Photo: Peter Sulzle
A call to arms has been made to all amateur herpetologists — reptile and amphibian enthusiasts — to participate in International Herp Day on Sunday, June 2.
In this case the arms will be a pen, notebook, and camera and the mission to hike, within a 50 kilometre radius of a base point, recording all herps that are visible. Participants are asked to submit their results, pictures and videos to the event’s host interiorsnakeden.com.
“Herp Day’s an effort by us to try to raise the profile of herps, to raise the awareness of herps in our community,” says event organizer Frank Ritchie.
Ritchie explains that the Kamloops area is rich with a diversity of different herps, including six species of snake, making this an ideal area to get to learn more about these animals.
“We have this convergence of different ecosystems (in Kamloops) so you’ve got the riparian areas down along the river banks giving habitat for the garter snakes (Western terrestrial and common), then the dry grasslands for the gopher snakes and yellow-bellied racer and rattlesnakes and then also in the valley bottoms we have the rubber boa which is a true boa constrictor.”
Prior to the official Herp Day, the Kamloops Naturalist Club will be sponsoring a reptile walk on Saturday, June 1. Guides will lead participants into the Tranquille Valley to discover and learn about snakes.
As the herps’ habitat is increasingly being urbanized reptiles, amphibians, and indeed other animals, are being displaced and destroyed. Ritchie hopes that getting people out and involved in identifying herps will bring awareness to often overlooked species.
“It’s a bit of ‘citizen science’ — it gets people participating and it gives an idea of the range of where the animals are,” says Ritchie. “As soon as people start participating in activities like this they take a bit more ownership. If you’re protecting the habitat for snakes and amphibians you’re also protecting everything else. So, it’s a win win situation.”
To get ready for Herp Day visit: interiorsnakeden.com
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