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Hi folks! For Episode Eleven, we have an interview that I recorded last month, on location in eastern Colorado, with Tim Warfel and Hunter Johnson. The main thrust of our conversation was the recently concluded COPARC Otero County herp survey, and we managed to cover a few other topics as well. This was the eighth Otero survey and I was happy to participate, and to hang out with a lot of Colorado herpers. We found some pretty cool herps as well. In photo left is Ryan and Cambria Borgmann. Cambria was the youngest participant, and she got to see her first horned lizard and her first rattlesnake. Guess who the oldest surveyor was?
Herp surveys and bio-blitzes are great ways to meet and hang out with herpers, biologists, and others of like mind, while seeing some cool herps and helping with conservation and research efforts. For more information about upcoming COPARC surveys and other activities, join the COPARC Facebook group. There are some photos of CO herps and shots from the recent survey as well.
Also, check out the COPARC web page for more information on the group’s activities. COPARC is a local chapter of PARC (Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation)
One more item – I threw together a trip report for the event on my Notes From The Field blog. Oh yes, and thanks to Jill Rials and Michael Moffat for the intro! 🙂
The show email is somuchpingle@gmail.com, and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, dinosaur bones, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.
Stay tuned for more episodes! And don’t forget to herp better!
-Mike
Hello again everyone! Welcome to Episode Ten! I like that double-digit number. For this episode, we’re talking with Rob, AKA SmetLogik, a YouTube content creator par excellence when it comes to documenting herps and herp adventures. Rob, Jennifer and son Nick recently relocated from the Denver area to Tucson, Arizona, and I caught up with Rob a few weeks ago in their new home. I really like Rob’s approach to the herp vid medium – he’s got a great sense of style and flair, as does son Nick (also, see photo at left). I’ve also had the good fortune to spend some time in the field with this father-son combo and I enjoy their company.
Hello everyone! Episode Nine finds us both in and out of the water with photographer/herper Matt Sullivan. Two shows in a row where we dip ourselves in the drink to visit with fascinating creatures! We’ll have time to dry off before our next installment, but for the moment, we’ll talk with Matt about his experiences photographing both herps and cool aqua-creatures. Matt’s underwater camera housing is featured in photo left – an awesome rig.
Hello everyone! For Episode Eight, we take a deep breath and submerge ourselves into the world of the Hellbender via a conversation with Nick Burgmeier. When it comes to cryptobranchids (hellbenders are in the family Cryptobranchidae, along with the Chinese and Japanese giant salamanders), Nick is a subject matter expert. I enjoyed talking with Nick on the subject, especially since he and his colleagues have made great progress in protecting Indiana hellbenders. Nick is featured in the photo at left, with a hellbender, which is inside the water snake he’s holding – we realize that even water snakes gotta eat, but why not a delicious bass?
Hello again everyone! Episode Seven features a conversation I had with Bob Ferguson, recorded in the New Jersey Pine Barrens last month. I got to spend some time in the field with Bob and he was nice enough to spend an hour or so putting down the interview. In the photo, Bob is on the left with me and Nate Nazdrowicz, taken at Snake Road in southern Illinois (back in the days when we could be in close proximity). In our conversation we talked about herping in both local and exotic locations, adventure travel, and we also touched on Bob’s calendar project. Bob’s been to some awesome places on the planet and it was fun to hear him talk about it. I think Bob’s energy and passion come shining through in this episode – he’s a pleasure to talk with and a heckuva nice guy.
Jill Rials is from Mesa, Arizona, and the critter she is holding is a smooth-fronted caiman (Paleosuchus trigonatus).
Andrew DuBois is from Lakewood, Colorado. Here he is enjoying a Pinocchio Anole (Anolis proboscis) in Ecuador.
Cynthia Samake lives near Santa Fe, New Mexico. In this photo she is sketching a leaf-mimic katydid in our Madre Selva field station.
Elizabeth (Liz) Hughes lives in Phoenix, Arizona and here she is with her first giant monkey frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor).
Justin Michels is from Pekin, Illinois. We herp in Illinois together quite often, and here he is with a large and thankfully tranquil diamondback water snake (Nerodia rhombifer).
Hello everyone, and welcome to Episode Five! In this episode I talk with Peter Mooney, a birder, world traveler, and herper from the era when it was called “snake hunting”. A New Jersey native, Mr. Mooney served his country in Vietnam, and afterwards he spent time in teaching school in Jasper County, South Carolina. Along the way he knew many of the old-school east coast herpers.
Hello everyone, and welcome to Episode Four! My apologies for being a few days late, I was doing some out-of-state herping. In New Jersey. And it was great! But that’s another story for another time.
Hello again everyone! Thanks so much for your support, and your kind comments and messages! Much appreciated.