Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, Kelly! Do you still do field work with Jesus? Please, i hope you don't take this question has a privacy invasion...

I ask because your anaconda work in the Llanos is quite famous. But i would love to see you involved in a similar project in the jungles of Asia, to observe and catalog subpecies (some still unknown) of the longest snake alive, the retic. Don't you think that would be an exciting project? I feel retics are seen as "domestic" pets, and we know more about them from this hobby than from serious field science. How well do they reproduce in nature? What natural selection rules are working for them, since they have no predators? Just exactly how big do they really grow in deep regions of the forest? Where ends the myth and starts the truth, about the most beautiful of the large giants?

Please Kelly, this is work waiting to be done... by the best

I know what you and others could be thinking: it has been (over)done! But let's face it... it's quite entertaining to see Brady Barr or Austin Stevens wrestle a retic while screaming "whooo". But they lack serious Science dedication. They are daredevils that wanna sell TV shows. They don't exactly come up with important zoologic findings. You, on the other hand, seem to have that goal.
Gosh, i still hold hope to see you hit Sumatra or Malaysia one day, with you backpack on, and bring us amazing retic footage

I believe you have me confused with someone else. I have considerable captive experience with anacondas and larger python species and have done extensive literature research on these species over the last 30 years, but have not participated with research on these species in their natural environment. The only field research I have been involved with was in regards to several species of pit vipers in the central U. S.

I agree that there is an immense lack of field work with regards to reticulated pythons, as there is virtually no serious species ecology or autecology studies existing for this taxon. I believe I will need to leave that up to those individuals with more tropical ecological study experience. Not that I wouldn’t be extremely interested in participating in a study such as this. Thanks,

Kelly