Customer Reviews

A Guide to Field Identification: Reptiles of North America (The Golden field guide series)

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Living in Southern Louisiana can be quite a challenge. Now we can identify our snakes - something that is a necessity here.

This book was very informative and helpful for work in the feild. It helps you identify the type of reptiles that live in your area and what they look like. Very useful. The only thing I would change would be that the range maps have states & provinces on them. The maps only have a blank U.S., Canada, and Mexico map. Still great though. Highly reccomend it!

"Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification" by Hobart Smith is what I have read for years. A lifelong novice, but curious follower of herpetology, I have used this field guide to identify geckos, skinks, snakes, turtles, terrapins, tortoises and more.

Although I live in the northern Midwest, we still have a few things crawling around. I first had a copy of a much earlier edition when I was a child. We lived on the then-edge of the suburbs, with woods and creeks close by, and this became a useful book, along with a guide for amphibians, spiders and butterflies.

Each animal is described by family, subfamily, species and subspecies, with color-coded maps telling the reader where it can be found. A brief overview of each family provides a few lifestyle facts. Color drawings for every species accompany the description, with details like "2 1/4 in. (58 mm) snout to vent" (Texas Banded Gecko).

A section at the end (20 pp) explains general reptile biology, distribution, scaling, and reproduction.

If the random snake slithers through your lawn, "Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification" is the book to help you sort out just what kind it is.

I fully recommend this book.

Anthony Trendl
http://anthonytrendl.blogspot.com

Great used book and a handy reference for reptiles in my area of Florida. Would recommend for anyone wanting a quick reference and not needing a lot of detail.

Somewhat recognizable entries of herpetology by Hobart M. Smith. He seems somewhat experienced in advanced herpetology and does not hesitate to document it in this guide.