An American in Florence

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tmartelli
Posts: 1
Joined: August 17th, 2022, 10:45 am
Location: California

An American in Florence

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Hello everybody,

I'm a California college student with a focus on birds, but recently I've become more and more interested in other reptiles, especially snakes. I'm about to be spending time in the Liguria/Tuscany area of Italy until mid-December, and am looking for naturalist/herper groups to get out with. (In my experience with birds, there is often a local organization doing van trips. I understand that with herps it seems a little more based on just knowing people, so if anyone will be in the general area, I can recompense your driving with what analysis I can offer about the birds, insects, and plants we are seeing.)

My targets are #1 Aesculapian Snake and #2 Hermann's Tortoise, anything after that will be cherries on top for my novice experience (though asps and Fire Salamander would be great, and Italian Slowworm too). Other targets are Short-toed Eagle (ironic for a snake enthusiast, I know) and Two-tailed Pasha butterfly. It is likely I'll have a foray into southwestern Germany for the Black Forest as well, if anyone has experience to share about the place.
I don't own a snake stick yet, but iNat indicates that I should not be worried about handling most snakes in Tuscany except for vipers (and I am cognizant of their dark morphs - I will not be picking up any black snakes without getting a good look to be sure.) Let me know if that's not true.
I'm very excited to be spending time abroad in a quite diverse and beautiful area! Any suggestions/advice about where to go in fall are great, and if you know any groups/people I should join, I'd be very happy to take your advice, whether through PM or this thread.

I'll follow up on here given any success once I'm settled!
Respectfully,
Teodelina Martelli
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Jeff
Posts: 620
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 6:01 am
Location: Louisiana

Re: An American in Florence

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