Field Herp Forum

Scott,
I know we've gotten pretty lean with herp tales, but this load of crap needs to go to board line.
This country is so great where everyone has the right to believe what they want, but not dump it on this section of the forum.

Scott,
I know we've gotten pretty lean with herp tales, but this load of crap needs to go to board line.
This country is so great where everyone has the right to believe what they want, but not dump it on this section of the forum.

Jeff In several professional correspondences with Hobart Smith Hobart Smith was apparently a real human. I wrote a letter to him in Ubana in 1958 and he responded to this nobody, 10 year old, 1500 miles away. Reflecting on these years later, I was impressed that this Professor/Author took the time. ...

herper1:

I think most of our love of herps started from this book.

Maybe you had to be in a certain location or financial group, but the "golden" was the start for me also, then Pope and Ditmars from the library, and the coveted 1958 edition of the Conant Field Guide...

Jimi:

Good to hear from you. I had to chuckle at your discovery that tent camping in the SE USA in July is f*ckin rugged. I got my ass handed to me in the Boy Scouts. Taught me good. Ha ha ha.

Yup.
I turned into a "camping" wus in old age and now my wife and I use this:

Dave, Glad you got to make your trip, considering our national state of health siege. You know this in your home area, even a less successful trip; you learn things about areas you haven't experienced. Then there are the side experiences of non herp discoveries. Plan another. PS I've herped the Big ...

On the subject of GPS
A very useful phone APP we use in the east, but probably works out west, is "HUNTSTAND".
It's useful because it can show who's land you are on.

Smart man...
Especially that time of year.

Let us know how you do.

Not much help here. I guess you've seen this: http://www.faunaparaguay.com/litherpetology.html I am obligated to say, as a Dad and Granddad, if you have no field guide going in, treat every snake as venomous, till you can verify no fangs forward or rear! In my life I've herped tropical zones that ha...

Yes I know the mosquitoes are deadly this time of year in the Glades but I'll have to deal with it.Yes I know the mosquitoes are deadly this time of year in the Glades but I'll have to deal with it. Worse yet in some areas of Florida, especially around mangroves, are the No-see-ums (biting midgies,...

On Harper August 2015 Leading climate-sceptic academic, Professor William Happer, agreed to write a report for a Middle Eastern oil company on the benefits of CO2 and to allow the firm to keep the source of the funding secret. In emails to reporters he also revealed Peabody Energy paid thousands of ...

Richard, know that I have utmost respect for your work on herpetology, but that doesn’t just transfer automatically to other subjects. Hoyer: Now I can foresee individuals using the same tiresome ploy of indicating that CFACT is funded by conservatives, the fossil fuel industry, etc. thereby dismiss...

$$$$$$$$ Dr. Richard S. Lindzen ( b. February 8, 1940) is the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology[1] He is funded by fossil fuel interests, such as Peabody Coal.[2] Lindzen is perhaps best know...

$$$$$$$$ Hmmm $$$$$$$ Jimi, IMHO, I think you're being too hard on these speakers and bloggers. Just like the 90+ % of independent scientists who are concerned with the negative aspects of climate change, these naysayers are just ordinary people who are motivated only by their strong beliefs, nothin...

Thanks for that one, Mike.
You brought back some of the forum quality from yesteryear!

Interestingly, he's also an extremely strong advocate of climate change. This is consistent with the "make money on fear" ideology. What he truly thinks, and what he is right or wrong about, we may never know. There's allot of "tell folks what they want to hear, sincere or not, for alternate gains"...

We don't seem to know conclusively where this damn thing came from yet, but be cautious of anyone overtly or subtly trying to answer, who isn't on the front line. If you agree or not, always follow the money to verify the source: Like a political party that seems to be full of folks who value money ...

This one was just north of the SHNF.

http://www.naherp.com/viewrecord.php?r_id=255991

Chris;

Further north still, you get into the Sam Houston National Forest. It can be like finding a needle in a haystack, but you get into timber rattlesnake and pygmy rattlesnake habitat.

Just some additional candy in the SHNF:

Okay, Mike,
Those are great. Capturing each is a "National Geographic" moment.

PM sent

Florida doesn't require any license, Dave, unless you are selling Florida natives. Some restrictions on venomous; permit required for collecting. No touching endangered, threatened, species of special concern, conditional reptiles, or otherwise regulated species. from FWC: https://myfwc.com/license/...

AEthelred: “I am not a professional scientist by any means and maybe it's just coincidence that there are similarities between snake species of eastern Asia and North America..” First, a disclaimer: My thoughts here are those of an interested lay person. My formal zoological training was many, many ...

