Michigan Herps

Photographing a Timber Rattlesnake in Southern Ohio (Photo by Mike Graziano)

I will never forget my first encounter with a rattlesnake as a kid. We were out for a Memorial Day picnic at a local park, as was the rest of our county apparently. I remember walking back to the car and then having my dad grab my arm and halt me in my tracks. I looked ahead in the path we were walking and noticed what appeared to be a snake's tail disappearing into the longer grass. My dad walked ahead of us and inspected what we had just seen slither into the undergrowth. He turned back to us and said, "Do you want to see a rattlesnake?" A rattlesnake!? Here!? In Michigan? At the age of eight I was completely unaware to the fact that we had rattlesnakes in Michigan, not to mention a mere fifteen minutes of our house. I could not contain my excitement and began to run towards my dad. "No! Don't run," he beckoned, "Walk slowly; you'll scare it if you run." My pace lessened to a tip-toe as I crept ever closer. The closer I got, the more apparent the buzzing of rattler's tail became. Finally I was standing beside my dad and he pointed to a slight open pocket in the grass. There it was, coiled comfortably and tasting our presence. That moment when I first saw the rattler will always be one of my favorite natural encounters.

Handling a Northern Ribbon Snake near CMU's Campus

I've learned a lot over the past few years and enjoy getting out in the field. At first my concentration was mostly snakes, but the more I've gotten out the more I've become interested in amphibians as well, especially salamanders & newts. Herp photography has also been something that I've fell in love wiht over the past few years. Reptiles & Amphibian come in such a wide variety of sizes, shapes, textures, and colors. And trying to capture their beauty in a photograph is something that I love to do. As I pursue my degree at Central Michigan Univsersity, I'm trying to stay involved with herps as much as possible as a members of the CMU herpetological society. With field herping trips and expo trips, the society's goal is to inform other students about the importance of herps in the natural world. Every summer I return home from school and spend a lot of my time in the field looking for my favorite creatures. So head out into the field, you may bump into me somewhere!

Hanging out with a Western Cottonmouth from Southern Illinois