Episode 127: Tales from the Tambo with Zach and Jeffrey

A back-deck-of-the-tambo interview with Jeffrey Niemeier and Zach Kaminski, recorded in the Peruvian rainforest in February 2026.

Hello everyone, and welcome to the last episode of Season Six! I have several pending episodes recorded in Peru earlier this year, but I felt the need to bump this one up in the queue. Kevin Messenger’s new book on the Venomous Snakes of China was published recently, and it’s an amazing publication. I reached out to Kevin to schedule an interview the same day I received my copy. To find out more about the new book, tours, and much more, visit the Herping China website. You can also follow Kevin on Facebook and Instagram. It was fun to talk with Kevin again and I hope to herp in China sometime. The seventh season of the podcast starts in May, and I want to say thank you, to all of you, for listening. Whether you listened to just one, or some, or all of the episodes, I thank you.  Additional thanks to those of you who reached out with feedback. PATRONS: As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee. While I’m at it, I want to give a shout-out to the show’s most recent patron, Torben Platt!  Thank you so much, Torben. MERCH!!!  T-shirts and other swag are available now at the SoMuchPingle Threadless Store. More designs are in the pipeline. Thank you in advance! POD BLOG! You can find the first of my supplemental blog posts that support podcast episodes at Notes From The Field. Let me know your thoughts! And thanks for listening everyone! And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming, and please take time to rate the show on your podcast platform! The show email is [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc. -Mike

Hello everyone, it’s great to be back!  This episode was recorded in February on our second trip, at the Santa Cruz field station. Nine of our fourteen clients were from Arkansas, and since I couldn’t talk to all nine at once, they appointed some representatives, and I found myself talking with Gabrielle Hargrove, Thomas Belford, and Brad Birchfield. We had an excellent conversation and I do want to give a shout-out to the whole Arkansas crew – Cyndi Porter, Caden Porter, Jeremy Sloan, Brad Birchfield, Reagan Birchfield, Gabby and AJ Hargrove, Thomas Belford and Anthony Belford. So much fun hanging out with this crew and of course, the other folks on the trip as well. PATRONS: As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee. While I’m at it, I want to give a shout-out to the show’s most recent patron, Torben Platt!  Thank you so much, Torben. MERCH!!!  T-shirts and other swag are available now at the SoMuchPingle Threadless Store. More designs are in the pipeline. Thank you in advance! POD BLOG! You can find the first of my supplemental blog posts that support podcast episodes at Notes From The Field. Let me know your thoughts! And thanks for listening everyone! And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming, and please take time to rate the show on your podcast platform! The show email is [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc. -Mike  

Hi everyone! The first show of 2026 turns out to be another edition of Herp Science Sunday! Alex and I had an interesting discussion with Justin Lee, who is currently working on his PhD at the University of Michigan. The bulk of our conversation centered around the genus Oligodon, of which Justin is a subject matter expert. In just a few years, he has authored and co-authored a number of papers on Kukri snakes, describing new species, and producing an updated phylogeny of Oligodon in 2024. It’s an entertaining segment featuring a crazy-cool snake genus, and an up-and-coming young herpetologist. Pod Blog: additional material supporting this episode can be found at www.fieldherping.org. Miguel Ángel de la Torre Loranca was kidnapped from his home and taken from his beloved family in late November. Miguel is a world-renowned herpetologist who has contributed to the description of numerous species, protection of habitat, and has played a pivotal role in facilitating herpetological fieldwork, conservation initiatives, and expeditions for countless Mexican and international biologists. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help his wife and children during this difficult time – if you can help out even just a little, it would mean a lot. Thank you. The wildlife conservation magazine Mongabay has an article with more details on Miguel’s work. PATRONS: As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee. While I’m at it, I want to give a shout-out to the show’s most recent patron, Torben Platt!  Thank you so much, Torben. MERCH!!!  T-shirts and other swag are available now at the SoMuchPingle Threadless Store. More designs are in the pipeline. Thank you in advance! POD BLOG! You can find the first of my supplemental blog posts that support podcast episodes at Notes From The Field. Let me know your thoughts! And thanks for listening everyone! And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming, and please take time to rate the show on your podcast platform! The show email is [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc. -Mike

Happy holidays, herpers! Here’s another episode that came out of my attending the West Virginia Herpetological Society’s annual meeting this past September. Will Robertson gave an excellent presentation on the thermal ecology of box turtles, a project he is working on as part of his master’s project. And since we all love box turtles, and wish to better understand their lives and protect their future, I invited Will to come on the show and enlighten us further. Will is also involved in science communication and nature appreciation via his YouTube channel, “Will Robertson’s Wildlife” – be sure to check his channel out and you can also follow him on Instagram. Thanks for talking with me Will, and best wishes to you in the future. As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee. While I’m at it, I want to give a shout-out to the show’s most recent patron, Torben Platt!  Thank you so much, Torben. MERCH!!!  T-shirts and other swag are available now at the SoMuchPingle Threadless Store. More designs are in the pipeline. Thank you in advance! POD BLOG! You can find the first of my supplemental blog posts that support podcast episodes at Notes From The Field. Let me know your thoughts! And thanks for listening everyone! And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming, and please take time to rate the show on your podcast platform! The show email is [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc. -Mike  

