Snake Talk

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Dr. Xavier Glaudas to discuss his career studying vipers. Xavier was born in France but has spent his career moving around the world studying viper populations. They discuss Xavier’s time in the United States studying Cottonmouths and Speckled Rattlesnakes, adventures in Africa with Puff Adders, Russell’s Vipers in India, and using videography to study vipers in Brazil....

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Mark O’Shea to discuss his adventures in snake exploration and research. They start off talking about the show O’Shea’s Big Adventure including the amazing locations and species they filmed. They then talk about global snake exploration more broadly and spend some time focusing on the snakes of Papua New Guinea. They dive into many more topics including naming species, s...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Dr. Michael Schaer to discuss everything about snakebite in dogs. They talk about what you should do if your dog is bitten and what the treatment will be once the dog arrives at the vet. They also go in depth on the vaccine for dogs and whether it is useful and why or why not. Chris and Michael explore all kinds of additional topics from misconceptions people have about...

In celebration of World Snake Day 2023, we’ve put together a collection of our favorite Snake Stories from our podcast guests over the years!  Featuring Dr. Matt Goode (Ep 53), John Jensen (Ep 59), Rulon Clark (Ep 12), Dr. Emily Taylor (Ep 23), Gowri Shankar (Ep 62), Craig Hoover (Ep 9), Dillon Perron (Ep 34), Dr. Bruce Means (Ep 61), Dr. Charles Smith (Ep 29) and Melissa Amarello (Ep 14), as well...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with David Moscato from the Gray Fossil Site and Museum, to talk about snake paleontology. They discuss a wide range of topics including what the fossil record tells us about the evolution of snakes, legs on snakes, titanaboa, and much more. David also discusses his interest in and the importance of communicating science. They discuss his podcast called Common Descent which w...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Dr. Harold Heatwole, who has arguably spent more time among sea snakes than any snake expert in the world and literally wrote the book on sea snakes. They discuss interesting aspects of sea snake ecology and natural history ranging from taxonomy, biogeography, habitats, feeding, adaptations to marine life, venom, and diet. Throughout the discussion, Dr. Heatwole weaves i...

