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somuchpingle.bsky.social
Mike Pingleton
@somuchpingle.bsky.social
24K followers 890 following 3K posts
Naturalist, Author, Peru wildlife guide, all photos mine 📷 Panasonic G9🪲 Host of the So Much Pingle herpetology podcast 🐸 Co-author of "The Field Herping Guide" 📗 Co-creator of HerpMapper (herpmapper.org) 🦎 Herpetofauna blogger at fieldherping.org 🐢
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somuchpingle.bsky.social
Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · Nov 8
Welcome everyone, and thanks for following - let's build community, let's heal, and not give up. My agenda? 20k photos just sitting on my hard drive is a waste, so I'm gonna share 'em out - mostly nature pix, esp. amphibians and reptiles, but other subjects too. I'm glad you're here.
A middle-aged man (me) sitting at a table in a small restaurant in Hong Kong. Hunched over because I am very tired, I am holding my cup of morning coffee in front of me. I am wearing a blue shirt, my hair is short and graying, and I have a mustache and goatee. The worn table is painted a neon green, and behind me are other customers having breakfast.
somuchpingle.bsky.social
I’m back in Peru this week, leading another tour group (herpers and birders). This Black Witch Moth (Ascalapha odorata) was resting on the door to my hotel room this morning. I consider them a good omen 😎 #moths #leps 🌿
A gray and white moth rests on the brown wood of a door. The moth’s wings are long and slender. The ground color is a medium gray, shot through with zigzag patters of white.
February 10, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
stephenbarten.bsky.social
Happy Superb Owl Sunday!
#snowyowl #birding #birdingphotography #birdphotography #owl
February 8, 2026 at 1:30 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.

“Scratch disk is volatile- your data was not backed up”

(Back when I still worked)
mbuhtz.bsky.social Marie Buhtz @mbuhtz.bsky.social · 5d
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.

What is your plan for your homework?
lingthusiasm.com Lingthusiasm @lingthusiasm.com · 5d
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.

"Our music is by The Triangles."
February 8, 2026 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
trailtotoday.bsky.social
This week’s #BlueSkyArtShow theme is #Sunlight
#OnlyBeautifulThings
#EastCoastKin #Photography #NYCPhotography #StreetPhotography
A dancer swirls her skirt while walking in the NY Dance Parade
February 8, 2026 at 3:17 AM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
mikemoths.bsky.social
A short blog about Costa Rica's big lizards.
vitrealis.blogspot.com/2026/02/igua...
#herps #reptiles #costarica #addherper
Iguanas and Basilisks - Costa Rica's Big Lizards
Green Iguana - Muelle, Costa Rica As one of the world's most biodiverse countries, Costa Rica contains a huge variety of wildlife. Birds a...
vitrealis.blogspot.com
February 8, 2026 at 9:59 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
CCC is one of my favorite chaotic brain-dampeners.
coralcitycamera.bsky.social Coral City Camera @coralcitycamera.bsky.social · 5d
Today is the 6th anniversary of the start of our YouTube livestream!!! Thanks to the #coralcitycamera we can enjoy stoplight parrotfish making funny faces for us while a manatee swims behind it. We never dreamed we’d have a healthy thicket of staghorn corals through hot and cold, but here we are!
February 7, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
c0nc0rdance.bsky.social
These ultra-fine structures shown at 30X magnification are the reason why geckos can adhere to most surfaces, using Van der Waals force.

The power of hairy lizard toes!

(🔬: Power & Syred, SciencePhotoLibrary)
Credit POWER AND SYRED / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Caption Gecko foot. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of the underside of a gecko's foot (Tarentola mauritanica). The foot is covered with ridges and microscopic hairs, which enables the gecko to cling to very smooth surfaces such as windows and ceilings. Geckos are slender nocturnal lizards. They feed on insects and are found in a wide range of habitats, from deserts to rainforests. Magnification: x30 at 6x7cm size.
February 6, 2026 at 5:14 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Wow. You could hear a pin drop in that studio.
kjhealy.co Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 7d
Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.
February 5, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
redpilljunkie.bsky.social
Mariano #Barbacid is a Spanish scientist.

He has taken us closer than ever to finding a cure for pancreatic #cancer, probably the most aggressive form of cancer one can get (usually by the time they detect it, you only have a little while to set your affairs in order).
A Mixed media drawing of Spanish scientist Mariano Barbacid portrayed as David Bowie. Drawn by Miguel Romero (absurdbydesign.com)
February 4, 2026 at 1:25 AM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
crevicedwelling.bsky.social
reading about organisms that aren’t your specialty is like

margins of the quorbus eplungulate, ploobular processes bent posteriorly towards the foobulum

define term “eplungulate”
- lacking plungae. synonym: thubulous
February 2, 2026 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
ron-kichurchak.bsky.social
A beautiful boelen's python
February 2, 2026 at 1:51 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Promotion is the last step in creating an episode, and I just suck at it for some reason :( Kukri snakes are awesome, and I had a great conversation with Justin Lee of UMich and @krohnzone.bsky.social about their awesomeness. #herps #herpetology #snakes 🌿
www.somuchpingle.com/2026/01/11/e...
Episode 124: Herp Science Sunday: Kukri Snakes with Justin Lee - So Much Pingle
Hi everyone! The first show of 2026 turns out to be another edition of Herp Science Sunday! Alex and I had an interesting discussion with Justin Lee, who is currently working on his PhD at the Univers...
www.somuchpingle.com
February 1, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
stim3on.bsky.social
You may have seen pictures, but have you ever seen video of a gigantic jet #TLE from space?

