News, events, and commentary from Jim Andrews and other members of the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas. The most recent posts are shown below; you can find others in our archive. If you’d like to receive these e-mails in your inbox as they are published, please e-mail Jim Andrews and request to be added to the Herp Update e-mail list.
Ecological economics course
June 6, 2022 Upcoming Course on Ecological Economics Folks, I wanted to bring this course to your attention. As my signature line should make clear, I strongly believe that in order to conserve reptiles and amphibians as well as all other living things on…Herp Update: Recent Herp Activity — May 25, 2022
May 25, 2022 Recent Herp Activity Along with the many choruses of Gray Treefrogs that people have been reporting, the extremely warm weather toward the end of last week even motivated a few American Bullfrogs to call here in the Lake Champlain Valley.…Herp Update: Turtle activity, documentation needed —May 16, 2022
May 16, 2022 Recent Turtle Activity and Needed Photo-documentation Herpers, I am now receiving reports of Snapping Turtle and Painted Turtle females on land looking for suitable open and sunny egg-laying locations. Nest sites are often in yards, gardens, compost piles, and sometimes…Herp Update: recent activity — May 5, 2022
May 5, 2022 Recent Activity Last weekend was a field trip weekend for my Conservation of Vermont Reptiles course that I am teaching through Hogback Community College in Bristol (non-credit non-graded courses, for more info see https://familyforests.org/past-hogback-community-college-courses/). The weather was cool to cold…Herp Update: presentation, frog math, creative names — April 25, 2022
April 25, 2022 Upcoming Presentation I am giving a presentation on Significant Reptiles and Amphibians of Monkton (and the Monkton Underpasses) for the Monkton Conservation Commission this Wednesday, April 27th. It is a hybrid presentation, so you can attend in person or through…Herp Update: data gaps, Hinesburg first, PARC Amphibian week — April 19, 2022
April 19, 2022 Help us fill in some data gaps for very common species Herpers, we have some embarrassing gaps in our database and maps. There is still one town in Vermont where no one has ever reported a Wood Frog. They are…Herp Update: migration starts, vacation – March 20, 2022
March 20, 2022 Amphibian migrations have started Herpers, I just returned from a warm southerly vacation to find that temperatures in Vermont were just as warm, at least temporarily. So, I have been scrambling to get caught up. The warm weather at the…Herp Update: Field Trip Winner, Cellamanders, Exotics – March 1, 2022
March 1, 2022 Field Trip Winner One of the promotional gifts during our annual fundraiser is entering anyone who contributes $200 to $999 in a drawing for a free herp field trip in Vermont for them and up to ten friends. Yesterday, I…Herp Update: Cellarmanders, new reports, fundraising – February 18, 2022
February 18, 2022 Recent Reports Herpers, we were surprised to receive a report of a male Blue-spotted Salamander (see photo below) that was crossing a road in Ferrisburgh on February 12. This is the first February report we have had of this species.…Herp Update: Critical Habitat Protection – February 11, 2022
February 11, 2022 Protection of Critical Habitat Herpers, as of this week, the state of Vermont has for the first time designated specific areas of habitat as critical habitat to be protected for two state-listed species. This has been in the works for…
