When I was in Mississippi over the summer of 2015 doing the fieldwork for my Master's thesis in biology, I first began to herp. Herping is a verb used by bionerds to mean "go out (usually at night) and look for reptiles and amphibians." I was just becoming exposed to herping, and so didn't go out at night, but I do have pictures of some pretty amazing animals. Warning: some of the pictures are blurry!

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First let me set the scene. I was on the coast of Mississippi and didn't put much effort at all into herping as I was still a certified newbie at this point. Here's a panorama I took at sunset of one of the fishing piers I frequented while picking up sea turtles for rehabilitation:

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Alright, enough scenic pictures. On to the herps. I have to start with a sea turtle, specifically, a Kemp's ridley. I'm not going to go into any more detail in this post. As my study species, I of course have so much to say about them that I will have to create a series of posts solely dedicated to this marvelous, charismatic, critically endangered species.

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle, Lepidochelys kempii.

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If you've ever been down south, here is one of the most common herps you'll ever encounter. They can be sighted on almost every horizontal or vertical surface, and are not particularly afraid of humans.

Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis

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Here is a beautiful snake, a black racer. This species can grow up to 3-5 feet in length, and the taxonomy of the Coluber constrictor complex is contentious. This particular racer was probably 3 feet in length. I'll give the subspecies name, even though subspecies aren't really a thing!

Southern Black Racer, Coluber constrictor priapus

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Here is a herp, but herpetologists and ornithologists don't usually call them herps! Yes, birds are reptiles, and dinosaurs too! They're actually Theropods, which also includes none other than T. rex. This particular dinosaur is a blue heron.

Great Blue Heron, Ardia herodias

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Now, on to my favorite category of herps: turtles. Because, of course, I like turtles! This is a beautiful Diamondback terrapin that saw its population decimated by overharvesting in the 1900s because they were considered a delicacy. Their numbers have rebounded and they are now classified as lower risk or near threatened. I have a particular affinity for Diamondback terrapins, because they eat a lot of the same species and inhabit the same nearshore waters that my studies species, the Kemp's ridley, do.

Diamondback Terrapin, Malaclemys terrapin

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I have to end with a non-herp, and more specifically, an insect, because I would be remiss if I didn't mention that most animal diversity comes in the form of insects. Also, this is a particularly beautiful and non-threatening bug, the katydid.

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Part II of Mississippi Herps coming soon. I think I'm going to switch between states for my herps posts, so stay tuned if you like pictures of amphibians and reptiles!