Tag Archives: herpetology

Episode 42: Herp Science Sunday with Dr. Alex Krohn

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Illustrations from the Varanus and Spadefoot papers. Click image for full size

Hello everyone and welcome to Episode Forty Two!  It’s good to be back after a bit of a vacation, I was off in Mexico for a few weeks, chasing some herps in various locations.  But as always, I am not idle while on the road, and I captured some recordings for future episodes because that’s how this show rolls.

SMP Patrons!  I want to thank our latest Patreon member, Moses Michelsohn!  Thank you so much for supporting the show, Moses!  And thanks as always to all of the folks who help keep the show going. To others in the listening audience, if you like the show, please consider supporting it via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can also support the show via one-time contributions via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to somuchpingle@gmail.com).

This episode comes out of the mind of Dr. Alex Krohn and some fortunate happenstance.  I’ve been looking for a way to talk about herp science in general, without boring everyone to tears, and Alex suggested that we have an informal chat (that’s just my game) about some of the recently published herp papers that we think are cool, and that our listening audience would think are cool as well.  So this episode is our Herp Science Sunday kickoff, and we plan to do this once a month or so. I hope you all enjoy it as much as Alex and I did!  This episode features two papers, and here they are:

“Ecosystem engineering by deep-nesting monitor lizards” published in Ecology and full PDF available here.

“Confirmation Bias Perpetuates Century-Old Ecological Misconception: Evidence Against ‘Secretive’ Behavior of Eastern Spadefoots” published in the Journal of Herpetology

Now as I mentioned after the show, it’s not always easy to get access to recent scientific papers, so if you would like a copy of one or both of the papers we discussed, send me a note to somuchpingle@gmail.com and I will get them to you.

Extra Credit:  To go along with the Varanus spiral burrow paper, here’s a link to the Wikipedia page on Palaeocastor, a genus of extinct beavers who, like the monitors, excavated spiral burrows in early Miocene Nebraska – really cool with some interesting photos.  Check it out!

One More Thing:  If you like Herp Science Sunday, please let us know!  Thanks for listening everyone!  And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming, and please take time to rate the show on your podcast platform! 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, corkscrew techniques for the left-handed, tips for herping better, etc.

Cheers!  Mike

 

Episode 9: The Life Aquatic with Matt Sullivan

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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.

Matt’s photography portfolio page is 9 Miles North (love the name).  If you can, check it out before or during the podcast because we talk about some of the photos from his page.

Matt was also featured as Dive Photo Guide’s Photographer of the Week – pretty cool.

And he was a featured guest on the Wildlife Inspired YouTube channel – 10 Images With Matt Sullivan – I think you’ll enjoy a number of those episodes along with Matt’s.

During our conversation, we also talked about Monterey Bay, and Matt alerted me to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s channel on Instagram – mbari_news – where you can ogle ocean critters non-stop.  Check it out!

Thanks for coming on the show Matt!  I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.  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, Nemo sightings, octopi versus octopusses, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.

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

-Mike

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 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 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