Had an awesome time doing work on Taricha granulosa (Rough-skinned Newt) and Taricha torosa (California Newt) last Sunday.

Thank you to the ever amazing Kannon Pearson @taricha-rivularis.bsky.social for leading this and having me on to work on this research. The world is an amazing place.

Emergency frog, salamander, and turtle pictures to the rescue!

Traveled to the lovely city of St. Paul Minnesota for the JMIH conference. Super excited for my first conference! #JMIH25

That’s what the consensus comes to! It’s super cool because we have found a few of them of similar size over the years in the area so we likely have a nesting population in a suburban location. I only know them at this size so learning that they grow much bigger was cool!

That is what it looks like. It just seemed small for the species and I was unsure that it would have been the time for new hatchlings.

Need help ID’ing from my fellow herpetologists! Found this little one today. 11cm long 4mm wide. Black tongue. 5-6 labial scales. No keeled scales. Area: Sacramento, CA USA . Will post/comment what it is when we figure it out. Was released back to safety. Very feisty little bugger.

Today can be a hard day for many people. However since it is my birthday I’m going to require a present from everyone, and that is that I want you alive at this time next year to celebrate my birthday with me again. The world is a beautiful place and needs you in it. You being you makes it better.

An amazing day in the field catching Taricha torosa and Taricha granulosa under the supervision of the wonderful @taricha-rivularis.bsky.social . The newts were out taking advantage of the rain and were all over the ground. The world is an amazing place. ( T. torosa and P. regilla/sierra)

My wonderful but very hard hike this weekend off trail to an amazing hidden waterfall. The creek that feeds it used to flourish with newts and might be a new research opportunity. Also what is likely a Cougar (Puma concolor couguar) territory marker. Nature is my place of tranquility.

Late night snake post because why not. A beautiful specimen of Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi from this summer that was not happy that I found them under their rock.

Good morning from the Cascade Canal Trail.

This is fantastic! Here is a melanated T. elegans vargans I found in northern Idaho during my research this summer along with a normal morph I found a short distance away on the same day. One guess to the amount of avian predators in the area 😂. 🐍

Hello all biological friends! Hats are a hilariously debated topic in the field. Some refuse to have a day without their trusted headgear, while others walk around with that no hat confidence. What is your style or trusty dusty field head gear? (Head lamps acceptable). Here are my field partner(s).

You are required to drink water, say something nice to yourself, and get an acceptable amount of rest. 😝 But seriously thank you for many years of laughs as your comic got me through my university time.

I would love to be added to this group.

Happy new year everyone! To celebrate have some pictures from my research this past summer. Elgaria coerulea, melanated Thamnophis elegans vargans, and Plestiodon skiltonianus. (Orange markings were temporary paint for capture mark recapture.)