Herping
These include, but are not limited to, searching under natural cover objects (such as rocks and logs) and artificial cover objects (such as trash or construction debris), sometimes called 'flipping', as in 'flipping rocks' or 'flipping boards'; locating calling amphibians by ear, commonly done in pairs in order to triangulate on the location of the frog or toad; muddling or noodling for turtles by feeling around in mud or around objects submerged in water; dip-netting for aquatic amphibians and turtles; noosing lizards with wire or fishing line on the end of a pole; lantern walking, which involves searching habitat on foot at night; and road cruising, which refers to the practice of driving along a road slowly in search of reptiles or amphibians that are crossing the road or basking on the road surface.
In some cases, it is more practical to temporarily capture and pose the subject manually such as when moving or obscured by debris, such as when a fossorial snake is scurrying into its burrow.
The multiple flashes create three distracting catchlights in the subject's eye; two may be edited out of the photo by using Photoshop or similar applications.
These bite shields often take the form of an opaque or transparent plastic covering which surrounds the camera and exposes only the lens.
The herp is posed to show identifying features and can be photographed at leisure, creating a realistic photo.
Because reptiles and amphibians are often agitated when captured, various techniques have evolved to pacify subjects of herpetological photography.
One technique involves placing a hat or similar object over an animal (typically a snake) so that it coils and rests quietly.
[8] Similarly, driving roads at night during anuran breeding times can yield a high diversity of species.
This is done by travelling down a set route and stopping at predetermined spots and listening for a few minutes and writing down every species that was heard at that location.
Some of the more popular herping destinations include the United States, Costa Rica, the Amazon, Madagascar, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Australia.
[11][12] Other countries such as India and South Africa possess tremendous herpetological diversity and there are entrepreneurial individuals developing ecotourism infrastructure in these areas.
One example is Exo-Terra,[13] a division of the Hagen pet supplies company, which since 2004 has travelled to a different tropical African country each year.
While species lists may seem high, many Canadian herps have extremely limited ranges and exist only in isolated populations.
Many Canadian herp species are threatened and in some cases, great care is taken to protect remnant populations.
It is no coincidence that all of these states are in the southern part of the country; reptiles and amphibians are ectothermic (cold-blooded) and thus are typically more abundant in warmer climates.
Because of the time and budgetary constraints of filming a wildlife television program, captive animals are sometimes placed in natural settings for the host to "discover" and capture.
Some of the best-known television herpetologists include: Herping can potentially be a dangerous activity if not pursued with proper caution.
Other herping activities, especially "flipping," put a herper at risk of accidentally coming in contact with a scorpion, centipede, or spider.
The majority of herpers practice careful capture and release in the same spot, as many herps have their own territories and replacing them somewhere else would be a disturbance.
[20] Since many reptiles and amphibians are nocturnal, herpers often remove animals temporarily for daylight photo sessions.
In this case, the motive is usually commercial, with the collector planning to develop a striped bloodline and charge high prices for an exclusive morph.