This episode has a few firsts – it’s the first time I’ve done a recording while sitting at my dining room table, and it’s the first time I’ve interviewed someone from my neighborhood. Nathan Kutok lives just a few blocks away, and he’s an up-and-coming herpetologist who is involved in some  interesting projects early in his career. This episode focuses on Nathan’s recent trip to Iran, and we talk about his motivations for going, and some of the political aspects of such an adventure. And of course, we talk about some of the interesting herps Nathan encountered as well. As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee. MERCH!!!  T-shirts and other swag are available now at the SoMuchPingle Threadless Store. More designs are in the pipeline. Thank you in advance! POD BLOG! You can find the first of my supplemental blog posts that support podcast episodes at Notes From The Field. Let me know your thoughts! And thanks for listening everyone! And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming, and please take time to rate the show on your podcast platform! The show email is [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc. -Mike  

I’m so happy to produce another Herp Science Sunday segment with Dr. Alex Krohn! In this episode we talk with Dr. Alexandra Martin, one of the co-authors of a brand new paper, which lays out some astounding data that supports the idea that some anole species are able to breathe underwater, in a novel way. The name of the paper is “High dissolved oxygen extends dive duration and suggests physical gill use in a vertebrate” and was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology in July of 2025. The authors are Alexandra M. Martin, Diane Cordero-De La Cruz, and Lindsey Swierk. Congratulations to all of the co-authors! Feel free to email me if you would like a PDF of the paper (somuchpingle “at” gmail dot com). Here is the link to the Anole Bubble Movie, useful to watch prior to hearing our discussion. Here is a link to a related article in the Anole Annals blog, authored by Dr. Lindsey Swierk. On BlueSky, you can follow Allie Martin PhD (@alliemartin.bsky.social) and Lindsey Swierk (@lindseyswierk.bsky.social). As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee. MERCH!!!  T-shirts and other swag are available now at the SoMuchPingle Threadless Store. More designs are in the pipeline. Thank you in advance! POD BLOG! You can find the first of my supplemental blog posts that support podcast episodes at Notes From The Field. Let me know your thoughts! And thanks for listening everyone! And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming, and please take time to rate the show on your podcast platform! The show email is [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc. -Mike    

I met Zeev Ginsburg at Snake Road in southern Illinois a few years ago, and it’s been a pleasure getting to know him and spending some time herping together. We’ve had some interesting conversations, and I’ve been wanting to get him on the show for some time, but we put it off for a bit until he was ready to restart his excellent podcast, Wood Fired Herping. Zeev has released his first post-hiatus show and so the time was right to have a chat about his podcast, about herping, and much, much more as the cliché goes. As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee. I want to give a shout-out to all the folks I saw down at Snake Road last weekend. Way too many to name everyone, but it was nice to see old friends and new friends down there, some coming great distances, and these days that is the primary reason I keep going down to the Shawnee National Forest every October somewhere around my birthday. I haven’t missed a year since 1994 and I think I want to keep that streak going. Two special shout-outs, one to Jake Scott, for his birthday poem, brilliant stuff, Jake, thank you my friend.  I also want to thank Scott Albert, old school herper and the owner and winegrower of the Holotype Wine Company down in the Shawnee hills. Scott gifted me with several bottles of his fine product, which incorporate herps in the names and labels. and I’ve been enjoying them this week. POD BLOG! You can find the first of my supplemental blog posts that support podcast episodes at Notes From The Field. Let me know your thoughts! MERCH!!!  T-shirts and other swag are available now at the SoMuchPingle Threadless Store. More designs are in the pipeline. Thank you in advance! And thanks for listening everyone! And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming, and please take time to rate the show on your podcast platform! The show email is [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc. -Mike

Hi folks! This episode was recorded in the mountains of North Carolina over the Labor Day weekend. I made a long day’s drive over to Josh’s place east of Asheville, ostensibly to look for mole kingsnakes and salamanders, but also just to hang out with Josh Holbrook and Alex Krohn and Jake and Lindsey Scott while doing so.  Josh and Jake are having interesting field herping years, and of course a campfire is the perfect venue to find out more about it. POD BLOG! You can find the first of my supplemental blog posts that support podcast episodes at Notes From The Field. Let me know your thoughts! MERCH!!!  T-shirts and other swag are available now at the SoMuchPingle Threadless Store. More designs are in the pipeline. Thank you in advance! As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee. And thanks for listening everyone! And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming, and please take time to rate the show on your podcast platform! The show email is [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc. -Mike  

Hi folks! This past June I drove out to Pemberton, New Jersey to talk with Robert Zappalorti. Bob is the founder and executive director of Herpetological Associates Inc. Now these days there are a lot of people working in what I call contract biology, but Bob Zappalorti was the first environmental consultants working on behalf of herps and other creatures. He founded Herpetological Associates back in 1977 and since then, his company has done a great deal of work in not just conserving herps, but also increasing our understanding of their natural histories, population dynamics, and ecological needs. It was truly an honor and privilege to sit down with Bob and talk about all of this. There were delays getting this episode out, always a bummer, but it does help to sync up a bit with a new book coming out – The Natural History of the Northern Pinesnake, by Joanna Burger, Robert T. Zappalorti, and Michael Gochfield. Now available from Eco Universe Books. I’m looking forward to getting a copy! Thanks again Bob! Great to talk with you and I hope our paths cross again soon. POD BLOG! You can find the first of my supplemental blog posts that support podcast episodes at Notes From The Field. Let me know your thoughts! MERCH!!!  T-shirts and other swag are available now at the SoMuchPingle Threadless Store. More designs are in the pipeline. Thank you in advance! As always, I am grateful to all the show’s patrons who help to keep the show moving forward. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, there are several ways to do so – you can make a one-time contribution via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to [email protected]). You can also provide support the show using Patreon, via the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee. And thanks for listening everyone! And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming, and please take time to rate the show on your podcast platform! The show email is [email protected], and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc. -Mike