Customer Reviews

A Field Guide to Reptiles & Amphibians of Eastern & Central North America (Peterson Field Guide Series)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a casual amateur watcher of frogs, turtles, snakes, and lizard-like beasts, I recommend the Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North American. The first part of the book consists of 48 colour plates, each illustrating about 10 similar species. Following the plates, the main part of the book consists of a very readable summary description of each species, together with a map showing its geographical range. Special line drawings illustrate particular features of some of the species, that help in their identification, and add to the reader's appreciation. The volume is well-indexed, and includes a glossary, and a reference list. It is sturdily bound in an attractive cover. I am writing this at a computer in a cold northern January, and I look forward to the spring and summer when I can sortie into the open spaces with my Guide, to enjoy a renewed appreciation of these marvellous creatures. Search as I might, I cannot find anything negative to write about this beautiful book.

Beautiful color photographs, realistic paintings of each species illustrating diagnostic characteristics, and wonderful accounts on each form, from two of the most respected herpetologists to ever live. The color maps are not as good as the original black and white versions, but color photographs by the foremost authority on North American wildlife photography, more than make up for this. The maps are still better than those used in any field guide covering the same geographic area. Every kid should have at least one.

This book was my bible as a boy. For anyone who enjoys watching small creatures in their natural habitats, the life-histories of amphibians and reptiles can be very enjoyable. This book is educational and extremely comprehensive. Even after moving to Europe, I kept my copy of this book, purely for sentimental value (none of the species from back home are to be found over here).

The book is written for those who want a lot of information, yet it is accessible for anyone from a very inquisitive boy or girl, through to university students who want to identify species in the wild. (I know, I used my copy from the age of ten to twenty-five on countless field trips and excursions.)

It's sturdy and affordable, especially considering the amount of information it contains. There are many b/w illustrations within the text showing specific identifying features, and a nice set of colour and black and white plates. More useful than Audubon, if you like these peaceful little animals this book will be with you for a long time.

This is the best field guide I've had for herps. The layout is typical; there are color plates of the species and some written commentary and advice on field herping in the front of the book, followed by species accounts and range maps. Fairly typical layout. However, the way in which subspecies were handled is new, at least to me, and incredibly practical and useful. Those subspecies that are readily distinguishable in the field are given full seperate entries and individual range maps, which is particularly nice with certain large species groups (milk and king snakes, Pitouphis, etc.)
My only complaint, and it is minor, is that the taxonomy is old and very conservitive, even given when this book was published. Pitouphis is treated as monospecific genus in the book, whereas it's currently regarded as having several species, and Elaphe is still used for a good many of the colubrids that have since been reassigned. This, however, has little bearing onto the practicality of this field guide, or it's usefullness for ID'ing animals. It's really the best done reptile field guide I've seen, and if you herp the eastern and/or central part of North America, it's a must have. The layout is logical, the subspecies are handled well, the color plates are excellent, and the book is solid enough to actually be used in the field. This continues the Peterson tradition of great reptile guides, and actually improves on it.

There is no other guide which I would consult prior to herping trips. The color plates are fantastic and so well-drawn that I can recall seeing the animals depicted in the field. A knowledge of the arrangement of this guide will make this the most easily perused guide in the field as well.

Any budding herpetologist would be wise to study the book from cover to cover in order to share in the wisdom of Conant/Collins.

The field guide is easy to read (though technical details are necessarily prevalent) and can be understood by even the least herpetologically-inclined person.

This book has been a faithfull field companion to countless herpers since the first edition was published in 1958. It is the best selling herp book of all time for a good reason. The text is both concise and comprehensive. The color plates are not only works of art but are designed to highlight markings that are useful for field identification. The images in most competitors are generally the most attractive color photos available. This makes a pretty book but is not always useful for identification. The book is also small enough to be unobtrusive in any backpack or large pant pocket. Many of the "field guides" being produced now are too large and heavy. My copy has stood up to years of abuse remarkably well. This version added excellent color photographs to compliment the original color plates. The one criticism I have is that this version spread the maps throughout the text. Previous editions had the maps bundled together in taxanomic order. Imagine you are trying to identify a skink in Missouri. In the previous editions you could flip open the book to the skink maps and immediately see which species are found in Missouri. In this edition you would have to flip through all of the skink species accounts to get that information. It does not seem like a big difference,unless you have ever attempted to hold onto a skink in Missouri. Overall I would have to characterize this book as a must have for any North American herper young or old.

Excellent guide, color plates are great aids for quicky identification as well as colored maps explaining range of each specie, it also explains details of each specie in a very detailed way and suggest many tips in order to recognize particular species. I own many guides and honestly this is part of my favorites and best guides, maybe you wont find anything better than this except for the Audubon Guides, considering the extensive color pictures on those...
Sorry about my grammar, Im from Mexico.

I'm starting to get interested in amphibian id and was looking for a book to help as I join in on frog monitoring and other citizen science projects. So, I haven't gotten to use this book in the field yet since it's still midwinter but the book seems like just what I need. It's a typical field guide in that it has the species plates. Pictures in this section are well drawn with color variations and patterns clearly shown and also described in words. Then there are the species-specific entries where each animal is described, habitats and location maps are provided, foods are described, etc. What I especially like about this book is that in this section they also have actual photographs of the animals shown. The photos are close-up so you can see the eggs or the young of snakes for example. I especially love the section on salamanders and decided not to bother trying to get a book dedicated to salamanders just yet. This has all the info I'll need to get going on understanding and identifying these creatures. Looking forward to a trek out to the vernal pools in March and bringing this book with me.

I bought this book for my 7 year old god son. I'd seen and used other Peterson Field Guides, and I can only say they keep improving what was great to begin with. Even though my god son can't read all of the words in this guide, the wonderful color photographs with the reptile or amphibian name make it easy for him to understand. He was absolutely thrilled with this book. There are nice sections on how to capture then set up a terrarium, and to care for reptiles and amphibians in captivity. I highly recommend this for any age!

I have had this book for several years and absolutly love it. Not only is it nicely informative, it holds up well in the feild. I can not begin to count the number of times I have slipped (I generally keep it tucked in my waist band) in creeks on outings. After years of abuse, my cover is a worn, spine wrinkled and paged stained, but it's still solidly bound.