We have added a new link to the site called Educational Resources. We have been working on a few papers relates to endangered species of PA along with other educational materials. Today I am releasing three that we have completed in the past few weeks. We will have a few more complete and up soon.

In the future we hope to have these available in print format and maybe even a magazine handout once we have enough documents. These will also be part of a new site we are currently working on for educational and resource materials on PA herps.

The three that I have added today are part of out “Have you seen me?”section on Endangered and Expedited species of PA – Kirtland’s Snake, Blanding’s Turtle, and the Midland Smooth Softshell Turtle.

If you have and questions, concerns or thoughts feel free to contact us.

After seeing this on a commercial on the Animal Planet I though I would add a post to the Savethefrog.com.

There is a lot of great information on the site pertaining to the decline of frogs and amphibians around the world and what you can do to help.

Also you can donate by buying a $10 shirt, $4 of that purchase will go to the Amphibian Ark program and the other $6 covers the cost of the shirt.

Check out Savethefrog.com and Amphibianark.org to learn more.

Hello everyone,
The weather is starting to cool off here in Pennsylvania, and the herps are slowing down. We hope that the site has helped a lot of you this year and will continue to do so over then next few cold month and on in to the next year. Even though the reptiles and amphibians will not be around as much in the colder months, you may still see one or two on a warm day in the winter time. We will still be around to answer any questions or help out with your ID’s at any time so feel free to send us a message.

During the next few months we will still be working on projects for PAherps.com and adding a few educational documents to the site for you to read, download or print for free. Be sure to check the site for a post of each new document. We will be adding a new link to the site shortly for access to the documents page. By the beginning of next year we hope to have enough documents together to have a magazine printed. We feel this will be a great resource for us to give out and send to education facilities. We would love to hear any suggestions on topics you may be interested in and also would love to hear how the site has helped you. We have received a number of emails from educators and other organizations on there use of the site and we are putting together a list of how the site is being used.

This year has been successful in the goals of PAHERPS.com, thank you for all the emails and I am glad we were able to help over 40 people through emails. We have had over 60,000 page views since we launched in March, and have handed out over 300 cards and have helped educate many Pennsylvania residents on the herpitile of PA.

We are continuing to work hard to gather new ideas for the site and future projects that are in the works. We  hit a delay with funding, but hope to look at other options for these ideas. If you have any questions or would like more information feel free to send us an email.

What’s New and Coming.
New Store for PAHERPID shirts and other herp related shirts. Buy yours today.This site is a 3rd party site, we do hope to have some private sales on shirts we are having made though a screen printer.
Educational documents and magazine.
New species photos.
Minor Site Updates.

I have spent the last few days working on a few designs for shirts, hats and other apparel for the PA HERP ID site and a few other designs for another store. We are giving Cafepress a run to see how they go for these new products. You can check out the new stores and the products by going to the store link and then selecting the store you would like to view. The links will take you to the CafePress sites where you can view and buy the new products. We hope to see you promoting the new products, $3-$5 (that is the mark up price on each item) pre-sale will go back in to the site and other projects we are currently working on.

In the next week or so I will be also looking at donation a part of sales to one of the PA Conservation Programs. I will have more news on this in days to come.

Example Products:

New updates and news from Tim Maret of the PA HERP ATLAS. I’m glad to see more participation and that the project is running smoothly. Check the site out to learn how you can help with the project.

Hello,
After spending much of the summer out in the field looking for amphibians and reptiles, I spent much of last week updating the maps on the Pennsylvania Online Herpetological Atlas website (http://webspace.ship.edu/tjmare/herp.htm). I made it through all of the species except for box and wood turtles. There is a lot more data for these two species than for any other species, and I probably won’t have their maps updated until early September. Here are few interesting statistics:

- We have several new county records. I only counted it as a record if there was a photograph to allow positive identification. We have 3 new county records for the four-toed salamander, two for the marbled salamander, and one each for the queen snake and ribbon snake. Look at the distribution maps to see which counties.

- Besides the box and wood turtle, the top five species reported are: timber rattlesnakes 28, queen snakes 28, spotted turtles (14), four-toed salamanders (13), and Fowler’s toads (12). Note that if you reported multiple individuals on the same day in the same place, it counted as a single submission.

- The mountain chorus frog is “back from the dead”. After about 30 years of no reports, we have had three reports to the atlas project (2 with photos).

- There is a disturbing absence of reports for some of the frog species. We have absolutely no recent submissions for the other chorus frogs (New Jersey, upland, western) or cricket frog. People I talk to are just not seeing them. Not too long ago, they used to be common.

- The large number of reports of box and wood turtles is encouraging. Although the consensus seems to be that they are not as common as they used to be, they appear to be doing well in some areas.

This fall, I’ll have a student assistant helping me again. This should allow me to keep the webpage and maps to date and respond more quickly to questions and comments. Every once in a while, the university’s spam detector seems to grab a random e-mail or submission. I try to catch these, but I’m sure I miss a few (I’m sure I also misplace a few myself). If you don’t see your submission on the map, or didn’t hear back from me on a question or concern, please let me know. I have about a dozen pictures that were submitted without any information, and have no way of knowing who they came from.

I’ll be updating the photo page soon. If you haven’t looked at it, you really should! We have some great herp photographers out there. If you have any pictures you want to add, just e-mail them to me. They do not have to be species of concern. Give me until early September to get them posted. If I post your photo(s), it is with your permission. You still retain the copyright.

If you look at the updated maps, you may notice that they look fuzzy or are missing lines. If that is the case, click on the map. The map should show up at its full size, and the images should clear up. I don’t know enough about webpage design to correct this.

Finally, I want to express my gratitude to all of you who are participating in this project and emphasize its importance. For many of these species, this is the only data being gathered on their abundance and distribution. The information that you submit is forwarded to the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, where it is made available to state agency personnel for planning and conservation purposes. With that in mind, I’d like to ask your help in increasing the participation. Please share the webpage with your friends and colleagues, and encourage them to submit information. Now that the late summer heat has set in and most of the herps are hiding, please take the time to submit your findings from this spring and summer.

As always, I’d love to hear your comments and suggestions. One of the fun aspects of the project has been answering questions and trying to ID critters in some of the photos that have been sent. So please keep in touch. I’ll be out of the office until mid-August, but will around after that. Enjoy the rest of the summer and happy herping!

Tim