Introduction, a few photos and a question!
Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 1:43 pmHello all!
Normally I'm not very keen on sharing detailed private information on the world wide web, but because I joined this forum to get in contact with other fieldherpers, I thought it would be appropriate to properly introduce myself.
My name is Bert Grit, I'm 32 years old and I'm from the Netherlands (the lovely province of Drenthe). I have a BSc. in Medicine and I'm hoping to receive my Masters degree (Medicine) later this year.
I have been interested in reptiles and amphibians since I was a child. Snakes have always been my favorite and I've been keeping them as pets on-and-off for many years now. Currently I keep 1.0 Euprepiophis mandarinus (Mandarin ratsnake), 1.1 or 0.2 (not 100 % sure on the gender of one of the animals) Morelia viridis (Green treepython), 0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis concinnus (Oregon red spotted gartersnake) and 0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis (California red sided gartersnake).
It wasn't until last year that I spotted my first reptile in my homecountry. It was a Common viper (Vipera berus) I came across on a sandtrail when I was walking through a heath at the end of March. Since that first encounter I've become obsessed with this beautiful venomous snake. I've visited the same heath multiple times last year (spring and autumn) and this year (spring). Last year I saw quite a lot of vipers there in spring, but this year considerably less animals were found by me at the same spot...
In the summer of last year I was quite succesful in finding Smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca) at a different location.
Well, I promised you photos in the thread title, so here are few of my favorite photos of Common vipers (Vipera berus) from last year!
I shoot with a DSLR with 18-55 mm kitlens and these photos were taken in situ, so no supercrisp macrophotos with low DOF I'm afraid... 
And now for my first question on this forum!
I will be on holiday in central France during the first half of July. Our accomodation is located in Presly. It's situated in the middle of forest and nearby a large pond. Although it's a family holiday, I would like to do some fieldherping in the area while I'm there.
What I would like to ask to the more seasoned fieldherpers from this community is:
1. Is the area suitable for fieldherping?
2. Wich species of reptile and/or amphibian can I expect to find there?
I've already found a list of species found in the region Centre, but I don't know where to look for them, to be honest.
I have a car to my disposal and I'm willing to do some driving around in the region (Centre).
If you happen to have any tips or tricks and are willing to share them, don't hesitate to send me a personal message!
Thanks!
Bert
Normally I'm not very keen on sharing detailed private information on the world wide web, but because I joined this forum to get in contact with other fieldherpers, I thought it would be appropriate to properly introduce myself.
My name is Bert Grit, I'm 32 years old and I'm from the Netherlands (the lovely province of Drenthe). I have a BSc. in Medicine and I'm hoping to receive my Masters degree (Medicine) later this year.
I have been interested in reptiles and amphibians since I was a child. Snakes have always been my favorite and I've been keeping them as pets on-and-off for many years now. Currently I keep 1.0 Euprepiophis mandarinus (Mandarin ratsnake), 1.1 or 0.2 (not 100 % sure on the gender of one of the animals) Morelia viridis (Green treepython), 0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis concinnus (Oregon red spotted gartersnake) and 0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis (California red sided gartersnake).
It wasn't until last year that I spotted my first reptile in my homecountry. It was a Common viper (Vipera berus) I came across on a sandtrail when I was walking through a heath at the end of March. Since that first encounter I've become obsessed with this beautiful venomous snake. I've visited the same heath multiple times last year (spring and autumn) and this year (spring). Last year I saw quite a lot of vipers there in spring, but this year considerably less animals were found by me at the same spot...
In the summer of last year I was quite succesful in finding Smooth snakes (Coronella austriaca) at a different location.Well, I promised you photos in the thread title, so here are few of my favorite photos of Common vipers (Vipera berus) from last year!
I shoot with a DSLR with 18-55 mm kitlens and these photos were taken in situ, so no supercrisp macrophotos with low DOF I'm afraid... And now for my first question on this forum!
I will be on holiday in central France during the first half of July. Our accomodation is located in Presly. It's situated in the middle of forest and nearby a large pond. Although it's a family holiday, I would like to do some fieldherping in the area while I'm there.
What I would like to ask to the more seasoned fieldherpers from this community is:
1. Is the area suitable for fieldherping?
2. Wich species of reptile and/or amphibian can I expect to find there?
I've already found a list of species found in the region Centre, but I don't know where to look for them, to be honest.
I have a car to my disposal and I'm willing to do some driving around in the region (Centre).
If you happen to have any tips or tricks and are willing to share them, don't hesitate to send me a personal message!
Thanks!
Bert
It appears that there's enough to find in the Cher department.