Spent A Day Hunting...

...and sleeping in the woods on Saturday; all the deer just laughed at me probably thinking I would be out cold like RVW for about 20 years or so. I almost did it too, that is stayed asleep for 20 years. I left home at about 12:30 or 1:00 AM, got to the selected happy Hunting Grounds by about 3:00 AM, slept fitfully in my car to the music of Traffic, and Black Sabbath, was awakened at about 5 by a car load of hunters who were yakking away outside my window as they geared up in the icy cold of the predawn morning, slept another half hour (really maybe 10 minutes dozing on and off), a finally got my butt in gear at 0530. I was in the woods by 0545 with sunup and legal shooting time at 0702.

I sat in my portable sport chair for almost 4 hours. It was chilly out, even fairly cold, I guess in the 20s. Just sitting there and the cold gets to your bones even if dressed as warmly as was I. I have to say though that once the sun got around to shining my way, the warmth was wonderful, and I nodded off not for the first or last time while on my stand. After a while longer, I took a walk around for an hour or so. Then back to my stand where I sat (sitting on a stand - what terminology) for a couple more hours. Then I again took a walk. Found another hunter just outside the woods in an overgrown area of a farmer's field. He was completely in camo; and that was a surprise. He did not move a muscle as I walked up from behind, and I noted his shotgun was grounded so I was not expecting him to turn and aim in on me thinking I was a deer or something. Once I was abreast of him we had a short talk, and I headed back from where I had come not wanting to be out in his line of fire. Nice guy, but wearing all camo in firearms deer season!!! Oh well, his hide not mine.

Back on stand until sundown, well actually until at least 20 minutes after sundown. The last thing I remember was looking at my watch and thinking I had 20 minutes left to hunt. I rattled and used my deer calls. Then sat back and waited. I was somewhat hopeful because I had heard a doe bleating in the woods earlier, and she was walking around in circles. I was thinking she might respond to my calls and rattling. As it turned out, an army of deer could have come by, had a few beers few apples from the nearby apple tree, and sniffed at me with the residual deer scent on my gloves. I was happily sound asleep. I don't know exactly when I nodded off, but do know that when I opened my eyes it was well into twilight and the vampires would be out soon. If I had fallen asleep right after looking at my watch - which it the last thing I remembered - then I had slept for about 40 minutes. Oh well, I have slept on deer stands before only to be awakened by an approaching deer that later was my dinner so sleeping is okay by me while hunting. This time though the deer just laughed at me once again. At least my brief naps helped revitalize me for the ride home. Still though, I have to do something about this insomnia thing that only allows me to get sleep in spurts. I could surely use a nice long nap, maybe though not quite as long as good old Rip Van Winkle.

Sunday, I spent the day at The New York Metro Reptile Expo in White Plains New York. I helped man the Long Island Herpetological Society tables. Spoke to a lot of people about how to take care of this or that, and had a good time as usual with the regular society members who show up for this event. I did not even consider buying any animals while there this time around though, something different from the norm for me. What with the prospect of being detailed to my employer's HQ in Washington, DC for 3 to 6 months looming, well I figured I may have to get rid of a lot of my critters so why add any now. I'll find out for sure in January sometime if I am going on that assignment. By the way, on he ride home, I saw a nice 6 pointer on the back of an SUV. Maybe that was one of them that laughed at me - who knows.

After the reptile show I came home to a nice dinner of Pot Roast, homemade red cabbage, oven baked potatoes (like french fries but done in the oven and covered with oil and spices - mm good), and asparagus. It was one heck of some good cooking, as my wife can do when she pleases. Well that was it for the weekend for me. Right now, as you can guess, I am at the keyboard because sleep once again eludes me. I am getting a bit weary being it is after 0200, so I think I'll head off to the sack. Sleep well...

All the best,
Glenn B

The 19th Annual Long Island Herpetological Society Reptile Expo

Yes folks the time is almost upon us for the 19th Annual LIHS reptile Expo. I think I have been there for all but one or two or three of them over the years. I am pretty sure I was there for the first one way back when; but if not then I was definitely there for the 2nd.

You see, keeping reptiles and amphibians has been a passion with me since I got my first Red Eared Slider turtle back when I was a mere young lad of about 8 or 9; maybe even younger. Since then herps (reptiles and amphibians) have been a passion with me. I have collected them from the wild, bought them in stores and at herp expos, traded them with friends, adopted them from other keepers who could not keep em any longer, kept them in captivity, and bred them. Why? I guess because when I was a young kid I could not have a dog or a cat - house rules. Somehow though my mom allowed in that first turtle that my Uncle Ken let me pick out at a pet shop. Both my brother and I got one, but only I was hooked and became a reptile and amphibian junkie for life. Not a bad addiction though as things go. My passion has had me see things out in nature, heck even in the middle of cities, that other folks don't know even exists; and I have met and made the acquaintance of lots of good people through my pursuit of this hobby. Heck I have even made some great friends like those at the LIHS.

