The Lizard King by Bryan Christy

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Cowboy_Ken

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A fantastic read. It's the true story of Mike Van Norstrand's empire, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent, Chip Bepler, that brings the most prolific reptile smuggler in U.S. history down. Some may even remember getting Strictly Reptile price lists, printed on single sheet paper. I used to drool over those lists and wonder what I could get. At one time in the early '70's I think it was, easily 75%of the reptiles in the country came from Mike. It is said that Sharpe's first albino came from Mike. Remember, Australia has always been closed to export of its reptiles and yet the bearded dragon is one of the more common reptiles at shows today.
A very well written book that I encourage all reptile enthusiasts to read.
 

StudentoftheReptile

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A good read. I also suggest Stolen World by Jennie Erin Smith. It tells more of Hank Molts' and Tom Crutchfield's side of the history.
 

theTurtleRoom

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StudentoftheReptile said:
A good read. I also suggest Stolen World by Jennie Erin Smith. It tells more of Hank Molts' and Tom Crutchfield's side of the history.

Just read this one last week. Many people in the reptile industry/hobby believe that this book, while well-researched, misses much because the author was an "outsider" to the field (also mention some factual errors). That said, I very much enjoyed it.

Lizard King is next up when I finish the current book I'm reading (which is not reptile-related)
 

theTurtleRoom

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Cowboy_Ken said:
theTurtleRoom said:
There are books that don't concern reptiles? What strange occurrence is this that you speak?

Haha, yeah...most of the things I read these days are Chelonian-related. The other option anymore is that they have to do with my schooling/career change. I'm getting certified to teach math. The one I'm currently on is about Personal Learning Networks and how they can be used in and out of the classroom to help students and teachers be better.
 

JeffG

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Cowboy_Ken said:
A fantastic read. It's the true story of Mike Van Norstrand's empire, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent, Chip Bepler, that brings the most prolific reptile smuggler in U.S. history down. Some may even remember getting Strictly Reptile price lists, printed on single sheet paper. I used to drool over those lists and wonder what I could get. At one time in the early '70's I think it was, easily 75%of the reptiles in the country came from Mike. It is said that Sharpe's first albino came from Mike. Remember, Australia has always been closed to export of its reptiles and yet the bearded dragon is one of the more common reptiles at shows today.
A very well written book that I encourage all reptile enthusiasts to read.

I really enjoyed this book too, but Australia didn't ban exporting until the early 70's. I think the beardie invasion did begin with smuggled animals, but some of the Australian species we have in the U.S. today are actually defendants of legally exported animals.
 
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