Hi folks! This past June I drove out to Pemberton, New Jersey to talk with Robert Zappalorti. Bob is the founder and executive director of Herpetological Associates Inc. Now these days there are a lot of people working in what I call contract biology, but Bob Zappalorti was the first environmental consultants working on behalf of herps and other creatures. He founded Herpetological Associates back in 1977 and since then, his company has done a great deal of work in not just conserving herps, but also increasing our understanding of their natural histories, population dynamics, and ecological needs. It was truly an honor and privilege to sit down with Bob and talk about all of this.

There were delays getting this episode out, always a bummer, but it does help to sync up a bit with a new book coming out – The Natural History of the Northern Pinesnake, by Joanna Burger, Robert T. Zappalorti, and Michael Gochfield. Now available from Eco Universe Books. I’m looking forward to getting a copy!

Thanks again Bob! Great to talk with you and I hope our paths cross again soon.

POD BLOG! You can find the first of my supplemental blog posts that support podcast episodes at Notes From The Field. Let me know your thoughts!

MERCH!!!  T-shirts and other swag are available now at the SoMuchPingle Threadless Store. More designs are in the pipeline. Thank you in advance!

As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee.

And 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 [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.

-Mike

Hi folks!  Thanks for your patience, I’ve been called away so much this spring and summer. I first talked with Jeroen Speybroeck in Episode 27, way back in Season One. Jeroen is all the things, he’s a conservation biologist, author, field herper and life lister, and for that first conversation we talked about his fire salamander research, conservation efforts with Spadefoot Toads, herping in various places around the globe, and we also talked about the very good field guide to the herps of Britain and Europe of which he is a co-author. If you haven’t heard that episode you might want to listen to it first. This show was recorded outside at a lovely abbey near Brussels, where Matt Cage and I had lunch with Jeroen, and a few absolutely killer local brews before heading to the airport.

MERCH!!!  T-shirts and other swag are available now at the SoMuchPingle Threadless Store. More designs are in the pipeline. Thank you in advance!

I want to give a shout-out to someone who wishes to remain anonymous, who recently made a one-time donation to support the podcast. Thank you so much, anonymous person, I appreciate ya! As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee!

Thank you again, Jeroen and Matt!

And 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 [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, best beers for podcasting (Belgian ales, duh), tips for herping better, etc.

-Mike

Another special episode, in support of Snake Week,  July 13th thru the 19th . This episode features a panel discussion with Bryan Hughes of Rattlesnake Solutions, Cale Morris from the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary, and Rachel Pikstein from Pikstein Lab and one of the coordinators of Snake Week. The four of us have an interesting panel discussion about human and snake interactions. You can’t have a discussion of this sort without dipping into education and outreach efforts, so those threads are woven into the mix as well.

A couple of earlier episodes related to our discussion come to mind – I talked with Bryan way back in Episode 4, about his company Rattlesnake Solutions and the rattlesnake relocation work they do, and the human interactions that come with that effort.  And that show led to an interview with Dr. Heather Bateman, an Associate Professor at Arizona State University, about her research on human and snake interactions as part of a collaboration with Bryan and others. That’s Episode 44 in season two. And THAT is an interesting show, and you should check it out if you haven’t already. I am sorry I did not bring it up during our discussion, but you know, my brain.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to check out the many events associated with Snake Week at snakeweek.org, the list is quite impressive and folks, not everything is a remote lecture, there are some participatory activities as well. I’m proud to be a small part of this awesome project, and I look forward to checking out some of the events myself.

As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee! IMPORTANT NOTE: up to now, Apple WAS slapping a ridiculous 30% fee on all Patreon transactions using an iPhone or iPad to access the Patreon app.  Apple lost a recent court ruling on this so the 30% fee should NOT show up at checkout.  As far as I can tell this is for users based in the United States, I am not sure if others are still seeing this fee, so please look carefully as you check out. In spite of this reversal  I am still actively working on better ways to support the show, and I appreciate your patience in the meantime.

And 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 [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.

-Mike

This is a special episode, in support of Snake Week, which is next week, July 13th thru the 19th . It’s also special because it’s the return of Rachel Pikstein! Remember the tegu episode? Rachel and I go over the basics for Snake Week, which is shaping up to be a terrific event, and we also talk about some of the projects she’s working on. If you listened to Episode 88, you know that Rachel is a high energy ball of fire, so get something to drink, and fasten your seatbelts!

I want to give a shout-out to the show’s newest patron, Kathy Woody from out California way! Thank you so much for supporting the show via Patreon, Kathy! Much appreciated.

As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee! IMPORTANT NOTE: up to now, Apple WAS slapping a ridiculous 30% fee on all Patreon transactions using an iPhone or iPad to access the Patreon app.  Apple lost a recent court ruling on this so the 30% fee should NOT show up at checkout.  As far as I can tell this is for users based in the United States, I am not sure if others are still seeing this fee, so please look carefully as you check out. In spite of this reversal  I am still actively working on better ways to support the show, and I appreciate your patience in the meantime.

And 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 [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.

-Mike

This episode was recorded back in April, at a campground somewhere in Louisiana, on the tail-end of a week-long herping trip with a bunch of friends. Various automotive mishaps while herping had come up several times during the trip, and I thought that might be a good just-for-fun topic to pursue before we all went our separate ways.  Many thanks to my friends with their goofy fake names for providing a nice cross-section of things that can happen behind the wheel, or to the wheels….

As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee! IMPORTANT NOTE: up to now, Apple WAS slapping a ridiculous 30% fee on all Patreon transactions using an iPhone or iPad to access the Patreon app.  Apple lost a recent court ruling on this so the 30% fee should NOT show up at checkout.  As far as I can tell this is for users based in the United States, I am not sure if others are still seeing this fee, so please look carefully as you check out. In spite of this reversal  I am still actively working on better ways to support the show, and I appreciate your patience in the meantime.

