Herper of the Month - October 2006
Photo by Ron Malecki
"I've
been interested in animals for as long as I can remember but I can
pin-point the moment the obsession began. It was when I first moved
to Kansas in 5th grade and a presenter brought several native snakes
to school for an educational program. I was hooked! Every day for
a year I begged my |
| "Over
the course of that year I also became interesting in finding herps
in their natural environment. However, in 5th grade I was limited
to searching the creek by my house which had only a few species:
cricket frogs, bullfrogs, common snapping turtles, common garter
snakes, and northern water snakes. At this point, I was usually
herping with my brother and my friends from school. On rare occasions
we would luck out and find a black ratsnake, racer, or prairie
kingsnake." |
| "Then
came summer camp at Outdoor Education Laboratory. This place really
started to shape me as a herper. I met older counselors who were
into herps as much as I was and they taught me some of my first
important lessons. Here I learned that you can find snakes under
rocks and boards and how important it is to put those rocks and
boards back exactly how I had found them. With this knowledge
I started finding things like ringnecks, worm snakes, and my first
milk snake! They also told me stories of finding copperheads,
timber rattlesnakes, and massasaugas, and from then on I thought
about venomous snakes constantly." |
Photo by Suzanne L. Collins
"Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, I got a car. This was my junior year of high school which happened to be the same year I took a herp class taught by Joseph T. Collins at a nearby branch of the University of Kansas. Joe's class focused strictly on Kansas herps and I must say that this is when I made the true transition from herpetoculturist to herpetologist. I didn't care about albinos anymore, I wanted to see all the native snakes I could. Joe had two field trips that semester where I found more snakes than I ever had in my entire life and since then I've been very fortunate to have Joe as a good friend. On one of those field trips I brought my brother and my friend John Stoklosa along and on the way home we made a stop along the highway at a place that looked good for snakes. There we found our first venemous snake ever, a copperhead. This was a day I had been waiting to see for years. In future trips to this spot, we also found our first timber rattlesnake which will always be my all-time favorite moment as a herper." |
Photo by Ginny Weatherman
| "In college I took many herp trips to places like SE Arizona, southern California, south Texas, the panhandle of Florida, snake road in Illinois, and numerous other smaller trips." |
Photo by Ginny Weatherman
| "Since
then I have obtained a B.S. in biology from Kansas State University
and have been fortunate enough to land several herp-related jobs.
I have done herp surveys in Colorado and Florida, as well as radiotelemetry
on massasaugas in Missouri. I tried grad school for a semester and
during that time I lived with Chad Whitney. Chad taught me to herp
in a much smarter and efficient way than I ever had. He also introduced
me to FieldHerpForum.com, where all the "cool" people post.
Since then I have branched out from "The Kansas Crew" and made many good friends from the forum and I check it daily, well, several times a day to be honest." |
Photo by Wellington Guzman
| "I am currently working in Florida on projects involving alligators, crocodiles, and Burmese pythons. In the future I hope to find a career in herpetology and also to continue my travels in search of herps. I have been lucky enough to make many friends in this field who have helped me in so many different ways. Whether you have spent time with me in the field, helped me find my target species, guided my career, or simply replied to one of my posts... I thank you all." |
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