Lancaster Herpetological Society

My friends and fellow h**pers,

Thank you for following the Lancaster Herpetological Society (LHS)! This Friday, 19-Jul-2024, we will be returning to the Birdsboro Reservoir for another nature walk. This will be our third year returning to the reservoir, which is known for Copperhead snakes! Birdsboro is southeast of Reading, so it is a little bit of a drive for those coming from Lancaster. And while it is a drive for a bunch of us, it is near where our vice president CJ calls home!

The reservoir is close to the Hay Creek which follows the abandoned remnants of Pennsylvania Route 82. Heavy rainfall in 1987 caused the creek to flood and destroyed numerous bridges in the area, which eventually led to closing Route 82 to vehicle traffic. It is now a popular area for hikers, naturalists, and h**pers!

A Copperhead at Birdsboro Reservoir, image courtesy of Anne Esbenshade, sketch courtesy of Greg Wier

Meeting Location:
2001 Hay Creek Rd, Birdsboro, PA 19508
This address (when put into Google Maps) will take you to the end of Hay Creek Road (if you are traveling north on Hay Creek Road from the direction of Morgantown). It should be noted that there is another end of Hay Creek Road in Birdsboro itself, with a parking lot at Rustic Park. That is NOT where the group is meeting. If you have any questions, feel free to text CJ at 610-427-3637.

Meeting Time:
Friday, July 19, 7 PM
We will leave for the walk at 7:00 PM. Sunset is 8:29 PM Friday, which means full dark around 9:00 PM. We will need time to walk in and walk out, and hopefully photograph some cool snakes (and other h**ps) in the process!

******************

Gregory Wier
Lancaster Herpetological Society

NATURE WALK THIS FRIDAY!

My friends and fellow h**pers,
Thanks for following the Lancaster Herpetological Society (LHS). Now that evenings are warm and pleasant, and summer is just right around the corner, the next few LHS meetings are going to be outdoor nature walks!

For the first nature walk of the season, we are going to explore more of the Northwest River Trail along the Susquehanna River, which we have visited a few times over the years. This time, we are visiting some of the northernmost portions of the Northwest River Trail in Conoy Township. Specifically, there is a parking lot off Prescott Road in Bainbridge, PA where we are planning to meet.

Meeting Date and Time
The next meeting is this Friday, May 17, 2023, 7 PM, EST.

Meeting Location
Parking lot for the Northwest River Trail in Conoy Township: Prescott Road, north of the community of Bainbridge.

More specific directions from Jesse Rothacker: From River Road (Pennsylvania Route 441), turn onto Prescot Road. This is a small road that quickly turns from a paved road into a gravel road. You will go a short distance on the gravel road, cross the railroad tracks, and cross over the River Trail itself just before reaching the parking area. If your car drives into the river, that means you went too far. It's a nice parking area with plenty of spaces and very few cars, as well as a Porta potty and picnic area by the river.

Hope to see you this Friday!

Here are some recent h**ping videos from this trail:

https://youtube.com/shorts/cdy6l76RPyQ?si=Qivmz5AIBrTfou87

https://youtu.be/FpfED531e4Y?si=L0eL0GdFElw9z1hS

This is an copperhead PSA one of our members made with his son 😊

How do YOU teach kids about snake safety?

https://youtube.com/shorts/R47dPhHj4tk?si=Hd2iU8VJug6Khss9

What would you do if you found a BOA IN THE BATHTUB??

At the Rothacker house, they turn it into a fun family game 😁😁

https://youtube.com/shorts/Bgm91Q1mmcA?si=RaZvCsLINJ8NRw3u

November’s meeting is this Friday, where we will be joined by Bob Ferguson to talk about his experiences h**ping in the Yucatan Peninsula! The meeting will be held at That Pet Place/That Fish Place!

Meeting Date and Time
The meeting is this Friday, Nov 17, 2023, 7 PM, EST.

