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For up-to-date information on North Carolina licenses, regulations and other wildlife resources, please visit the agency’s website NCWildlife.org.
Ten years have passed since a harvest moratorium for river herring was put in place in North Carolina’s waters, and anglers are asking questions. “What’s the status of the river herring population in North Carolina?” “Can we fish for river herring now?” “Can we use herring for bait again?” “What are the criteria for relaxing the harvest moratorium on river herring?”
Answers to these questions and more about alewife and blueback herring — collectively called “river herring” — can be found in a new fact sheet about river herring developed by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
A $200 bounty on hellbenders? Say it’s not so.
“That is a rumor and absolutely untrue,” said Lori Williams, a Wildlife Diversity biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “Furthermore, the Eastern hellbender is listed as a species of special concern in North Carolina. Harming, harassing, collecting or killing one is a Class 1 misdemeanor, which can result in a fine and up to 120 days in jail.”
Hellbenders are one of the largest salamanders found in North Carolina, averaging 16-17 inches long but can grow up to 24 inches long.
Also called the “water dog,” “snot otter,” “Alleghany alligator,” among other names, the hellbender is a harmless, giant aquatic salamander found in fast-moving, clean mountain streams in . . .
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It is going to be a hopping, slithering, slinking kind of day this Saturday at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh when the 23rd Annual Reptile and Amphibian Day kicks off at 9 a.m. and runs until 5 p.m. The free event, which draws thousands of people each year, highlights the biology, ecology and conservation needs of reptiles and amphibians around the world.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, along with the North Carolina chapter of Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (NCPARC), will have a booth on the third floor of the museum (just as you come off the escalator) with live reptiles and amphibians — collectively known as “herps.” READ MORE