If you live on Long Island, or if you are close to the area, and you have any interest in these magnificent creatures at all, why not stop by our show on October 04, 2008 at SUNY Farmingdale, and make sure to bring along the kids. It will be held from 10AM - 4PM in Roosevelt Hall. The admission price is well worth it, there should be more herps on display than you would see at the Bronx Zoo Reptile House in a visit there. There are herps and herp keeping accessories for sale, and there is also a judged show. By the way, anyone can enter an animal into the show, you do not need to be a society member. Prizes include ribbons and some pretty impressive trophies. Who knows, maybe you will become a herp junkie too.

If you want more info about the show, go to this link: http://www.lihs.org/files/events.htm .

All the best,

Glenn B

Weekend Shows - Guns & Reptiles...

...will be the prominent features of my upcoming weekend. First of all I will be attending a gun show sponsored by NorthEastGunShows.com. This show will be held at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Middletown, NY on Saturday September 6th from 9-5, and on Sunday September 7th from 9-3. On Saturday the plan is for Brendan and I to be out the door by 8, at my friend Richie's house by 0830, and at the show by 10 to meet up with friends Charlie and Pete. These three good friends have all retired from government service, and all three were firearms instructors on my job. In fact Richie retired from the NYPD, then became the primary firearms instructor for my office, worked there for many years, and has since retired from that job too. It will be a nice reunion. Hopefully we can drag Hubert along too (another co-worker who also had duties as a firearms instructor).

Brendan and I will only be at the gun show on Saturday. I am not planning on buying any guns because I don't have the cash, that is unless I see the bargain of the century and for that they make plastique. We may pick up some accessories, or some ammo since there are sometimes good deals, but I will readily point out that at the last one I attended there was little ammo on sale and prices for it were sky high. Still though we may find something, and just going to the show is a decent way to spend part of the day. Combine that with our little reunion, and it will be all the better. After the show we will probably all have lunch together, and we may also hit Cabelas. If Cabelas had any sense they would run a sale on days that there is a gun show in Middletown, they get lots of spillover customers from the show. I only plan to pick up some shiners and crayfish there - turtle food for my Musk Turtle.

Speaking of turtles, and other reptiles, the New York Metro Reptile Expo will be held this weekend on Sunday the 7th from 10 - 4 at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY. I plan to spend my day there, helping to man the Long Island Herpetological Society table. I may try to sell some animals there. I have not had any luck trying to sell anything lately to supplement the hobby, but maybe my luck will change this time around.

With two shows to attend this weekend, I guess that means any chores I had planned for this weekend had best get done on Friday evening, because it looks as if time will be short to do them otherwise. Gotta keep the wife happy somehow.

All the best,
Glenn B

New Addition - California Kingsnake

Well I have not talked about guns in a while, and I guess I'll skip them today too if only because my other passion took hold today. This afternoon I went to the monthly meeting of the Long Island Herpetological Society . Almost as soon as I walked in the door, Dave F. asked me if I was still looking for a female California Kingsnake. In fact I was, and had been looking earlier today when I had been in touch with someone who had one advertised on CraigList. That person wanted $60, a reasonable deal for a healthy and breedable female. Dave though had a better offer. He had a very nice looking morph of the Cal. King called a 'washboard' It is a banded variety, white/black that has a mottling of white specks throughout the black bands along her sides. Not only did I like the look of her, but I also liked the fact that she is between 2-3 years old (young and probably ready to breed) but she is close in size to my male. Not that size difference is a problem, but they will be less likely to eat one another. Yes kingsnakes are sometimes cannibalistic of their own species; heck they got the name kingsnake because of the fact they routinely eat other snakes - even rattlesnakes.

I'd write more about her now, but I am anxious to introduce her to the male I have on hand, a black and white striped Cal. King. Hopefully the chemistry will be right, and they will hit it off right away instead of trying to eat one another. I'll keep you posted.

By the way, the LIHS meeting was a good one today. Bill Love a renowned herpetologist, animal breeder, photographer, world traveler, and adventurer was there to do a presentation on the herpetofauna of Mauritius and Round island. Bill was one of the few lucky folks - not a scientist - who has ever visited Round Island in the past 15 years since it was granted heavily protected status as a nature preserve. Very good and interesting show with lots of nice pics. He also gave a talk about herp photography on Friday night at the annual LIHS dinner. I'd include a pic of him here from today's event except I would be embarrassed to show it to him after the talk he gave on Friday. Seems everyone else forgot their cameras so I tried to snap one with my cell phone and it was just way to dim in the theater. Oh well, next time I guess I'll remember my camera.