Meeting Location
That Pet Place/That Fish Place, 237 Centerville Rd, Lancaster, PA 17603

Meeting: Bob Ferguson - The Yook, how to easily and safely navigate h**ping Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula

Bob has been amazing the Lancaster Herpetological Society for years with his photographs and stories of his h**ping adventures. This year he will be talking about how to h**p safely in the Yucatan Peninsula. Aside from just taking pictures, Bob has been producing calendars with his amazing photography to sell and raise money for conservation projects. He has been making these calendars for 11 years (now going into the 12th year) and has donated over $60,000 to wildlife charities! In the process he has saved more than 40,000 acres of land. Every cent of profit from the calendars goes to conservation charities. This year, the money will be donated to The Rainforest Trust and will go toward saving land in the Brazilian Amazon and fighting the production of a super highway.

He has five new calendar choices for 2024, and will have them on hand for people interested in buying them and supporting a great cause.

Rattlesnakes are born with a single button on their tail, and they develop additional rattle segments each time they shed. Like your fingernails, rattles are made of keratin, and occasionally break off.

See for yourself in Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary’s latest adventure, as they find and film over 100 snakes:

https://youtu.be/qh9xH7jF38s?si=-jTzTrAJyBGIfago

The timber rattlesnake occurs in both yellow and black phases, which are often found basking together.

It’s often said that snakes are solitary creatures. Tell that to timber rattlesnakes 👀

https://youtube.com/shorts/EfAVNz1rfOI?si=n9pJZ_E0FNRN3kis

The rat snake is one of the most agile and elastic snakes! Truly amazing 🤩

In most cases of Bird vs Frog, the bird wins. But not always! Bullfrogs are known to eat almost any animal they can manage to swallow! This one was recently photographed in Lancaster County.

Thanks to everyone who came out for our July h**p walk, led by our VP CJ Lumis. This eastern milk snake probably had his picture taken more in ten minutes than he has in 10 years 😁😁

Cheap reptile enclosures for sale at Nixon Park nature center (5922 Nixon Drive, York) today (Saturday) until 3pm. Call to see if anything left Sunday (open noon-4:30 Sunday). 717-428-1961

July is the most active SNAKE MONTH of the year in Pennsylvania! Could you tell the difference between these two common species? One is harmless and the other is venomous.
Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary has new videos with each kind if you want to get more familiar with them:
Daddy/Daughter Water Snake Rescue
https://youtu.be/frk64T9ZHbA
Venom in a Bottle Copperhead Removal
https://youtu.be/6iwgR48NXC8

Please LIKE and SHARE to educate your friends!

My friends and fellow h**pers,

Thanks for following the Lancaster Herpetological Society (LHS). Now that evenings are warm and pleasant, and summer is just right around the corner, the next few LHS meetings are going to be outdoor nature walks! This month we are returning to the Northwest River Trail, where we had our first socially-distant nature walk in August 2020.

Meeting Date and Time
The next meeting is this Friday, June 16, 2020, 7 PM, EST.

Meeting Location
Northwest River Trail near Chickies Rock County Park
(Parking at 29 Furnace Rd, Marietta, PA gravel parking lot)

Nature Walk: Northwest River Trail
The Northwest River Trail is trail is located along the Susquehanna River, and home to lots of flora and fauna beyond snakes, turtles, lizards, and amphibians. It is a paved trail, so there will be plenty of people riding past on bicycles, and ideally basking reptiles, as well.

We plan to meet at the Chickies Rock County Park Northwest River Trail Parking Lot shortly before 7pm, and start the walk around 7pm. The trail is open until sunset which is around 8:35 PM this week.

Hope to see you this Friday!

Thanks PennLive.com for talking about Gila Monsters!

https://www.pennlive.com/life/2023/05/comedian-nate-bargatze-makes-psa-for-gila-monster-pronunciation-with-central-pa-animal-rescue.html

Are you familiar with the North American Wood Turtle?

Many people have never even heard of the wood turtle, but it's a beautiful semi-aquatic turtle native to PA, occasionally seen in Lancaster County. They don't bask in the open as often as painted turtles, they're much smaller than snapping turtles, and they're on land much less than box turtles, so they can be pretty hard to notice. Trout fisherman spend a lot of time in their habitat, so they may get to see a few if they keep their eyes peeled.

