Reddit reviews A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides)

Please don't.

Most likely those were water snakes. They can be aggressive if confronted and mimic the colors of moccasins. However they're essentially harmless, except they will bite you and poop on you if caught.

Snakes are not bad guys, and help keep small rodent populations down. (much better than cats, feral cat populations do a lot of harm) You want to encourage proper native species to flourish in your area, and help maintain that balance otherwise you have to deal with the side effects. As a hunter this should be very important to you, imo.

Also, you might bear in mind that any large-ish snake you see took a few years to get that size, they don't grow fast like mammals tend to do. I recommend learning more about snakes and reptiles, especially species that live in your area.


Maybe next time, borrow or buy a field guide take it with you and see what you discover.

Get him "A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians." There's a couple of different editions out there that depend on where you live (you wouldn't want the West Coast edition when you live on the East Coast). It's informative and very helpful if he's into catching and learning about different kinds of reptiles.

Here's one version from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Reptiles-Amphibians-Peterson/dp/0395904528

If you live in the western half of the US and Canada, I'll send you my copy of the book! Here's a pic of the area covered in my book: http://imgur.com/0K4VV1I.

I got this book for one of my last classes in college back in spring. It's brand new, never been opened, and a little dusty from sitting on my self for 9 months. I would much rather see someone more interested in reptiles to enjoy the book, use it to catch reptiles, and to actually learn something from it. And you can have it for free!

If you're interested, just pm me where your address. If not, I hope that you'll find something great for your brother!

I fricken love field guides and my favorite Herp guide is Peterson's Eastern and Central North America or Peterson's Western North America depending on your location, assuming you live in North America.

I would recommend Snakes by Harry W Greene. A professor of mine gave it to me when I graduated. It is a beautiful book and has a ton of great information. Link to Amazon It only comes in paperback but it is a great book. If they are into going out and looking for herps I would recommend a field guide. Depending on where you are in the US there is a field guide, one for the Eastern and Central US and one for the Western US. The scientific names are outdated but the range maps and photos are still handy for learning about all of the herps in your area. Hope this helps!