In this episode, Dr. Jenkins moderates a panel of snake experts from the Pacific Northwest. The panelists include Lisa Hallock, Herpetologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Dede Olson, Research Ecologist with the Forest Service; Lameace Hussein, former WA resident and current PhD student; and Dr. Steve Mackessy, Professor, Northern Colorado University. Each panelist focuses on...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Dr. Brian Halstead to discuss one of the most beautiful snakes on the planet. Brian is a researcher with the United States Geological Survey in California where he works on multiple species of gartersnakes. They talk about San Francisco Gartersnake natural history covering a range of topics including movement, habitat, reproduction, diet and much more. They also talk abo...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Jason Tesauro, who runs an independent company doing a great deal of work with rare turtles. They start by talking about four freshwater turtles in the Northeast that are of conservation concern including the interesting aspects of how they typically occupy different habitats within the same landscapes. They get into Bog Turtles, talking about their distribution and stat...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Sean Foley, Curator of Herpetology at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden. They talk about career trajectories in the zoo field and then give an introduction to Riverbanks. They spend time talking about the new Darnell W and Susan F Boyd Aquarium and Reptile Conservation Center at the zoo including going through many exhibits and a wide range of species from anacondas to timber ra...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Jason Clark, President of Southeastern Reptile Rescue. They start discussing his interesting transition from being a police officer to running one of the most successful snake companies in existence . Jason has been in many movies including series on Netflix and Animal Planet. They talk about Southern Reptile Rescue and their work in outreach, rescue, aversion training,...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Dr. Lora Smith to talk about her research program at the Jones Ecological Research Center. They start by discussing her interest in tortoises and her adventures studying one of the most endangered turtles in the world in Madagascar. They then talk about Ichauway and the Jones Center which was created by Mr. Woodruff, former CEO of Coca-Cola. Lora’s research includes long...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Bob Zappalorti to talk about his long career in herpetology. They start with his early days working at the Staten Island Zoo and talk about his adventures in the field with Carl Kauffeld. They discuss his consulting company, Herpetological Associates, and the various snake and turtle projects they have been working on throughout the Northeast. Finally, they go in depth o...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Robert Hill, Curator of Herpetology at Zoo Atlanta. They discuss his path to getting to where he is today and about how people can get into working in the zoo field. They talk about Zoo Atlanta including their reptile facility and the animals you might expect to encounter there. Finally they discuss the wide array of education and conservation projects the Herpetology Pr...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Neil Cox and Phil Bowles from IUCN to talk about the recently completed Global Reptile Assessment. They talk about the need for the assessment and go in detail on one of the primary tools, the IUCN Red List. They also discuss the assessment process and how they gather and analyze the information to determine each species status. The results show that a significant percen...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Caesar Rahman to talk about Burmese Pythons - not to discuss them in Florida where most people in the United States think of them, but instead to talk about them in their native range. Caesar runs a nonprofit called Creative Conservation Alliance that works to conserve rare and endangered wildlife in Bangladesh. They discuss the ecology of Burmese Pythons including habit...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Kiley Briggs to discuss the ‘Big Four’ of freshwater turtle conservation in North America. The discussion starts with an overview of the four, Bog, Wood, Blanding’s, and Spotted Turtles. They go into particular depth on the ecology and natural history of the Wood Turtle, including many stories from the field. Finally they give an update on Orianne’s work to conserve wood...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Lameace Hussain (they/them) to talk about an interesting journey - starting with a rural upbringing in Kentucky, Lameace’s deep interest in Herpetology, research they conducted in Washington on a variety of species including Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes, and what brought Lameace to their current project, working in Human Dimensions. Specifically, examining how well gove...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Dr. Josh Parker to talk about one the most fascinating rattlesnakes, the Midget Faded Rattlesnake. Josh has an interesting life story - he overcame a fear of snakes and has never looked back, building a career and life around keeping and studying these amazing animals. They discuss this relatively small and obscure rattlesnake’s natural history covering distribution, mov...

Dr. Jenkins is joined by William Sargent from Hong Kong.  William is a certified snake catcher in Hong Kong and leads Snake Safaris for local communities.  They talk about the environments and snake communities of Hong Kong including discussions of King Cobras and Banded Kraits.  They then transition into talking about what he does in his role as a snake catcher and how he has helped to change som...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with McKayla Spencer, the Interagency Python Management Coordinator with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They talk about everything python in Florida. They walk through a timeline of the invasion including how the snakes arrived and how the partnerships’ control methods have changed over the years. They also discuss python regulations in Florida, how the sn...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Dr. Waldron to talk more about one of his favorite snakes, the Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (EDB). Jayme has spent much of her career working in the low country of South Carolina both in the pine savannas and on sea islands. The common thread of this podcast is the research program of one of the leading contemporary ecologists studying EDBs. They discuss a wide ran...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Dr. Madsen to talk about his career and his long-term snake studies from around the world.  They start in Scandinavia talking about Adders and the interesting natural history of this snake that is the only species to make it into the Arctic Circle.  They focus on a 40-plus year study of an Adder population in southern Sweden, specifically how the population nearly disapp...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Gowri Shankar to talk about one of the world's most iconic snakes, the King Cobra. They start off talking about Gowri’s career and the amazing snake diversity in India. They then do a deep dive into King Cobra natural history including movements, habitat, diet and reproduction. Finally, they discuss Gowri’s PhD research which has split the King Cobras into 4 species. Sta...

Dr. Jenkins sits down with Dr. Bruce Means to talk about everything Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (EDB). They begin with a discussion of his time working at Tall Timbers and his early studies of the species. They then do a deep dive on the ecology of EDBs talking about their movement, habitats, breeding, diet, and life history. The ecology conversation transitions into how the roundups and br...