All the best,
Glenn B

Up Early On A Sunday...

...and soon to be off to the Long Island Reptile Expo (not to be confused with the Long Island Herpetological Society's Annual Reptile Expo) at the Hilton Hotel on Route 110 in Melville/Huntington, NY. I am hopeful I can sell trade a few animals while I am there. If nothing else, accomplishing such trades helps Brendan and me keep our hobby going without a lot of expense. Speaking of Brendan, he told me to wake him up t 8, and he will tag along. That is okay by me, he has not been to one of these in quite sometime due to either work, lacrosse practice or games, or being with his girlfriend. Some time together for the two of us will be a special treat for me. While there we will help out manning the LIHS table, giving out info to the public about reptile and amphibian care and so forth. Look me up if you are there.

No more time to jabber, I have to get busy readying animals and other stuff for the show.

All the best,
Glenn B

Herps To The Rescue

The plan is that tomorrow when I go to the Long Island Herpeto- logical Society's monthly meeting, I'll bring along three Spotted Pythons, and five Bearded Dragons, all of which will be for sale. I can only hope the Spotted Pythons are more cooperative when I am showing them for sale than this one was when I tried to get all of the one pictured here into the photo. The Spotted Pythons were meant to be a breeding project. I had four, but one met an early demise due to an accident. The other three, I think 2 females and a male would have probably produced some future income for me in the form of baby snakes (yes we herpers breed em, sell em or trade em, and others buy em). As it is I am strapped for cash and need it now just the commercial says, so I guess these snakes will be for sale tomorrow. They will not put as much in to my pocket as they would have had they produced babies, but at $125 a pop for these 2 year old pythons, if I sell them, I'll be happy.

I also have 5 young Bearded Dragons, they will have an asking price of from $50 to $75 each. So if I sell everything I have up for sale tomorrow (which is highly unlikely) I'll have at least $575, maybe more. The truth be told, I'll be lucky to sell even one of them at this time of the year (unless of course someone at the meeting tomorrow will have gotten back a nice tax refund). I have not sold anything in a very long time, gave up selling them a while back, but I need the cash or the tax man will be miffed. The saddest thing of all is if I do sell them, the tax man gets it all, and he still won't be happy.

All the best,

Glenn B

18th Annual LIHS Reptile Expo

Now here is a subject dear to my heart, the annual Long Island Herpetological Society Reptile (and amphibian) Expo. In fact this will be the 18th annual show that the society has had. It s dear to my heart because I have been a member of the society for 17 years, maybe even all 18, during which the show has gone off. I know its been at least 17 years because the first time I went to a society event, it was a show they held at the Copiague Memorial Library, and if I got it right they only had two shows there, numbers 1 &2. By the second show, I was exhibiting animals; don't you know I have been into keeping reptiles and amphibians for well over 40 years now. I have kept em, collected em, and even bred them (no not with them, but as in animal husbandry). Brendan, my son, is a chip off of the old block, he has been to most of the events, if not most of the shows, since he was about 5 or 6; and he has been to an awful lot of the shows.

Nothing awful about the shows themselves. They are a good thing for people who like to keep reptiles and amphibians, a good thing for those curious enough to see a large variety of herps (reptiles & amphibians), a good thing for the dealers, a good thing for the exhibitors, and a good thing for the herps themselves. Each show is set up with vendors' tables, and the vendors do what they do best - they sell things. The selling pretty much is limited to live reptiles and amphibians (captive bred much preferred, and are the great part of what animals are sold), and to herp keeping supplies and equipment. We also have exhibitors' tables set up, and we run a judged show. Anyone, not just society members, can enter herps into the show. Prizes (trophies and ribbons) are awarded for best herps in several categories, and one really nice trophy is awarded for the best overall herp of the show. Of course you do not have to buy anything to attend, but if you are into herps, this is a good show to attend if you want to find quality herps and products usually below, well below, pet shop prices.

