Herper of the Month - January 2006
"My first known experience with herps was before my own memory but is often told by my parents and grandparents. It was in Medford, Oregon, where my grandparents lived in the middle of fields and oak-covered hills. Apparently, I had gotten out into the backyard undetected. Someone soon discovered that I was missing and ran out after me to find me hefting a five-foot snake. This area had a healthy population of Crotalus o. oreganus, Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes, and Pituophis c. catenifer, Pacific Gopher Snakes. Luckily, the snake I had was the latter. I sometimes wonder if things would be different had that snake bitten me that day as so much is cognitive with serpent phobias." |
| "I
grew up in Utah chasing reptiles and amphibians, as well as insects,
mammals—just about everything. According to a journal, at one
point as a kid I had 24 animals under my care, including an orphaned
raccoon, a chicken, rabbits, a bat (that got me grounded for a
month once discovered by mom), a ground squirrel, and several
species of lizards and snakes. I had a reputation in my neighborhood
that kept snake removal calls fairly frequent. I still clearly
remember my first garter snake den site, holding another garter
in the field when suddenly she started dropping babies everywhere,
and the anger and frustration at seeing snakes killed. My first
experience with a gopher snake communal den site at a nearby construction
site saw the eight or so specimens found all killed. Once, while
at the local animal shelter in the foothills, I walked out the
back door and saw a large rattlesnake on the porch. “Mom, look,
they have a rattlesnake to adopt!,” I yelled naively. It was killed
in front of me over my protests." |
| "I
was lucky to have great opportunities growing up to visit Central
and South America and the Caribbean and become familiar with fascinating
species such as Cyclura, including C. lewisi and C. nubila caymanensis,
and C. carinata. The Grand Cayman Blue Iguana is now sadly nearly
functionally extinct with a wild population of less than 25 individuals.
I also spent two years in Amazonian Brazil for my church, and
although too busy to do much herping, saw enough species there
to lure me back to the tropics. I have since visited Guatemala,
Belize, and Yucatan Mexico. One of my few notable contributions
to the science of herpetology was in discovering a ssp. of Bolitoglossa
in an area of Pacific Guatemala where not previously found. It
was exciting for me and timely in that herpetological studies
of the area were being conducted at the time that had specifically
searched but not been successful in finding any salamander species
to date in the area." |
| "I am now an environmental attorney working for the federal government. I work especially with the Endangered Species Act and wetland aspects of the Clean Water Act, and feel strongly about the importance of the wise use of our resources. I enjoy working daily with biologists and take every opportunity I can to get out in the field and participate in studies in Missouri and Kansas. Thanks to Chad Whitney I have been able to learn the wonders of Kansas herps at an accelerated rate. Only recently have I tried to become better with a camera to better document species found, but as I have often said, I am certainly no photographer but rather a herper who takes pictures." |
"Seeking
out and learning about herps and their habitats and habits goes
well with my other passion, which is fly-fishing. I find in them
many similarities. Fundamentally, they both involve getting into
the heart of Mother Nature and learning her. I am passionate about
each and will tromp and hunt for hours and hours in their pursuit.
Those that know me know well that I am relentless, annoyingly so,
when after a species or some piece of knowledge about them. I love
sharing herpetology with my two young boys and hope they develop
an interest in herps as I have. To me, it doesn’t get much better
than being with the family on an escape to reality through an adventure
in nature." |
© Scott Waters Productions 2006