40 As was mentioned before, because the club is
using CAFEPRESS (http://www.cafepress.com/baars) (for T-Shirts and other items with the BAARS logo and artwork)
and PayPal more, it makes sense to report the balances in those accounts. Their totals are:
● CafePress Balance: $15.96 ● PayPal Balance: $274.42
Here is a quick look at the Year-to-Date income, expenses, and cash flow, as well as the details for the last 3 months:
Posting Date: ___YTD__ 9/30/2014 10/31/2014 11/30/2014 Income: $3447.16 $625.00 $150.00 $0
Expenses $1586.25 $104.77 $154.72 $116.70 Cash flow: $1860.91 $520.23 $4.72 $116.70
This report covers the month of December 2014 with a summary of entire 2014 year.
Over the course of 2014, the club’s income was 117% of target, while expenses came in at 68% of target. As a result,
the club had a positive income for the year of $1795.53!!
Exceeding income was due to several factors. First was the unprecedented amount of stipends received this year. A
big thanks goes out to all the members who donated their time and energy to share their reptiles and amphibians at
schools, colleges, shows, county fairs, and at other public & private events. While we would like to see the stipend
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income in 2015 at the same level, we are realistic in our understanding that 2014 was an unusually good year.
Surrender/adoption fees, Cash donations, and new/renewed memberships also exceeded targets. Membership &
stipends accounted for 61% of the total income for the club in 2014, with each contributing roughly equal amounts.
One of the most disappointing revenue sources for the club in 2014 was our Cafe Press club merchandise store
(http://www.cafepress.com/baars). While the board is looking at ways to try to improve this, any suggestions from
the membership would be very welcome.
All 2014 expenses with the exception of our Cubberley general meeting room rent came in below target. Our
meeting room expense exceed target by ~8%. Most of these savings can be attributed to conservative spending and
certain club expenses being absorbed by individual members. While we believe the 2014 budget was appropriate
based upon the information we had at the start of the year, we will be reducing the 2015 miscellaneous expense
line-item downward based upon the last 2 years of actual spend.
A draft of the 2015 budget was reviewed at the January 2, 2015 board meeting. A second draft is currently under
review. Once approved, the 2015 budget will be shared with you.
Income for the month of December was $175.00 with monthly expenses of $240.38. This resulted in our third month
in a row of negative income. Historically the end of the year is a slow period for the club, so this negative cash flow
was not totally unexpected.
Income in December came from new/renewed memberships, a stipend, and an adoption/surrender fee. Our only
major expense for the month was our Cubberley general meeting room. The reason that it was so high in December is
that we also had to make our annual 2015 room insurance payment.
For the month of December 2014, the club had the following allocated funds:
● Salamander Fund: $213 ● Tax/Legal Fund: $755 ● Petty Cash: $40
At the end of December 2014, our checking account was $4966.40 As was mentioned before, because the club is
using CAFEPRESS(http://www.cafepress.com/baars) for T-Shirts and other items with the BAARS logo and artwork
and PayPal more, it makes sense to report the balances in those accounts. Their totals are:
● CafePress Balance: $15.96 ● PayPal Balance: $106.04
Here is a quick look at the Year-to-Date income, expenses, and cash flow for the last 3 months:
Posting Date: ___YTD 10/31/2014 11/30/2014 12/31/2014 Income: $3,622.16 $150.00 $0 $175.00
Expenses $1,826.63 $154.72 $116.70 $240.38 Cash flow: $1,795.53 $4.72 $116.70 $65.38
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BAARS Social Connections by Aleks Haecky
All our newsletters are published on ISSUU! Check out the latest issue, and all issues since November 2012. You can also access the newsletter from baars.org ISSUU has a Mobile App for Android and iOS. Search in the respective stores for “ISSUU”.
BAARS website: www.baars.org
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BAARSociety Lists events and activities.
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/239964525544/
Yahoo Group/Email Group: http://www.yahoogroups.com/neo/groups/BAARS/info
Newsletter Exchanges: Minnesota Herpetological Society Newsletter Page BAARS exchanges Newsletters with other clubs. Contact the Newsletter Editor for information.
Contributions and Advertisements To advertise or publish in our newsletter or on our website, contact [email protected].
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. Only
submit materials for which you own the copyright or have written permission from copyright owners.
Adoptions Also, if you are a BAARS member and have herp to sell or adopt out and can bring the herp to our General Meeting,
please do the following. 1) Email me ([email protected]) a picture of the herp 2) State theadoption fee to BAARS
3) Include specific information about the herp such as species, age, and needs. I will then post it to various FB sites
and say it’ll be available at our meeting. This could generate more BAARS attendance as well as sales/adoptions. I
think most people would like to see the herp in question in person not just online.
Sand Boas Hello everyone! An old friend of mine is moving out of the country for 3 years. He has two Kenyan Sand Boas complete with cages etc and is looking for someone who can keep them until he moves back to the bay area. He is willing to pay for the rodents they eat. They eat live small mice. Can anyone help? Contact Caroline Alexander ([email protected])
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Parting Shot - Hayward Animal Shelter We received a Holiday card from Hayward Animal Shelter. Here it is!
Support BAARS Join from our website www.baars.org, or mail this form.
Name (required):
Email (this is how we contact members and send newsletter):
Address, City, State, Zip:
Herp interests:
Membership type: __1 Year ($25) __2 Years ($50) __Sustaining ($35) __Contributing ($50) __Patron ($100) __Institutional ($20)
BAARS Membership Secretary
c/o Palo Alto Junior Museum
1451 Middlefield Road
Palo Alto CA 94301-3351
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