Now you may think I forgot to follow up on why I think the show is good for the herps too. I have not, it just deserves its own paragraph. These types of shows are good for reptiles and amphibians because they promote proper care of herps, good conservation of natural populations, and reasonable laws concerning the keeping and breeding of herps. Our show also helps support the LIHS itself, it is our biggest money maker, and that in ripple effect helps support the above causes already mentioned. You may be wondering how does a show, in which people sell herps actually support these things. Well here goes:

The shows promote proper care of pet reptile and amphibians. Why - well because it makes sense to do so. if reptiles and amphibians were not understood enough to be fairly easily kept in captivity, dealers would not be selling them in fairly large numbers as they do. Of course dealers could still sell them, they could die, and you might come back to buy another; but if they sell them, tell you how to care for them, provide such support when you need it through a society like the LIHS, then keeping them becomes more of a pleasure, and you are more likely to want to get into the herp hobby with a ore vigorous and long lasting interest. The shows also promote good conservation. If you attend one you will probably see that most dealers are selling what are labelled as C/B or C/B/B this or that with regards to live animals. The C/B stand for Captive Born or Captive Bred (there is a difference, as not all captive born animals were the product of parent animals that mated in captivity - the mother could have been wild caught while gravid). It usually stands for Captive bred, and C/H is used for Captive hatched meaning the mother was caught and then laid eggs in captivity before the next breeding season while in captivity. C/B/B means Captive bred & Born, in other words the parents mated while in captivity, and the young were then produced as a product of this captive mating. This is a good thing. Why? because it cuts down on the number of animals that come into the pet trade from the wild. If there is a large supply of captive bred animals, there is much less of a demand on wild populations. This is very advantageous for dealers and buyers. It helps assure that young herps which are sold are healthy, and come from healthy stock. it also allows for selective breeding so that breeders/dealers can select traits that they think will sell. Therefore color morphs like albinos are often produced. A large interest in animals of various color morphs also helps reduce the desire for naturally colored animals, thereby again reducing the need or desire for wild caught animals. Of course every now and then, wild caught animals are a good thing as they reintroduce genetic variety into captive bred populations, but the need is reduced with captive breeding to a much lower level than it would have been without captive breeding programs.

These shows are a further boon to wild animal populations because they support conservation in other ways. For example, the LIHS bring in most of its annual funding through this show. You may wonder how this promotes wildlife conservation. It does so because the LIHS is usually involved in a good number of live animal presentations throughout the year during which members exhibit animals to audiences from pre-schoolers up through college level students up through moms and dads who pay for that education, up through grand-dad and grand-ma. Our audiences are sometimes specific to students in classrooms, and at other times are open to the public in places like parks or science halls. We teach about herp keeping, about herp conservation, and about the natural history of many types of reptiles and amphibians. We also attend, as a society, other reptile expos where some of our members man an LIHS table. There we give out information free to the public on the same topics mentioned above. One of our main functions has been to educate the public on these topics. In addition, the LIHS and its members are usually often involved in actual conservation programs such as: scientific population counts of wild animals, rescue of stressed wild herps (such as stranded sea turtles, or turtles that have been hit by cars), and capture/release scientific programs during which herps are caught and examined by researchers in their herpetological studies. This is all of benefit to wild populations.

We have also supported reasonable legislation regarding the keeping and breeding of herps. For example when NY State was about to enact legislation, a few years back, that would have outlawed all boas and pythons from being legally kept in captivity, we protested. Not only did we protest enactment of such a broad reaching law, but we explained to our state legislators why we did not support such a law; and furthermore we explained what type of ban we would see as reasonable to some extent. We did not say that NYS should totally ignore some problems, or potential dangers of keeping captive herps- specifically boas and pythons, monitor lizards, and venomous species; but we certainly let the officials know that they were painting these types herps with the same brush when indeed thy should not have done so. So we explained our stance about why we thought the ban should not be as far reaching as they had written it - for example that not all boas or pythons pose a threat to humans as they had thought. Why not, well because many species remain very small in comparison to Anacondas and Burmese Pythons. Some such as the Ball Python usually reach about 4 1/2 feet, others such as the rubber Boa reach about 2 feet maximum. Yet legislators were quite ready, and imminently about to ban all boas and pythons as being dangerous to humans because of the fact that some of the bigger types had constricted and killed foolish owners (foolish because of how they handled them, not necessarily because they kept them). The legislation then greatly modified the law before it was enacted, and pretty much only those species seen as a real threat to human life, or limb, were restricted. Of course we were not the only herp society to do so in NY, but our collective voice was heard.

Back to the show itself - if you are in NY state, anywhere near Long Island this coming weekend; and if you have an interest in reptiles and amphibians - whether a keeper or just out of curiosity - why not stop by the show. It will be held at SUNY (State University of New York) Farmingdale just off of route 110. It is easy to access from the three major highways than run east/west on the island. For more info on the show go to this link: http://www.lihs.org/files/events.htm. By the way, if you think you saw a lot of variety in the pics above, you have not seen almost anything yet, stop by the show and have your eyes opened. I'll be there. I'll have a table or two, usualy directly across the hall from the main entrance. Hope to see one or two of my readers there.

All the best,

Glenn B