And so it begins

Welcome to the world of reptiles and amphibians of Ontario. I have decided to create a blog alongside Sterling Sztricsko about the herp species found in Ontario and all of our adventures in search of our favourite animals.

Eastern Hognose Snake - Heterodon platirhinos

To introduce myself, I have been "herping" here in Ontario since 2007 when I was just a young 10 or 12 year old boy. I will never forget my first time going out with my dad and flipping Eastern Redback Salamanders under logs, catching Green Frogs in the creek, or seeing my first Eastern Garter Snake slithering through the forest. But, since then, I have had the pleasure of furthering my knowledge and experience with the different reptile and amphibian species endemic to Ontario. Now, I am looking ahead into a career in Herpetology and Conservation. 

I am currently an upper year university student about to begin my first placement as a Species At Risk Research Assistant where I will be working with endangered or threatened animals, including reptiles, and am greatly looking forward to this and what will come after! In order to get to this point I have done lots of volunteer work in marsh monitoring programs, frog surveys, salamander surveys, turtle conservation programs, and snake surveys. Not to mention that I have also taken Ontario herp courses specifically during my academic career thus far.

As one may expect, with all of this experience and exposure to reptiles and amphibians I have been able to capture a great deal of photos of almost every species found in the province. Since I particularly love snakes, here are a couple of photographs I have taken of my two favourite species.

Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake - Sistrurus catenatus


Eastern Hognose Sanke - Heterodon platirhinos


- Ryan Wolfe

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