RFI: Pennsylvania and NY field guides

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Kyle from Carolina
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Joined: May 3rd, 2012, 8:12 pm
Location: western MA and NC

RFI: Pennsylvania and NY field guides

Post by Kyle from Carolina »

I'll be spending a fair bit of time in NY and PA now that I'm in the north. I'm thinking of picking up one or both of these field guides:

The Amphibians and Reptiles of New York State: Identification, Natural History, and Conservation - Gibbs & Breisch

Amphibians and Reptiles of Pennsylvania and the Northeast - Hulse & McCoy

Can anybody attest to the quality of either of these? ...Or recommend another for either of these states?

I'm trying to get an idea of how detailed species and habitat descriptions are. I prefer specific regional notes on natural history,phenology, and distribution rather than simple descriptions that could apply to any reptiles/amphib (e.g. "This species occurs in a variety of habitat from woodlands to field edges"...yawn). The NY book appeals to me because it sounds like the map is dot-based rather than polygons, which lends more detail for searching out critters and for understanding their natural history and the features that predict their distribution.

I'm also interested in the quality of the larval amphibian keys.

Even a simple review of "I like or don't like this book" would be useful.

Thanks in advance for suggestions!

Kyle
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chris_mcmartin
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Re: RFI: Pennsylvania and NY field guides

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Can't speak for those guides, but here's a handy little guide for PA snakes: http://www.shoppaheritage.com/products/ ... nia-snakes

The late Joe Collins wrote this with Walt Meshaka.
Tyler Hake
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Joined: April 28th, 2013, 9:43 pm

Re: RFI: Pennsylvania and NY field guides

Post by Tyler Hake »

Hulse and McCoy is great, definitely pick it up
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Kyle from Carolina
Posts: 221
Joined: May 3rd, 2012, 8:12 pm
Location: western MA and NC

Re: RFI: Pennsylvania and NY field guides

Post by Kyle from Carolina »

Awesome. Thanks for the tips, guys!
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