Sea Turtles to Sidewinders

Sea Turtles to Sidewinders: A Guide to the Most Fascinating Reptiles and Amphibians of the West
by Charles Hood

This is one terrific nature guide for that inspiring scientist, naturalist, or something to do as a family. This book is for the western half of the United States. It has all the information a person that wants to find and view nature, particularly reptiles and amphibians, will need. It emphasizes a "no touch" approach, and "do not destroy habitat".

Having four boys, all grown now, reptiles and amphibians were a daily thing. I think they would have loved this book! I didn't have a clue what we were looking at most of the time. This book has over a 100 excellent photos with descriptions of each critter. Their size, color, diet, where they live, and even their temperament! More information is given too, such as their defenses. I wish I had this when my kids were younger.

There is even a section on sea turtles, tortoises, and water turtles. Explanation on invasive water turtles in the past is brought up and plenty of photos show how to identify them.

This may be a book for middle grade kids, or younger with adult assistance, but the author does not talk down to his audience. He also doesn't make it a boring science book. It reads like you're with a knowledgeable teacher out on a trip together and they are giving you pointers. It's relaxing and informative, insightful and clever, teaming with pictures and tidbits about things you might not know to ask. It gives good conservationists advice without being preachy, and it teaches to respect nature and the wilderness.

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this informative and enlightening book!

This book focuses on reptiles and amphibians found on the western half of the United states. Visually this book is a winner with great closeup photos of lizards, snakes, salamanders and more. In a casual manner, this book introduces the reader to how to look for reptiles and amphibians and provides tips from where to find them to how to document your observations. Recommend for people getting started with citizen science or just wanting to learn the basics about the topic.

Sea Turtles to Sidewinders is an utterly fascinating book about lizards, snakes, turtles and amphibians mainly in Western United States, readily accessible for any age, detailed and clear, The writing is witty and humorous at times and always smart. But you needn't live in that area to immerse yourself in the wondrous photography and descriptions. There are frequent reminders not to handle any animal you do not know well and warnings against releasing pets into the wild. It may seem obvious but people continue to do it. Included is information about how climate and weather affect reproduction, what these creatures eat and how often, how they breathe and mortality rates.

Herpetologists (herps) study reptiles and amphibians. Talk about riveting! As a reptile and amphibian fan, I was happy to read about many species such as tailed frogs, African clawed frogs (they trill!), toxic newts, ancient tortoises weighing more than a car, red-ear slider which performs magic in her nest, quirky zebra-tailed lizard, the horned lizard with a startling trick, racing snakes and gorgeous ring-necked snake. But the ability which stands out most to me is the lizard whose blood protein eliminates Lyme bacterium.

For each species fun facts, range and size are included as well. The coloured headings stand out and give brief summaries of what you are about to read. Though I do not know enough about the reptiles and amphibians of the US I do have frequent interesting encounters where I live part time in rural Europe and am always grateful to learn more.

If you are intrigued by these oft-misunderstood and amazing creatures, it would be a shame to miss this book. I was glued to it and read it in one sitting but it would also be a great reference book.

My sincere thank you to Timber Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this engrossing and informative book.

Fantastic! First of all Sea Turtles to Sidewinders by Charles Hood, Erin Westeen and Jose Gabriel Martinez-Fonseca's should be in EVERY library!

This is a great book for not just a budding naturalist but anyone who sees these animals and can lead to more wonder but also as in my case learning even more about Western Fence lizards. But first, I have to say that the writing is wonderful, it has a bit of humor and I knew it was going to be fun on the 'A Note about Names' block. Chuckled on that one. Second, the photography is superb. Al three have contributed photos with Jose mostly a photographer and a PhD candidate and an author himself on an important book titled 'Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Nicaragua'. There are enough photographs but then of course I'd love more, but definitely enough. The book covers a lot but my favorites are the lizards, turtles, and frogs. When I was a little girl I grew up on the central coast of California and our subdivision backed up to a nature reserve where a lot of horned lizards lived. I had an obsession with them watching their eyes and how they ate and ended up putting them on my shoulder and walking around with them as if they were my buddies. I'd name them and to this day I have Western Fence lizards in my garden and name them also, there is a 'Gus' who hangs around my potting shed and today he was out doing his push ups so when I saw this book I knew I would eat it up and I did. Also, on the naming of them, I'm weird like that and embrace that part of me that I value them as beneficials which they truly are. Anyhoo, back to the book, I "thought" I knew so much about Western Fence Lizards but appearently I did NOT. I learned that Western Fence lizards have a superpower! They can actually make an area where they live more beneficals for humans! "If a tick that carries the bacterium that causes Lyme disease bites a Western Fence Lizard the protein in the lizard's blood elimate the bacterium , and the tick is no longer a vector for the disease! This protein is incredibly effective; where these lizards occur, only 5% of ticks contain the harmful bacterium, compared to a prevalence of 50% in other areas"! The book wrote it better than I could write it but anyway, that alone is worth buying this book alone for every library because we do not know this! Many people think lizards are only good for eating bugs but no they are not just beneficial to humans in that regard but in fighting diease also. Anyway I'm a bit of a lizard nerd as it probably shows and it probably also shows how much I appreciate and love this highly beneficial book.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher Timber Press for the opportunity to read and review this informative, great format, user friendly, well done book and of course the authors.

This is an excellent view of amphibians, snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises and one or two that seem ambiguous to the hiker and beginning herpetologist, like legless lizards. I love the strong colour photos of these creatures in their native environments, generally well camouflaged. Incomers as well as natives are described, with warnings as to why you should never just release a herp - some toads eat other toads and frogs, while even a local tortoise may carry a disease to the native denizens.

Great advice is provided about not handing these animals, what to do in case of a snakebite, how to visit the areas and avoid inadvertently damaging their habitat or poisoning their water.

Minor point - the authors say they are stating measurements in feet and inches, as those will be most familiar to everyone. Well, not to people from other parts of the world who are visiting America. The author advise anyone getting into science, to learn metric as well - so why not add a line to the line at the top of the page with the metric equivalent?

Further reading and credits, p. 236- 238. Index p. 239 - 253.
Excellent read which will be of interest to many readers and age groups, as it is not a science textbook nor a junior read, but presents a large amount of information simply and fluently.