Herps!

Herpetofauna of Louisiana is on for Saturday, May 1, 9 am – 3 pm. A PayPal button to register and pay our $25 fee for workshops is on the Certification tab.

The flyer is in Dr. Carr’s hands for approval, but here’s the tentative plan:

We’ll gather in the same lab on the ULM campus we have met in before–Hanna Hall, Rm 250–for our classroom instruction. Dr. Carr’s illustrated lecture will be an intro to herpetology and the herpetofauna of Louisiana.

I know, of course, that some of us heard that lecture a few years ago, but we have new members who need the basics. For me, I just hope more of it will “stick” this time than did the first time I heard it! Repetition is good.

Our first piece of turtle-focused fieldwork will be on Bayou Desiard where it flows through the ULM campus. Feeding the turtles has long been a feature of student life at ULM, but.., better yet, we will learn about a research project being conducted graduate students with the Bayou Desiard turtles.

How many universities can provide a natural turtle lab right outside the biology building? Too cool.

After that, we hope to go to Moon Lake, which is home to many turtle species, including some less common ones we will not see in Bayou Desiard. A fact of life in Louisiana–that roads to certain wonderful natural areas become impassable certain times of the year–might force us elsewhere.

Black Bayou Lake NWR is a possible back-up fieldwork location, but…. will the boardwalk be open? That is a crucial feature we need to get close to the turtles.

Bottom line: We might not know where we’re going until Saturday morning. Dr. Carr is doing some scouting and I assured him that we are flexible.

There’s a wonderful Natural History Museum on the first floor of Hanna Hall, and if we have time, we will visit it.

If you want to do this workshop, please get registered ASAP. We will follow Covid-19 guidelines, which means: 1) if we have more than 11 people who want the workshop, Dr. Carr will have to find a different classroom. I’ve already registered, so there’s room for 10 more. 2) We will wear masks while indoors.

As for transportation to our second field work site, I am fully vaccinated and happy to take passengers willing to wear masks in the car. If you’re not fully vaccinated and/or don’t want to wear a mask in transit, you should drive your own vehicle.

Call/email if you have questions.