“Don’t tell anyone,” a man said with a smirk as he sidled toward me, “but you’re holding a snake!” “No, I’m not,” I replied. The man turned serious and scowled. “You sure are!” “No,” I said again. “This is a lizard.” Volunteering Chuck and I were volunteering with the Phoenix Herpetological Society (PHS) at the …
The following article was written by Fred Tarnaski of Pennsylvania (also known as Fred the Snakeman on Facebook, a name bestowed upon him by children who have attended his snake presentations). Because it contains good information regarding a feared reptile, we have reprinted it here with his kind permission: 1. Rattlesnakes do not lay …
Everyone who has worked hard deserves to retire at some point. And this, we feel, goes for snakes as well. Our kingsnake, Spike, is approaching 24 years old, and we feel it’s time to give him a well-deserved rest. Spike has been instrumental in converting people from fearing snakes to respecting snakes. For many, just …
“Do you have any pets?” our neighbor asked as we settled our rig into the site we planned to occupy for four months at an RV resort near Phoenix, Arizona. The man’s Jack Russell terrier left his side to retrieve a toy in hopes of engaging us in play. “Uh……no,” we responded, wondering how he …
On Thanksgiving morning we drove into Desert National Wildlife Refuge to hike a trail up a wash into rugged, mountainous terrain. We encountered no one else all day on this remote refuge, but we did stumble upon evidence of human activity. Trash Pickup At the first area we stopped on the way to our trail …
In light of the recent death of Fidel Castro, I would like to take a one-time break from wildlife and share an article I wrote several years ago at the request of an old friend of mine who sponsored a family that escaped Cuba in the 1960s. After interviewing the mother of this family, I …
Not long ago we accompanied a few refuge staff members on a hike at Desert National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge is the largest national wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states, covering more than a million and a half acres. Consequently, we were able to hike to a remote canyon that is rarely, if ever, …