I understand why you may think the land bridge was a factor, but, IMHO , it doesn’t seem likely; timing doesn’t seem to match up. According to ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, “about 80 million years ago , North America separated from Europe, Australia began to rift away from Antarctica, and India broke awa...

Though I have found a pine under cover, it was half raised tin not tight to the ground, like you may expect an EDB . In North Carolina I had a "Kauffeld" day in early June with an overcast, warm day with high humidity and hiked up a couple males out cruising. Many Oak Toads were also out. One of the...

Hey, Tom,
PM sent.

I the area in the PM most Corals were found on the crawl in Oct / Nov; males hunting females (about 70%), and about 30% in spring under cover and crawling early AM.

Super cool post, even to us who are "arachnid challenged". :thumb: :thumb: Besides the wonderful photography, I couldn't help be be impressed of the long, carefully searching hours it must have taken to accumulate all these. I'm totally really impressed with the fact that you even found the "bark lo...

You're a good herping person for even asking this question. Jimi pretty much hit the nail on the head. When forming your personal morality, I'd like to add two things to consider: 1. If you are harvesting, and not just observing, consider that someone else put in many hours and sweat putting the boa...

Rainy nights in March are good here in east Tennessee, provided temps don't plummet to 30s. Night road cruising starts on rainy nights in January when temps stay above 40F for Spotteds. Streamside flipping can be year round in the right habitat. Night hikes are most comfortable on rainy nights April...

Super post, Michael.

Some of us here can appreciate your patience and motivation to get such good videos and photos.

I've lived most of my life in Pickerel Frog range, and I don't think I ever caught one calling!

Daniel how effective freezing is for killing harmful pathogens Most human food websites conclude that freezing does not kill many bacteria, but rather "puts it on hold" ( stops harmful bacteria from growing.) Cooking kills bacteria (not much help to us for feeders!). For most common parasites (like ...

and also to get rid of some bullfrogs that are taking over my backyard pond and eating everything. Dependant upon local laws and how rural you live, .22 caliber fire arm loaded with #12 Shot Shells works very quickly with frogs and lizards. (It was the chosen method of collecting museum specimens a...

On an alternate note, back in the 60's, I saw a biology department keep live leopard frogs (destined for disection) in excess of 6 months in a refridgerated tray of shallow water.

Instant destruction of the brain. A hammer is effective. Most “euthanization concern” papers that are based upon terminating ectodermic , lower vertebrates for scientific studies, such as parasite studies, so chemical termination works great, but, as you mentioned, feeding a predator something full ...

I have an opinion like everyone, but it's just that, opinion. I just can't beleive that such a potentially serious issue has become political. I understand the fossil fuel industry has invested heavily in certain political and even ideological movements, but how did we get here, where people confuse...

Too funny, craig, that it's back.
Saw it in the theater back then...
Another look:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9878&p=120164&hilit=rodan#p120164

Nice bunch of in situs!
Nice showing the variation of patterns.

PS Your "Bumble Bee" is a harmless drone Carpenter bee.

Lots of good stuff!

Yes, you are right.
A young one.
Though that refuge is a place that is not wall to wall people, It's always a special find that close to NYC.
Good one.

Looks like the cows are out of the pasture on this one. Another example of ignorance of the jackasses who released the Burmese Pythons in the Glades! https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331985998_Spillover_of_Pentastome_Parasites_from_Invasive_Burmese_Pythons_Python_bivittatus_to_Pygmy_Rattlesn...

Viva convergence

Lots of nice stuff.
You folks must have gotten some serious rain?!

All is great, Jerry. :thumb: :thumb: Thanks for that one. That last " Sinonatrix " ( percarinata ?) really reminds us here across the pond of how similar they look to some North American Nerodia ! And, of course, the Hong Kong Newt ( Paramesotriton hongkongensis ) is really Godzilla! :lol: ;)

Excerpt from this paper's conclusion: There are two parts to the reptile industry—the one for pets and the one for enthusiasts.” (J. Coote, pers. comm.). There will always be that responsible group who keep living herps for personal enjoyment, contentment, and increase of knowledge, but perhaps the ...

Patrick, this post is up there with the fine posts on this forum of years gone by in that the combination of narration with pics takes us right along on the trip!

Makes those powerful legs a real asset!!

a Ground Snake. The locality precludes the victim being a Sand Snake.

Brian, is this because of range or habitat?

(618) 684-6192

Kevin, This is such an upbeat topic that I'll answer in a separate thread as to not be a Debbie Downer:

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=25500