Monthly Archives: January 2021

Episode 31: The Jargon Episode



Hello everyone and welcome to Episode Thirty One, recorded on New Year’s Day!  And I hope you all remain happy and healthy and that 2021 will be a good year for all of you.

PATREONERS!  Here’s a shout-out to new Patreon contributors to the show since the last episode:  Anastasia Ware, and Tim Warfel!. Thank you Anastasia and Tim, and thanks so much to all of my Patreoners for supporting the show! I really appreciate it. To others in the listening audience, if you like the show, please consider supporting it via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. And thanks in advance!

So this week’s episode features a different format – a panel discussion with guest hosts Andy O’Connor (top photo, right) and Justin Michels (bottom photo, right).  The three of us had an enjoyable conversation as we waded through a list of words and phrases that were sent to me by the listening audience.  Of course, we didn’t cover everything, and we did wander away from the subject here and there, but we still knocked out a significant chunk of the list.  I hope you enjoy the episode and please drop me a note to let me know your thoughts.

Also, in the epilog after the show I mentioned Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America – Explained which is a website created by Ellin Beltz.  Check it out and I hope you find it useful. One more thing – more information on the etymology of the word ‘terrapin’ can be found in my Getting To Terrapin blog post (links to scholarly info in second paragraph).

Thanks for coming on the show Justin and Andy!  Good to talk with you both.  And folks, if you haven’t done so yet, please take the time to rate this podcast on whatever platform you use – that goes a long way to support the show and spread the good word.

And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming!  The show email is somuchpingle@gmail.com, and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, catbird seating arrangements, tips for herping better, etc.

Cheers!  Mike


Episode 30: Watching Frogs with Gina Zwicky



Hello again everyone, and welcome to Episode Thirty!  Today’s episode was recorded just before Christmas.  And I hope you are all doing well – keeping your heads down and remaining healthy.

PATREONERS!  Here’s a shout-out to new Patreon contributors to the show since the last episode:  Michael Cravens!. Thanks Mike, and thank you all so much for supporting the show! I really appreciate it. To others in the listening audience, if you like the show, please consider supporting it via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. And thanks in advance!

Our guest this week is Gina Zwicky, a New Orleans biologist who studies reptile immunogenetics, and leads NOLA FrogWatch trips.  I follow Gina on Twitter (she’s @GinaGoesOutside) and I enjoyed getting to know her during our conversation.  We talked about her immunogenetics research (more specifically, anoles and malaria), Meatball The Tortoise, some interesting earlier work she did in the Pacific Northwest, and FrogWatch USA, which has chapters all over the place (see the link for more info), and hey, there’s a FrogWatch online training seminar coming up on Feb 1st.

Thanks for coming on the show, Gina, and Happy New Year folks!  Let’s stay safe and healthy!  Thanks again to all my Patreoners, and folks, if you haven’t done so yet, please take the time to rate this podcast on whatever platform you use – that goes a long way to support the show and spread the good word.

And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming!  The show email is somuchpingle@gmail.com, and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, sulcata demolition teams, tips for herping better, etc.

Cheers!  Mike

 


Episode 29: Jeff Lemm



Hello everyone and welcome to Episode Twenty Nine!  I hope you all remain safe and healthy as we make our way into 2021.  I took a few weeks off over the holidays to rest and recharge, but I also recorded some interviews, including this episode.

PATREONERS!  Here’s a shout-out to new Patreon contributors to the show since the last episode:  Josh Emms, Matt Cage, Patrick Connally, Chris McMartin, and Justin Elden. Thank you all so much for supporting the show! I really appreciate it. To others in the listening audience, if you like the show, please consider supporting it via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. And thanks in advance!

Our guest for this week’s episode is Jeff Lemm, a zoo-based herpetologist/researcher based in southern California.  Jeff has been involved with many research and conservation projects in various places around the planet, and I enjoyed talking with him about some of that.  Jeff has also been the author of several excellent book projects – he is the author of the Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of the San Diego Region (part of the California Natural History Guides series) in 2008.  Living in the San Diego region, Jeff was a natural for putting this guide together (and let me tell you, writing field guides is a labor of love, emphasis on labor).

Jeff has also been heavily involved in research and conservation efforts for West Indian rock iguanas (genus Cyclura), and consequently he is a coauthor of Cyclura: Natural History, Husbandry, and Conservation of West Indian Rock Iguanas.

Jeff has also spent a considerable amount of time in Australia, which we discuss in our conversation.  We also talked about his role as a principal architect of the North American Field Herping Association (NAFHA).  I hope you enjoy our conversation, I sure did!

So Happy New Year folks, and let’s stay safe and healthy!  Thanks again to all my Patreoners, and folks, if you haven’t done so yet, please take the time to rate this podcast on whatever platform you use – that goes a long way to support the show and spread the good word.

And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming!  The show email is somuchpingle@gmail.com, and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, favorite Croc Hunter episodes, tips for herping better, etc.