Herp Update & Upcoming Gus Speth Presentation

Herpers,
last weekend with the temperatures soaring to 70 F, a variety of reptiles and amphibians were active that are not usually active at this time of year.

Late Fall Herp Activity

I received reports of Northern Map Turtles and Painted Turtles basking, Common Gartersnakes and Wood Frogs on the move (during the day), and Spring Peepers making their fall calls from the woods.

• Checking the HerpAtlas database, this is two weeks later than the latest previously-reported basking for Northern Map Turtle.
• Painted Turtle basking reports show six records that are later than this weekend’s with one report of a turtle basking during a warm spell on December 4th.
• We have 37 reports of Common Gartersnakes later in the year than this weekend, with the latest report being December 29th.
• Wood Frogs have been reported moving on warm wet nights through December 24th, but reports during the day continue only through the first week in November.
• Previous reports of fall calls of Spring Peepers only continue through October 4th.

So, please continue to keep your eyes open and the reports coming on these warm fall days.

Upcoming Zoom Presentation 

I firmly believe if we want our grandchildren to enjoy the level of biodiversity and ecosystem health that we have, we need to deal with some of the larger systemic issues.  We are very fortunate to have Gus Speth (check out that resume) giving a presentation on those issues November 18th.  See below and join us if you can.

Gus Speth will give a presentation entitled:  

Is our Current Economic System the Solution or the Threat to a Healthy Planet?

on Wednesday, November 18th, at 7 PM.

In 2009, Gus Speth completed his decade-long tenure as the Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.  From 1993 to 1999, Gus Speth was Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chair of the UN Development Group.  Prior to his service at the UN, he was founder and president of the World Resources Institute; professor of law at Georgetown University; chairman of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality (Carter Administration); and senior attorney and cofounder, Natural Resources Defense Council.  He is the author, co-author or editor of eleven books including the American Crisis series published by Yale University Press: Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment (2004), The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability (2008), and America the Possible: Manifesto for a New Economy (2012). In 2014 he published a memoir, Angels by the River (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2014), and in 2019 and 2020 he published two books of poetry.  He graduated summa cum laude from Yale University in 1964 with a BA in Political Science, and subsequently earned an MLit in Economics from Oxford University in 1966 as a Rhodes Scholar and his JD from the Yale Law School in 1969.

Gus says: Our current economic system is founded on individualism, anthropocentrism, and materialism.  Can a system that prizes growth, profit, private enterprise, economic freedom, and commercialization be expected to adequately respond to climate challenges and other environmental issues?  If not, where do we go from here?

To pre-register for Gus Speth’s presentation visit: https://forms.gle/aeL9bLVw3HJAUZTk6 

We will also record the presentation and make it available online.