And 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 [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.

-Mike

I don’t get to talk with everyone that comes on our Peru expeditions, but in February I did spend an hour talking with three of Chicago Land’s finest herpers – Matt and Alan Ignoffo, and Joe Cavataio. We talk about their experiences during their first Peruvian adventure of course, and we cover more interesting adventures and interests of these three naturalists (including Tully Monsters!).  As per usual, this was recorded on the back deck of my tambo in the Peruvian rainforest near Iquitos.

As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee! IMPORTANT NOTE: up to now, Apple WAS slapping a ridiculous 30% fee on all Patreon transactions using an iPhone or iPad to access the Patreon app.  Apple lost a recent court ruling on this so the 30% fee should NOT show up at checkout.  As far as I can tell this is for users based in the United States, I am not sure if others are still seeing this fee, so please look carefully as you check out. In spite of this reversal  I am still actively working on better ways to support the show, and I appreciate your patience in the meantime.

And 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 [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.

-Mike

Hi everyone! Episode 112 (and the last episode of Season Five) returns us to the back deck of my tambo in the Peruvian rainforest, where I had a nice chat with Sylvere Corre, wildlife guide extraordinaire. Sylvere travels the world all year, leading people to discover all kinds of animals, including herps and  birds and mammals, and some really spectacular critters. Sylvere clearly has a passion for what he does and I really enjoyed getting to know him during our time in Peru.

Sylvere guides for Yuhina, “created for naturalists by naturalists”. Be sure to check them out! They have more than a few expeditions that caught my interest. You can also follow Sylvere on social media.

SMP Patrons! I want to thank Derek Gillespie and Phil Ngo for supporting the show via Patreon! And I want to thank Tom and Keemie Wille for their one-time donation! I appreciate everyone’s support, and your comments as well!

And as always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee! IMPORTANT NOTE:  Apple is slapping a ridiculous 30% fee on all Patreon transactions using an iPhone or iPad to access the Patreon app.  The workaround is to access Patreon dot com directly, or to use an Android device.  So avoid using the app if you’re an Apple person. I wanna say that I am actively working on better ways to support the show, and I appreciate your patience in the meantime!

And 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 [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.

-Mike

Hello everyone! Episode 111 is all about the Indigos, and a few other adjacent critters. Back in 2024 I met up in southern Georgia with Ben Stegenga of the Orianne Society, where we spent two days in the field doing surveys for Eastern Indigo snakes. Ben was assisted by three field techs, Tyler, Keira, and Jesus, and my buddies Matt, Pat, and John put their field experience to work. This show is much like the Massasauga episode I did last year, where I’m recording the ongoing survey and an interview at the same time, which is much more challenging than a studio interview as you might expect.

As always I want to give a big shout-out to the Orianne Society, doing great conservation work with a host of species and landscapes. Check out what’s up with Orianne and support their work if you can.

SMP Patrons! I want to thank Trent Kreitler and TJ Belford for supporting the show via Patreon! Thank you so much, Trent  and TJ!  And as always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee! IMPORTANT NOTE:  Apple is slapping a ridiculous 30% fee on all Patreon transactions using an iPhone or iPad to access the Patreon app.  The workaround is to access Patreon dot com directly, or to use an Android device.  So avoid using the app if you’re an Apple person. I wanna say that I am actively working on better ways to support the show, and I appreciate your patience in the meantime!

And 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 [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.

-Mike

Hello everyone!  Episode 110 features another edition of Herp Science Sunday with Dr. Alex Krohn. Alex and I had a crazy cool conversation with Dr. Evan Grant, of the Northeastern Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative at the USGS Eastern Ecological Research Center, Dr. Grant is a co-author on a paper regarding range-wide salamander densities, focusing on the Redback Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), and he guides us through some mind-blowing discoveries about these mostly invisible creatures of the woodland realm.

The paper we discussed in the episode is titled “Range-wide salamander densities reveal a key component of terrestrial vertebrate biomass in eastern North American forests”, and was published in 2024 in the Biology Letters of the Royal Society Publishing, Vol 20 (https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0033). If you would like a PDF copy of the paper, email me at [email protected] and I will send it to you!

Here is the link for the Salamander Population & Adaptation Research Collaboration Network (SPARCNet).

And as always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, it’s easy to do, you simply go to the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee! You can also support the show via one-time contributions via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]).

And 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 [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.

-Mike

Hello everyone! Episode 109 is a wide-ranging two-hour conversation with PhD student Tasman Ezra. We cover fossil turtles, anole radiation, his band Half Inch Hero, Taz’s Honduras herp conservation project, and much, much more. I met Taz in southeast Missouri last October, and within minutes I knew I wanted to get him in front of a microphone to talk about what’s he is up to, which as it turns out, is a LOT. I have some related links below for you all to check out:

First up is HonduHerp – The Guardians of Honduran Herpetofauna. Taz and his associates are working hard to establish preserves and corridors to help protect Honduran Herpetofauna and other wildlife. Please consider helping out – even a small donation with go a long way to help this project. Right now there an anonymous donor is doing a dollar-for-dollar match, so it’s a good time to double your impact! (I myself made a small donation).

Check out Taz’ band Half Inch Hero on YouTube – My favorite is “Martyr”. They already have some herper fans, including friend of the show Bob Ferguson! Check it out and see what you think!

Finally, here are a couple books by Dr. Jonathan Losos for you to check out:

Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree: Ecology and Adaptive Radiation of Anoles

Improbable Destinies: How Predictable is Evolution?

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 [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc.

-Mike