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50 Common Reptiles & Amphibians of the Southwest
If you want to be one of the privileged few to see a Gila monster or a desert tortoise, do you know their likely habitat or how they will react to your visit? Large color photographs clearly show the animals in the wild. You'll find it easy to remember and recognize these elusive creatures after you've seen them a lot closer than you're likely to get by yourself.
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 2, 2020
I'm not sure it's ethical to include such a short book as part of my Reading Challenge, but since I read three of these books in a day, I'm going to count them all as one, and push past my 50-book goal for the year (which is looking like a breeze at this point anyway).
This is one in a series of short guidebooks for the layman observer. Although I'm pretty well-versed in reptiles and mammals, I'm woefully underpowered at amphibian identification. I know most if not all of the frog species in my vicinity, but have some difficulty distinguishing some of the local toads by sight, and since I rarely encounter salamanders, I've never mastered them. And although I'm a whiz at snake and lizard identification, have put in little time learning turtles (other than the most prominent two or three species around here). So this will come in handy, if I can remember to keep it in a back pocket while I'm hiking or biking around central Texas.
This is one in a series of short guidebooks for the layman observer. Although I'm pretty well-versed in reptiles and mammals, I'm woefully underpowered at amphibian identification. I know most if not all of the frog species in my vicinity, but have some difficulty distinguishing some of the local toads by sight, and since I rarely encounter salamanders, I've never mastered them. And although I'm a whiz at snake and lizard identification, have put in little time learning turtles (other than the most prominent two or three species around here). So this will come in handy, if I can remember to keep it in a back pocket while I'm hiking or biking around central Texas.
August 18, 2024
Alright so this is another small nature book that I picked up while going through the American Southwest for a vacation. I have to say that it is a fairly solid book, starting with a brief description of the differences between reptiles and snakes. Plus, a warning about how one shouldn't pick up venomous snakes.
There is a definite unequal coverage, which admittedly makes sense given the nature of the Southwest, with far more lizards and snakes than turtles or amphibians. Each entry has beautiful photographs, information on their size, location, diet, and even the names of some in both English and Spanish all put upon high quality paper. My only criticism is that for as thin as this book is, you could easily have included twice of many animals and still have a book that is easily carried along. Especially on the amphibian entries, like why include the non native Bullfrog here?
Definitely worth a buy
There is a definite unequal coverage, which admittedly makes sense given the nature of the Southwest, with far more lizards and snakes than turtles or amphibians. Each entry has beautiful photographs, information on their size, location, diet, and even the names of some in both English and Spanish all put upon high quality paper. My only criticism is that for as thin as this book is, you could easily have included twice of many animals and still have a book that is easily carried along. Especially on the amphibian entries, like why include the non native Bullfrog here?
Definitely worth a buy
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews