Reptiles and Amphibians

by Herbert S. Zim, Hobart M. Smith

Describes 212 species of turtles, snakes, frogs, salamanders and their relatives.

Genres: Science, Reference, Nature, Field Guides, Animals, Nonfiction, Collections

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Herbert Spencer Zim (July 12, 1909 – December 5, 1994) was a naturalist, author, editor and educator best known as the founder (1945) and editor-in-chief of the Golden Guides series of nature books.

Reviews

[Jessaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I forgot all about this book when I was writing reviews on the insect and bird books that I read as a child. There must be a reason for this. While I like most snakes, I am not fond of amphibians, although I found it fun as a kid to walk slowly up to one, slowly move my hand to their head, and then be able to touch their nose with my finger. That was fun. As an adult I found Iguanas interesting, like when I was in Mexico I followed one in the hallway of a hotel, and it turned an hissed at me. I knew to turn and walk away.

Other than that there were the snakes. This is a great book for kids to learn to identify snakes. I needed to know what a rattlesnake looked like since I walked in the woods and to the river with my dog when I was a kid. But you also needed to learn to not to confuse them with a gopher snake, which for me was easy to do. Gopher snakes were good to have around the yard; rattlesnakes were bad news.

I had my share of rattlesnakes. I saw them at the river when I walked my dog, and when I was in my 40s and moved to Creston, CA to a house in the country, I had them in my yard, which was so unnerving. They had to be killed, which was even more unnerving. One day I found some baby rattlers in our yard, and those are not easy to see. Then one day I found a grown one in our wood pile. I went and got the phone and my shotgun. I called my friend who had given me the shotgun and asked, if I shoot the snake would the shot ricochet off the aluminum shed next to the snake? No, I was assured. I hung up the phone and pulled the trigger. Then I took a rake and shovel and buried the snake. A few minutes later my dog was barking. I went outside and the snake was coming out of the ground, just flipping out in large circled motions. I cut off its head and buried them both. End of story.

Ranchers in Creston used to hang them on the fences along the road after killing them. Trophies, I guess.

My husband and I lived in Florida for a while right near a swamp, and I used to walk my dog down the road seeing all kinds of snakes, fire ant mounds and pitcher plants. One day my dog walked up to a water moccasin and sniffed it. I told her to back off. I remember seeing blue racers as well. Then one day a man in a pickup came by, stopped, and told me that it wasn’t safe to walk down the road due to all of the snakes. I knew that, but then I decided to just listen to him as I was becoming unnerved and was worried more about my dog, which was lucky to have not been bitten. Maybe it is true what Buddhists say, a mild man will not be harmed. My dog was not one to kill anything. But of course it is hard to say whether that is just a tale, so I wouldn’t test it out.

Another way to identify venomous snakes is to look at their eyes, if you are not running way, and hopefully you will not be that close to see them. Anyway, they are slits. If it is a rattler, it will rattle. But they all have puffy cheeks (triangular heads). As for water snakes, a venomous ones will swim on top of the water; the others will swim in the water. A coral snake breaks all the rules, you have to know its colors, and you have to memorize the order of its bands are since it has the same markings as the king snake, which you don’t want to kill since it is harmless and kills rattlesnakes.

Basically, I like snakes, but I think some of them don’t deserve to live, and that may be horrible to say, but I don’t want them around me if they are poisonous. We have copperheads and water moccasins where we live now, but I have not seen a copperhead on our property, and maybe that is because the cats kill any snake that comes into our yard. If I see the snake first and know that is harmless I try to save it for the cats.

Now the Buddhists don’t kill anything. I remember being at a Buddhist monastery and my friend, a monk, told me that he walked out of his room one day and had to walk around a rattler. I will tell my other story when I write about spiders. So, if a rattler bit him it would have been his karma, and if he died, well, karma again.

I talked with a guy once who lived at the military base in a trailer, and it was against the law to kill rattlers, at least in California. He said that he would open the door and see several in his yard, in his path. I don’t know how he handled it, but what a stupid law. I can see a law being made in California that didn’t allow one to kill human predators.

So, I wish that all kids could be given a set of these nature books when they are young because they need to learn to identify bad snakes, just as they need to learn to identify bad men, plants, arachnidas, sea critters, and bad insects. Ah, and I forgot about reviewing the arachnida book and the one on plants and sea shells. Later.

[Chris Cox, a librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay...In going through books that have been on my shelf since I was a kid (we're talking decades here!) I chose to read Reptiles and Amphibians by Herbert S. Zim. My copy still has the price sticker on it that says $ 1 0 7 on it. Beats the $1.25 on the actual cover of the book! It was purchased at an S. S. Kresge store dating it even further.

This is the edition that has a 1958 copyright date (It was ten years old at least when I got it). I didn't realize that Mr. Zin had so many later editions of the book as well as guides to other topics such a!s Gemstones and Mineral and Trees.

My version of the book has really nice color illustrations of reptiles (turtles, lizards, snakes and gators) and amphibians (frogs, toads, salamanders, etc.). Mr. Zin had a love for these animals which you can tell by his descriptions of the attractiveness of some of these animals that aren't always noted for their aesthetic beauty. Just don't quiz me on the different types of snakes and the North American breakdown where skinks and mud puppies live, but I know where to look if it comes up!

Now to find something else that has been on my shelf for decades...I'm hoping the front cover doesn't fall off of the next one.

[Brian Hutzell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading the Golden Guides as a kid; they were my introduction to science and nature. They still serve that purpose admirably, though some books in the series are due for a thorough updating. Like other books in the series, this one is generously illustrated, and provides an appendix with scientific names. The Golden Guides are fun to read straight through, and also serve as handy reference guides to keep around.

[Jacob Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This non-fiction book is a comprehensive guide to all kinds of reptiles and amphibians

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reptiles & Amphibians: 212 Species in Full Color is an excellent science book to have in a classroom science corner for the children to look at all the different animals. It gives them a chance to see pictures of reptiles and amphibians that are not in the area of your school to increase their exposure to the animal world.

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll give this 5 stars just because it is one of the first books I loved as a child. I must have checked this thing out of my elementary school library 50 times. I have not idea what it was that I loved, but now, 45 years later, i can still remember every page and drawing.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A guide to different retiles and amphibians. It contains some good photographs and drawings ae well as information about these creatures. It is easy to use.

[Benjamin Plume · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as "Venemous Animals," but still one of the better ones.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book I ever owned! I think it was back in 1966 when I received it as a gift from my grandpa! ...and I loved frogs (and Herbert Zim's books) ever since!

[Duke2026 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that if you read this you would be shoked by so much informasion.-ivette

[Mom's Books]

two copies