Last week one of our members had a chance to film a few of them emerging from hibernation, so you can be on the lookout for them. If you'd like to learn more about wood turtles, check out the video he made of local wood turtles waking up for the season.
https://youtu.be/CJkG7qj7NIU

We are excited to host our next meeting this Friday, March 17, 7PM EST at That Fish Place-That Pet Place in Lancaster.

Owen McIntyre will be presenting on Australian pythons and h**ping Australia! Just follow the signs to the conference room or ask an employee if you're not sure where to find us once you get to the store.

Check out the awesome 1-hour reptile special released by one of our members, Jesse Rothacker from Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary! His amateur nature documentary features the reptiles of South Florida that they recently filmed on a father/son adventure. Thanks to LNP + LancasterOnline for featuring the project’s release!

Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary debuts wholesome video special about reptiles in Florida [watch] Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary, which provides educational programming for kids in addition to its work as a reptile rescue, made its way down south for a wholesome hour-long special dedicated

Did you know some snakes show maternal care? This mama timber rattlesnake would never approach you or chase you. But if you sat down on that pile, you would quickly learn about the defensive bites of babies and adults!

JOIN US TONIGHT
Fri, Jan 20th @ 7PM at
That Fish Place-That Pet Place
FOR OUR FIRST LHS MEETING OF THE YEAR!

If you have any newer reptiles or h**ping pics since our last meeting, please send them to us so we can include them in our meeting slides.

Today we remember Jan Cooper, one of the most caring animal advocates the world will ever know. As a zookeeper for ZooAmerica in Hershey, which is the zoo closest to Lancaster, Jan was an early supporter and member of LHS. Around 2006 she lead the club's first field trip, giving us a behind-the-scenes tour of the zoo. These photos show her in her element, surrounded by people and animals, with a huge smile on her face from sharing her amazing animal world with us. She later took a zoo position in Arizona, and touched so many lives from coast to coast. She was such a caring person who mentored so many animal people, and she had a huge heart for every animal she ever met. Jan, you will be dearly missed!

Here's a throwback album, to our first club field trip back in 2006 to ZooAmerica in Hershey. I don't think they were ever published. Thanks to Naturalist (zookeeper) Jan Cooper for showing us so much cool stuff behind the scenes!

Have you ever seen a wild copperhead? Was it in Lancaster County or somewhere else? We don’t have many of them around here, but recently one of our members had to move this one off a busy trail. Watch the story here:

https://youtu.be/6iwgR48NXC8

Thanks to everyone who attended our October Critter Encounter! Big thanks to Colin and Kyle and CJ and Jesse for bringing out lots of h**ps to share!

7 PM meeting tonight at That Fish Place-That Pet Place, come join us and bring a h**p to share!

Did you ever wonder how snakes mate? Jesse was lucky enough to film this pair of sweetheart serpents along a busy Lancaster County trail in 2019.

Unfortunately we learned that a local resident was recently bitten by a copperhead, which can be quite traumatic. We decided to share this video to help people learn to identify copperheads, and to show people how docile they are when you keep a safe distance.
https://youtu.be/p1BicgcfyWE

Reptiles are on the move this week, making the most of the two warm days, after several cold, wet days. This Lancaster County ratsnake was moved off a busy trail yesterday by one of our members. What h**ps have you been seeing?

Did you know that many reptiles exhibit maternal behavior? Although ratsnakes don't dig their nest in the ground like a turtle, or stay with their eggs like an alligator, they will often risk their lives seeking out the perfect hiding spot to deposit their eggs. Recently some of our members had to rescue a gravid ratsnake, who probably became trapped while seeking a spot to lay her eggs. Enjoy their video of the rescue call, which took place here in Lancaster County, PA:

https://youtu.be/v9EV--ZkrDU

😮

The Board of the Lancaster Herpetological Society met last evening, along with some active members, to discuss future plans for the group. We are excited to announce that from May through August, we will have a Summer Series of outdoor nature walks. The first of which will be May 20th at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area! We will then return to more traditional indoor meetings in September!

Please be on the lookout here for more information about next month’s meeting at Middle Creek!