Fish and Amphibians

By Erica Smith For the Enquirer Dewayne Stewart for years collected rodents to feed to his pet snakes, but his mission now is to rescue the domesticated rats and mice that have evolved from serpent food to become his favored pets. Over 10 years ago, Stewart, 44, rescued his first domesticated rat, fell in love with her, and found new homes for all his snakes to focus on his new-found love of rodents. "After we had her, I realized how wonderful rodents, how wonderful rats are, how social and how sweet, how much personality they had," the Hartselle resident said. "I think I've been rescuing rats ever since then, if nothing else to make up for all the rats that gave their lives when I had snakes. I think I'm paying penance for feeding snakes." Stewart said domesticated mice and rats are not prone to diseases and viruses that their wild counterparts carry because the domesticated rodents are not exposed to the same environment. Currently, he has seve

By Kelsey Thompson | 3:11 PM Feb 17, 2020 CST Updated 6:23 PM Feb 17, 2020 CST Krab Kingz Seafood's menu includes crab, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn and boiled egg, all seasoned in a signature boil. It also offers a garlic butter sauce that comes in five different flavors. (Courtesy Krab Kingz Seafood Cypress) Krab Kingz Seafood's menu includes crab, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn and boiled egg, all seasoned in a signature boil. It also offers a garlic butter sauce that comes in five different flavors. (Courtesy Krab Kingz Seafood Cypress) Krab Kingz Seafood, a seafood chain, will open its Pflugerville storefront at 1202 FM 685, Ste. A1, on Feb. 21, the restaurant confirmed in a Feb. 17 Facebook post. Its menu includes crab, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn and boiled egg as well as a garlic butter sauce that comes in five different flavors. Krab Kingz also operates a food truck in downtown Austin, located at 517

A photo of a slippery-looking character started appearing on Victorian community noticeboards in early December.  Skinny, scaly and emerging as the weather began to heat up, the limbless reptiles bore a striking similarity to something with a far more sinister reputation. Peter Rowland, author of A Naturalist's Guide to the Reptiles of Australia , says some legless lizards mimic the look and behaviour of venomous baby brown snakes. "They are not dangerous at all really, apart from the fact that they do in some species resemble juvenile forms of snakes," he said. "They are actually a type of gecko, and they don't contain any venom at all, but if you don't know what it is then, like any other animal, you should avoid it and give it its own space." Legless lizards like this Delma impar can cause alarm but are harmless. (  Bryan Haywood, Nature Glenelg Trust ) Australia's native snakes are p

There's always been something mystical about Tulum, Mexico. Famed for its clifftop Mayan ruins, sacred cenotes and Instagrammable coastline, it has exploded in popularity to become the quintessential eco-chic retreat. Located 81 miles south of Cancun International Airport (CUN), Tulum's hotel scene is a world apart from the glamorous gated resorts that stud the Riviera Maya farther north. Surrounding Tulum Pueblo, clusters of solar-powered, palapa-style boutique hotels embrace the region's back-to-nature minimalism and cater to wellness seekers, yogis and free-spirited travelers looking for a more offbeat Caribbean getaway. But until recently, it's been slim pickings for points travelers. Amid a flurry of top-tier additions to the Hilton portfolio in Mexico, the highly anticipated Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya debuted in January of this year. As the Waldorf's luxe-but-more-unbuttoned sibling, it promised to entice new and returning visitors seeking a stylish bolthole th

A longtime fixture in Carolina Beach's restaurant scene is making moves – literally – with a new food trailer and plans to grow the business's footprint through franchising opportunities.   Michael's Seafood Restaurant rolled out its new mobile food trailer, Michael's Seafood Express, in November. With stops scheduled in Carolina Beach, Leland and Wilmington over the next month, the trailer will bring an assortment of the restaurant's best-selling items to diners at events around the community.   After buying the trailer this summer, owner Shelly McGowan tapped a local fabricator to transform the mobile unit into a functional and fully branded "kitchen on wheels."   "Noticing the popularity of food trucks and trailers at the festivals we were already attending, we knew it was a great idea," said McGowan. "We wanted to do this right and make it something to be proud of, so we custo

In another case of nature's wrath rearing its head, flash floods have struck the iconic world heritage site at Petra, Jordan, forcing the evacuation of 1,700 tourists . A whopping 66 millimeters of precipitation (0.21 feet) struck the site on Tuesday morning, with footage emerging of water washing into the entrance of Petra's rock temple, and a bus tipping over due to the torrential rainwater. Under Seige: Wrath of Nature The SOS and evacuation was sounded and led by local officials and the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA). The rainfall, emanating in the southern part of the country, aided by the surrounding mountains, cascaded down into the rose-colored city, caused widespread floods, reports Al-Monitor . The aforementioned bus was en route the Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, with 3 people injured in the accident , according to the primary emergency operations center in the city. Several videos emerged of the ancient rock-cut Nabatean temple, dubbed

© NurPhoto/NurPhoto Via Getty Images Chat GPT, the artificial intelligence chatbot, has been making waves for its capabilities. Users have been able to build websites, tell stories and make nutritional plans. But can it find your next favorite restaurant? It's been fun to play with, so I fed the OpenAI project some basic questions: What is the best steakhouse in Houston? Where can I find the best crawfish? TOP 100 Restaurants: Houston's dining scene is exceptional. This list features the very best our city has to offer. "It is difficult for me to recommend a specific restaurant as the best place for steak in Houston as personal preferences for steak can vary greatly," it replied in part — every time. Still, it did respond with popular options for each question, and some of them were right on the money. Others were a bit questionable. Tex-Mex "Some popular options in Houston include Pico's Mex-Mex, The Original Ninfa's on Navig

Cause and Social Effects Eden House "A perfect night for an indoors-outdoors party," commented a guest, who added, "And I like the nip in the air." Nip, sip, fillip all blended when the Eden Center for Hope and Healing, a rebranding from Eden House, presented the twofold to-do titled "Ball Gowns and Blue Jeans." Heeding that heads up, the sartorial selections ran the gamut from Chanel finery to denim and cowboy hats. As for the levity's layout, it was a short walk from the patron party at the home of Jennifer and Fred Heebe, where a three-piece ensemble played classical music, to the main event at the home of EH founder and board chairman Kara Van de Carr and her husband, Daryl Bird . There, the music kicked into country, thanks to Ted Hefko and the Thousandaires. At both, the gussied-up guests savored catering by Nolavore, which is owned by Anne Ll

WARNING! This contains SPOILERS for George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood and House of the Dragon season 1, episode 6. Amidst the preparation for the inevitable Dance of the Dragons, House of the Dragon set up a singular new character while also mocking Game of Thrones . The first House of the Dragon episode to feature adult versions of characters like Alicent and Rhaenyra following the 10-year time jump, "The Princess and the Queen" has moved the show's plot faster than many anticipated. By skipping over some storylines and combining others, House of the Dragon season 1, episode 6 revisited all the important pieces of the puzzle for the wars to come – including the war for the Stepstones and the Triarchy alliance. A decade after Rhaenyra and Laenor's marriage, the status of the realm has not changed that much. Rhaenyra now has three male heirs, but the tension regarding Viserys' succession continues to increase as Queen Alicent and most of t