“It’s the stuff dreams are made of” -Sam Spade My first awareness of the San Francisco Garter Snake came in the early seventies, when I came across a first edition of Stebbins’ western field guide. Like many herpers, I’ve been thinking about that snake ever since my first glimpse. To…
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It’s a long way from my house to Hays, Kansas. Eleven hours behind the wheel is enough to make one wobbly, wild-eyed and weary, but the annual meeting of the Kansas Herpetological Society was worth it. A big part of the KHS meeting are the presentations that occupy the daytime…
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The rainy season paid no attention to the calendar and the downpours continued. The water was high at the Madre Selva field station, high enough to reach the steps of the kitchen tambo, and to leave the station’s generator on its own island. The boats were tied up close to…
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…was a frog. Or rather, a dozen frogs. Recently, Tracey Mitchell and I made one last trip to the southern portion of Illinois, in hopes of finding a few more serpents before the door slammed for good on the season. Temperatures the previous night had dropped into the lower thirties,…
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I arrived a day later than the rest of the 2013 expedition to Baja Sur, in order to save myself $250 on the plane ticket. Consequently, I missed out on the first day’s catch, including a large calling congress of Spotted Toads (Bufo punctatus), and several Cape Aquatic Garter Snakes…
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