About Me

I am an 18-year-old native St. Louisan who has had a love for strange creatures from an early age. It all started when I was three years old and I discovered that there were earthworms in my sandbox. From then on I was interested in everything creepy crawly which later evolved into a love for dinosaurs. By the time I was five years old, my whole room was decked out with dinosaur and I was constantly outside looking for interesting bugs to catch. My interest in reptiles didn’t occur until my family was at the beach one year when I was seven.

Every summer my family and I would make a 15-hour trek down to Garden City, S.C. to have a family reunion. Our little beachfront cottage was home to a nice ecosystem that supported a healthy population of green anoles. As anyone who has tried to catch green anoles, they know that these guys are fast and it takes skill plus some luck to capture them. Well, the first anole I caught was more luck and cooperation then skill. This poor green anole made the mistake of running under a parked car with my three cousins and myself close on its heels. We had the little guy surrounded and he didn’t even have a chance to escape. Once we had captured him, I did what every boy my age would do; I begged my parents if I could keep him. They, being the wonderful parents they are, finally relented. Little did they know that this would be the igniting spark for the fiery passion I now have for reptiles

In the following years, I would return to the beach with a “Kritter Keeper” in each hand ready to see how many anoles I could catch in a week’s time span. When I was ten, I even caught about twenty green anoles and brought them back to St. Louis to sell to a local pet store. Now that I know more about different states’ laws and how a successful ecosystem works, I see that this act was not the best or most legal thing I could have done. But as they say, hindsight is 20/20. Throughout these earlier years my anole collection topped out at five anoles in two, ten-gallon aquariums. When the last of my anoles died after a couple of years I bought a leopard gecko. I enjoyed him but when I was twelve I decided to sell him and say enough is enough with reptiles.

Me and an iguana in St. Thomas, VI.

There was a two-year period where I didn’t have anything because I was tired of constantly having to take care of them. Then, when I was 15, I started to become interested again in them. I re-subscribed to Reptiles Magazine and started to ponder what herp I wanted to purchase. My parents said that if I wanted to have any more reptiles I would have to go and buy the crickets and other supplies myself. I agreed to their terms and the rest is, how they say, history. Currently I am the owner of two green anoles, a mossy leaf tail gecko, a bearded dragon, and a Kenyan sand boa. These animals may make up a big part of my life but they are not the full extent of how herpetology has affected my life.

A softshell I caught on our anual float trip.

Some of the best times I have are the times I am herping in the field. When I was sixteen, my family and I took a vacation to St. Thomas, VI. Not only is this a beautiful island paradise, it is also a herpers dream come true. My days were based on seeing how many anoles, iguanas, and geckos I could catch and taking measurements and notes on each. I also enjoy taking float trips down in central MO each year. Here, my friends and I enjoy capturing a variety of aquatic herps such as red-ear sliders, soft-shell turtles, and northern banded water snakes, all of which we capture, photograph, and release. With numerous parks and wooded areas near my house, I have the opportunity to catch and release garter snakes, black rack snakes, fence lizards, and other such herps.

A black rat snake I caught in our local park.

I also take a more influential herpetological role in my area. I am currently a member of the St. Louis Herpetological Society. I believe that these societies are essential in the conservation of reptiles through the education of the public on what they can do to help. I have volunteered my time and have gone to schools to talk to students about my animals along with the general species of Missouri. I have found that these times that I have volunteered have been very rewarding and I would suggest to any herper to do the same.