EEB 3898 Field Herpetology

Instructor• Andrew Frank

• PhD candidate in Dr. Elizabeth Jockusch’s lab

• Work on Californian blue-tailed skinks

• Did TFA for 2 years before graduate school

• Contact information on website

What is Herpetology?!“Andrew, I clicked on a random summer course that sounded

vaguely interesting. What did I sign up for?”

• The study of amphibians and reptiles

• Studying animals in the field is a powerful way to connect and learn

• “Field herpetology summer camp effect”

• For a small New England state, Connecticut has a shocking amount of herpetological diversity for its size (plus you can totally memorize ~50 species that live here)

What am I going to learn?• How to identify local amphibians and

reptiles

• By sight and sound

• How to identify habitat types

• How to predict which species you should expect to find in that habitat

• How to catch amphibians and reptiles, and handle them once you’ve caught them

• How to ask and answer a scientific question about amphibians and/or reptiles

“Yo Bill, I’m really happy for you, Imma let you finish, but I’m

totally gonna bite your hand.”

What’s this class like?• About one hour of lecture (or

less), then outside!

• It’s a field course, duh

• You WILL be handling live, wild animals

• If you have a spine, you are very special to UConn (more on this later)

• You WILL get dirty and/or wet

• I hope nobody is wearing flip flops (yeah, I totally did this)

Syllabus (webpage)

Project: Week 1• Project proposals due this THURSDAY (email it to me before class begins)

• Basically, pitch me your project idea, so you don’t try something bonkers

• One page, double spaced (Times New Roman, 12 pt font, 1 inch margins, you know the deal)

• You’ll need to include

• Your partner’s name (only if you choose to work in as a pair)

• What species (1 or more) you’ll be working on

• The question you want to answer

• How you think you’ll go about answering that question

• Project ideas are posted on the website!

Field Notebooks• Field notebooks are

probably the most important tools in this class.

• Climate data, location data, time-of-year, populations numbers.

• Potential for huge long-term data sets

Setting up your Grinnellian Field Notebook

Page #Date Last Name

Year

Starting location description

Starting location GPS coordinates

Aside: Getting GPS Coordinates

App: “My GPS Coordinates”

Setting up your Grinnellian Field Notebook

Time Temp Weather

Always use scientific names when you know them, and

underline them

Relevant life history details (see Miller 1942)

IACUC Training• http://research.uconn.edu/iacuc/

• “The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is charged with responsibility for reviewing the University of Connecticut’s program for the humane care and use of animals in research and teaching as described in its Assurance and University Policy.”

• Before you work with wild animals, you need to learn some basics on handling vertebrates in the field

IACUC Training• Proper care of amphibians and

reptiles in the field

• Hold the animal correctly (pages 18 & 19 in your field guides)

• Small salamanders: cup in your hands

• Snakes: similar to large salamander or lizard grasp, but with other hand securing the body

• Gently pin down head with stick before picking up (page 16 of your field guide)

IACUC Training• Proper care of amphibians

and reptiles in the field

• Your field guide is outdated when it comes to handling snapping turtles!

• NEVER EVER hold any turtle by the tail only

• Be like Billy here:

• Firmly grip the turtle on the sides of its shell

• Avoid placing your hand above the forelimbs

IACUC Training• Signs of stress and illness

• Expected signs: Musking, biting, vocalization (frog release call)

• Unexpected signs: Increased respiration, lethargy, regurgitation, voiding bladder & bowels

• Put the animal down!!

IACUC Training• Environmental sensitivity &

releasing at the site of capture

• Put animals back exactly where you found them

• If you’re searching underneath a cover object, place the cover object back, THEN encourage the animal bag under

• If for some reason you can’t, put it in the closest possible habitat that mimics the original

Salamander death sentence

IACUC TrainingBAD

BETTER

• Environmental sensitivity & releasing at the site of capture

• Put animals back exactly where you found them

• If you’re searching underneath a cover object, place the cover object back, THEN encourage the animal bag under

• If for some reason you can’t, put it in the closest possible habitat that mimics the original

IACUC Training• Environmental sensitivity &

releasing at the site of capture

• Always wash your hands before and after you go out into the field and handle animals

• Protects amphibian skin from bacteria on your hand

• Protects you from possible salmonella

• After we use waders, we always soak the waders in bleach to prevent spread of chytrid fungus

Not a recommendedbehavior.

IACUC Training• Field hazards

• Poison Ivy

• Sunburn

• Ticks and mosquitos

• Remind me and reminder others to do tick checks when we come in from the field

• Venomous snakes

• We will not encounter or handle copperheads or timber rattle snakes

General Field Advice• If you get lost:

• You should BE WITH SOMEONE (don’t travel alone)

• If you have cell service, just call me

• If you have GPS signal, navigate to your initial GPS reading (Google Maps Offline Mode)

• If you’re unable to navigate whatsoever, stay put and make noise

• If there’s an emergency:

• Call 911 immediately if able

• Do not leave the injured person alone

• Send someone to get help

• Things to carry

• A backpack with:

• Water

• Small snack

• Printed out map of the area

• Electronics dry bag

• Field notebook and pencil

Today’s Trip: UConn Forest

N

E

S

W

Black Trail

Cyan Trail

Dark Green Trail

Magenta Trail

New Trail

Orange Trail

Red Trail

Unofficial Trail

White Trail

Yellow Trail

Connector Trail

Roads

Major Powerline

Trail Heads

Parking Lots

Buildings

Forest Border

Water

LEGEND

0 500 1,000 2,000Feet