This comes up about May / June each year so I thought I would head it off early. Everybody has a standard when field collecting or road collecting for herps. And this is a place to go ahead and get it over with and just be done with it.
For field collecting, I have a few basics.
1 Do not trespass, doing so makes us all look bad.
2 Do not destroy the area. Put rocks back, leave some bark behind etc. Hunt like you plan to come right back.
Not many people will take any issue with what I consider field collecting etiquette, so I will move on to road collecting etiquette.
1 You do not need to stop and talk to every car out there. Most of us Road Cruise for no more than 5 – 6 hours. That leaves a lot of time during to day to chit chat and swap stories. Why not just get together for lunch instead? Do not throw a fit because the other car did not stop every time you wanted them to.
2 If you do stop to talk. Pull off the road and let other collectors go by. I hate pulling up on a pair in the road that spit as soon as I show up forcing me to adjust my rhythm so they could talk. If you loose your place in line deal with it like an adult.
3 Dimming the lights, if somebody flashes you, you waited to long for them. If you are flashing a lot of other cars you are not patient enough. You need to figure a balance out. I do not see a need to dim the lights for people walking in most cases. They should be looking some direction other than right at your headlights anyway.
4 If somebody is walking an area, do not spotlight the side of the road they are on. There is enough room for everybody, no need to make bad JuJu.
5 Fake items… Not a big deal in my book. Sometimes playing around is fun. But keep in check, it is all in fun.
6 I could understand telling a little fib if you found a gravid albino two headed alterna. But for the most part, we all know that the snakes are there, we are all looking for them. Share in the experience, I think you will have a lot more fun. After all we all know everybody, and nobody will get away with anything stupid for long.
I am sure everybody has something that bothers them every year, I know I seem to. So this year I plan to search diligently during the prime hours, and just enjoy myself the whole time. If I am doing something to diminish your experience let me know. Otherwise do not worry about it, and have a good time.
