Category Archives: Episode Post

Episode 8: Helping the Hellbender

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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?

 

 

 

Nick provided a ton of links to hellbender materials – this is part of a comprehensive effort to educate kids, landowners, fishermen, etc.

Help the Hellbender:
Website
Facebook
Instagram

Brochures:
Help the Hellbender, North America’s Giant Salamander
How Our Zoos Help Hellbenders

Lesson Plans: These are standards based lessons that can be used in classrooms, home schooling, etc.
Videos: Just some short videos we’ve made over the last few years.

Thanks for coming on the show, Nick, it was great to talk with you about snot otters!  And as always, thanks for listening everyone!

The show email is somuchpingle@gmail.com, and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, alternate names for hellbenders, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.

Stay tuned for more episodes! And don’t forget to herp better!

-Mike

 

Episode 7: A Conversation with Bob Ferguson

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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.

You can find out more about Bob via his social media channels:

www.fascinature.net – lots of Bob’s photos and other cool stuff

And he also has a Fascinature channel on YouTube.

On Instagram he is @bob_ferguson_fascinature

Thanks for coming on the show, Bob, and as always, thanks for listening everyone!  Next week we’ll be underwater, so dress appropriately!

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, tips for herping better, etc.

Stay tuned for more episodes! And don’t forget to herp better!

-Mike

 

Episode 6: Origin Stories

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Hello everyone!  Here in Episode Six we’re trying something a little different – we’re talking about origin stories.  How did YOU come into the world of amphibians and reptiles?  Everyone has a story, and on this show we’ve got five people telling us about theirs.  Four of the interviews were recorded in Peru in January 2020, and one just a few weeks ago. Some of these folks I met for the first time in Peru, and the rest I’ve known for some time.

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).

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed our little origin story experiment!  Thanks to Jill, Andrew, Cynthia, Liz, and Justin for coming on the show!, And as always, thanks for listening everyone! The show email is somuchpingle@gmail.com, and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, origin stories, tips for herping better, etc.

Stay tuned for more episodes! And don’t forget to herp better!

-Mike

Episode 5: From the Golden Age of Snake Hunting

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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.

I’ve spent time with Pete in Peru and in Cuba (he’s on the far left in the photo, taken in Havana) and I’ve gotten to know him a bit. I heard some great stories from Pete about snake hunting in the old days, in both the New Jersey Pine Barrens and in the Okeetee area of South Carolina, and I knew I wanted to get him on the show.

I’m know many of you out there are are familiar with the works of Carl Kauffeld and Richard Bartlett, but since they are all out-of-print works that can be hard to find, I will list them here for those who haven’t read them yet – these books carry the essence of the old-time snake-hunting days.

Bartlett, Richard D.  In Search of Reptiles and Amphibians.  Published by EJ Brill, 1988.

Kauffeld, Carl F. Snakes: The Keeper and the Kept. Doubleday, 1969

Kauffeld, Carl F. Snakes and Snake Hunting. Hanover House, 1957.

All three are available from used book specialists (I like AbeBooks).

Thanks for coming on the show, Pete, and as always, thanks for listening everyone! 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, tips for herping better, etc.

Stay tuned for more episodes! And don’t forget to herp better!

-Mike

Episode 4: Rattlesnake Relocation

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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.

Back in January, I interviewed Bryan Hughes in the Peruvian Amazon, during a bit of afternoon downtime.  Brian and his wife Liz own and operate Rattlesnake Solutions, a Phoenix / Tucson company specializing in rattlesnake removal, and in techniques to keep rattlers away from homes and businesses.  The welfare of the snake is an extremely important element of relocation, and it was interesting and gratifying to hear how Bryan and his people use their data and experience to move snakes to appropriate habitat.  There is much more to successful rattlesnake relocation than I realized, but knowing Bryan, I’m not surprised that they are seeing positive results.  I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!

The Rattlesnake Solutions website also has some cool tshirts that you may like, and RS has a Facebook page as well.

Thanks for coming on the show, Bryan, and thanks for listening everyone! The show email is somuchpingle@gmail.com, and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, dirty limericks, tips for herping better, etc.

Stay tuned for more episodes! And don’t forget to herp better!

-Mike

Episode 3: The Episode of the Bushmaster

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Hello again everyone!  Thanks so much for your support, and your kind comments and messages!  Much appreciated.

This is the Episode of the Bushmaster!  This past January I sat down with Matt Cage in my tambo (AKA jungle hut) and we chatted about bushmasters (known locally as “shushupes“.  This photo is an in situ shot of the first bushmaster that Matt and I found in 2013.  Since then we’ve paid attention to the habitat and weather preferences for this serpent, and have learned how to find shushupes on almost every trip (and we feel both lucky and grateful for such opportunities).  Join us as we talk about our experiences with this super cool pit viper.

Matt’s extensive herp photo collection is here on SmugMug.

Thanks for coming on the show, Matt, and thanks for listening everyone!  The show email is somuchpingle@gmail.com, and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, recipes, tips for herping better, etc.

Stay tuned for more episodes!  And don’t forget to herp better!

-Mike

Episode 2: The Python Problem

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Hello everyone and welcome back!  For Episode 2:  The Python Problem, I chat with Mike Rochford, who certainly has a unique perspective on the issue of Burmese pythons in the Everglades, and elsewhere in Florida.  I interviewed Mike back in January of 2020, and along with the skinny on Python bivittatus, he was kind enough to provide me with this photo, taken in Florida.  Burms are awesome serpents, and it’s not their fault that they are where they are – the photo speaks more to human folly than anything else.

Thanks Mike!  I appreciate you coming on the show!

Thanks for listening everyone!  The show email is somuchpingle@gmail.com, and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, recipes, secret herping spots, etc.

Stay tuned for more episodes!

-Mike

Episode 1: Introduction

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Hello everyone and welcome to the So Much Pingle Herpetology Podcast!  This first episode is short and sweet – just an introduction to the show that describes how this thing is gonna roll.  Conceived last summer and kicked off last winter, we’ll start off with some episodes recorded as far back as January.  I’m only a couple of months behind my target start date, thanks to a bit of a pandemic-related hiatus.

Show notes and links to the episodes will appear here at somuchpingle.com, and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, recipes, secret herping spots, etc.

More content and other goodies to come as we get settled in to a production routine (this whole process is just a bit more difficult than I was led to believe).

Funk Intro and Reggae Outro by Kevin MacLeod
Introduction by Nora Lenderby
Artwork by Ethan Kocak (@blackmudpuppy on Twitter)

Thanks for checking in and stay tuned for more episodes!

-Mike