Astronaut Jeanette Epps captured this incredible sequence on July 20th, 2024 for the DTU/@science.esa.int Thor-Davis experiment. 🧪🔭

youtu.be/xN2J7_rOBJY

Credit: ESA/NASA/J. Epps
Processing: Simeon Schmauß
January 30, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
andrewdubois.bsky.social
A South American Bushmaster (Lachesis m. muta) from the Peruvian Amazon, observed with @somuchpingle.bsky.social and friends in 2023. This is the world's largest pitviper, with the longest known specimen measuring nearly 3.65 m (12 ft) in length. In Peru, this species is known as shushúpe.
A brownish-orange, heavy bodied snake coiled at the base of a large tree atop rainforest leaf litter. The snake has a pattern of black rhomboid blotches on its back and a blood-red eye.
January 29, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
andrewdubois.bsky.social
Portrait of a Saw-scaled Viper (Echis pyramidum leucogaster), which inhabits humid microhabitats within otherwise arid and rocky areas in Morocco. This mainly nocturnal snake feeds on scorpions, small mammals, and other reptiles. #wildlife #snakes #macrophotography
A closeup photograph of the head of a Saw-scaled Viper (Echis pyramidum leucogaster) showing its oval head and short, rounded snout. The eyes are large and rusty orange, with vertically elliptical black pupils. Also visible are the strongly keeled dorsal scales, which give the skin a rough appearance. The skin is a light sandy brown with long, sinuous dark markings edged with faint orange stains. The long, delicate tips of the forked tongue are barely visible at the front of the mouth.
June 2, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
carlbergstrom.com
Today Musk is on about plans for the Tesla Robotaxi.

Q: But how do you hail one?

A:
Musk making a sieg heil salute
January 28, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
andrewdubois.bsky.social
California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae), formerly considered a subspecies of L. getula. In addition to being very attractive, this species is potentially long-lived - Dibble (2000) reports a California Kingsnake living 43 years and 11 months. This individual was observed in northern Arizona.
A black-and-white banded snake coiled on red sandstone.
January 28, 2026 at 9:56 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
#insects
andrewdubois.bsky.social Andrew DuBois @andrewdubois.bsky.social · 15d
Would anyone with access to the following paper be willing to send a .pdf to me? Susset, E.C., J. Hemptinne, and A. Magro. 2017. Overwintering Sites Might not be Safe Haven for Hippodamia undecimnotata (Schneider) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 71(3):556-564.
January 28, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
sarahmackattack.bsky.social
Hey cuties. Everything sucks ass. Get some valentines and send them to your friends.

I'm sad. You're sad. They're probably sad.

Send them a valentine.

It keeps Skype a Scientist running, which hey, is very good too.

squidfacts.bigcartel.com/product/deep...
A pile of valentines, including a gulper eel saying "you make my jaw drop", a grimalditeuthis saying "I find you a-LURE-ing" a whale skeleton at the bottom of the ocean with snailfish and two octopuses making heart arms under the words "I've whale-fallen for you", and an anglerfish saying "You're my light in the darkness", and then two packs of cards that are all nice and tied up
January 28, 2026 at 3:58 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
🧵1/3 I've had all the doom & sadness my heart can hold for today. How about a primitive aquatic frog? A Pipa Toad (Pipa pipa), found in NE Peru and ranging across the Amazon Basin in northern South America. Lacking a tongue, they capture prey using suction. #herps #frogs #NaturePhotography 🌿
Side image of a brown frog floating in shallow water above a leaf-covered bottom. The frog looks much like an old tattered leaf, and has a uniform, dark reddish-brown color. The eyes are very small and match the body color. The feet are fully webbed, and the hands have four toes that are very long and spindly.
January 27, 2026 at 11:06 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
ongs-hat.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:29 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
The always-beautiful Tetrataenia surinama, a common grasshopper in the Peruvian rainforest. Photographed last week at our field station at the Tapiche Reserve. A species I see almost every day. #insects #NaturePhotography 🌿
Side view of a colorful grasshopper on a green leaf. The body is striped, with a green stripe on top, thin yellow next, then a black stripe, followed by a pale greenish-yellowish stripe. The large eyes are black, and the two long antennae are black tipped with yellow. The forelegs are a mixture of greens, reds, black, and yellow. The two large hind legs are banded with black and red.
January 27, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
hookland.bsky.social
We are community or we are less. We are engines of kindness and connectivity or we are less. When decency is framed as a radical position we must remain who we are. Our resistance is also in refusing to be less openhearted and filled with compassion.
January 25, 2026 at 12:31 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
🧵1/2 I’m in the Panama airport, waiting for my last flight towards home. Cane Toads (Rhinella marina) are introduced pests in Australia and elsewhere, but NE Peru is home territory for them and I see them every day, but not always so large 😬 #herps #toads 🌿
Angled down image of a very large toad posed on short plants and leaves, with a human hand for scale. The toad’s body is flat and wide; its color is a mixture of mottled browns and cream colored markings, with a few darker spots on the back. The hand features bright red nail polish.
January 25, 2026 at 11:15 AM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
rebeccagrambo.bsky.social
I think I finally blew through the wall of despair on the state of the world and am into:
1) help who you can;
2) make the exploiters pay;
3) cherish those who lift you up;
4) practice self- care so you can carry on the fight.

Do not despair! ❤️
January 23, 2026 at 1:37 AM