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BULLETIN of the Chicago Herpetological Society Volume 55, Number 1 January 2020 BULLETIN OF THE CHICAGO HERPETOLOGICAL SOCIETY Volume 55, Number 1 January 2020 A Letter from the Outgoing CHS President . Rich Crowley 1 The Herpetofauna of Presque Isle State Park, Erie, Pennsylvania: Annotated Checklist and Comprehensive Bibliography . Brian S. Gray 2 Turtle speak? An Unusual (Unique?) Display of Mass Social Interaction among Arizona Mud Turtles (Kinosternon arizonense) in Pima County, Arizona. Roger A. Repp 19 Minutes of the CHS Board Meeting, December 13, 2019 . 22 Chicago Herpetological Society Income Statement: January 1 --- December 31, 2019, and Balance Sheet, December 31, 2019 . 23 Advertisements . 24 New CHS Members This Month . 24 Cover: Gray treefrog, Hyla versicolor, Presque Isle State Park, Erie County, Pennsylvania. Photograph by Mark Lethaby. STAFF Membership in the CHS includes a subscription to the monthly Bulletin. Annual dues are: Individual Membership, $25.00; Editor: Michael A. Dloogatch --- [email protected] Family Membership, $28.00; Sustaining Membership, $50.00; Copy editor: Joan Moore Contributing Membership, $100.00; Institutional Membership, $38.00. Remittance must be made in U.S. funds. Subscribers 2019 CHS Board of Directors outside the U.S. must add $12.00 for postage. Send membership dues or address changes to: Chicago Herpetological Society, President: John Gutierrez Membership Secretary, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL 60614. Vice-president: Jessica Wadleigh Treasurer: John Archer Manuscripts published in the Bulletin of the Chicago Herpeto- Recording Secretary: Gail Oomens logical Society are not peer reviewed. Manuscripts and letters Media Secretary: Annalisa Kolb concerning editorial business should be e-mailed to the editor, Membership Secretary: Mike Dloogatch [email protected]. Alternatively, they may be mailed Sergeant-at-arms: Mike Scott to: Chicago Herpetological Society, Publications Secretary, 2430 Members-at-large: Rachel Bladow N. Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL 60614. Back issues are limited but Jenny Hanson are available from the Publications Secretary for $2.50 per issue Tom Mikosz postpaid. Immediate Past President: Rich Crowley Visit the CHS home page at <http://www.chicagoherp.org>. The Chicago Herpetological Society is a nonprofit organiza- The Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society (ISSN 0009-3564) is published monthly by the Chicago Herpeto- tion incorporated under the laws of the state of Illinois. Its logical Society, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago IL 60614. purposes are education, conservation and the advancement Periodicals postage paid at Chicago IL. Postmaster: Send of herpetology. Meetings are announced in this publication, address changes to: Chicago Herpetological Society, Mem- bership Secretary, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago IL 60614. and are normally held at 7:30 P.M., the last Wednesday of each month. Copyright © 2020 Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 55(1):1, 2020 A Letter from the Outgoing CHS President Rich Crowley The past three years have been a personal challenge for me and recognition than we can give them. For example, Linda Malawy in many ways, a challenging time for the Chicago Herpetological who for over 19 years chaired the adoptions program success- Society. fully. Over the last year, Linda stepped aside and now Zorina Banas continues the leadership to this important and highly On reflection, my experiences over the last three years are visible program. Just think, we nearly discontinued this program indicative of a general theme I am seeing everywhere. Our lives only four years ago! are busier than ever and our time more precious as a result. We face numerous distractions in our daily lives from social media, Another great story is that of ReptileFest with over 25 years of disruptive technological changes, societal and political conflicts, success! This event has been a success built on the efforts of our personal commitments and our pursuit of personal and many volunteers over the years. Over the last couple of years, professional goals. we faced the challenge of transitioning event leadership and support from John Archer and Andy Sagan, and so many others. For me personally, over the last three years I was challenged However, we saw the successful transition of the event leader- with a changing work environment, faced mid-life decisions, ship to Frank Sladek who added his own contributions to this supported an aging and unwell parent, supported my daughter nationally recognized event. and granddaughter, needed to be supportive of my spouse’s professional growth, managed an evolving and demanding herp Our program of live-animal shows, our broadest outreach initia- collection, wrote a book, and of course . provided leadership tive, represents our first contact with new keepers, public and for the CHS during some challenging times. partner organizations, and continues to flourish despite the insurance disruption. We have seen this program continue, now I bring up my personal challenges as they relate to my CHS under the leadership of Gail Oomens. Gail and her core group of presidency because all of our membership --- general members volunteers (Mike Scott, Tom Mikosz, Nancy Kloskowski, Dick and board members alike --- have personal lives that force us to Buchholz, to name just a few) have managed to keep up with the balance priorities. Nevertheless, as president together with the growing volume of demands for the CHS presence along with board of directors, committee chairs and dedicated volunteers the increasing standard of care in coordinating exhibition safety, that have served over the last three years, we have faced a num- requests for insurance certification, scheduling and donation ber of challenges and successfully managed this organization. collection. All performed on volunteered time! Still, we need more engagement for the long-term, and for that I The future of volunteer-run, not-for-profit organizations is still plead to everyone to be participants and not bystanders with the uncertain. Therefore, to increase our value, we need to stay CHS activities going forward. In the last three years, we faced relevant, be visible in a positive way and add value to the com- numerous challenges to the CHS and our hobby. We face chal- munity. To address this, we have embarked on the initiative to lenges on our rights to own animals and share the herp experi- standardize our online social presence thanks in large part to ence at both the federal and state level. Thankfully, prominent Kim Klisiak. Kim has done a fantastic job of updating three representatives in the hobby including USARK and number of separate web locations: Junior Herpers, ReptileFest and CHS responsible members of the herp community continue to lead main site. Much work has been done and much still needed and successful defenses to ill-informed legislative restrictions. though Kim moves off the board, we still see the momentum We also had to deal with our own legal challenges. These expe- continuing on this strategic initiative for the society. We have riences reminded us of our duty of care to our members, our presence on Facebook, Instagram, as well as our web pages and partners and to the public. We continue to face these challenges email connections. All these connections are virtually supported now and in the future. With these new challenges, we learned to by our volunteers, committees and the board. respect our part in this space more. For example, we improved So let us not forget that an organization such as the CHS is run our exhibitor guidelines for not only Reptilefest, but for all our by its members. Our most critical and yet volatile resource. In exhibiting activities. We also developed a formal incident re- today’s society, we face challenges of not only recruiting new sponse procedure that is shareable with other organizations. members, but also building a deep well of participating member- Following these challenges, we faced our biggest challenge yet: ship. By building membership breadth, we can spread the work- the notification of non-renewal from our insurance carrier. Aside load and allow greater diversity in thinking and creativity. from spending several months and countless hours pursuing When resources are limited, having depth in our membership replacement coverage, we had to postpone exhibiting animals can facilitate resources to draw on when needed. Every member for several months. In the end, we were able to get new insur- has the opportunity to help us engage new members, get active ance, but we now face years of restoring trust and achieving in our society and help the board face the challenges we have yet again perfect no claims experience. Even with the disruption, to overcome. our volunteers continue to exhibit every weekend toward the Please support the board in 2020. Do not wait to be asked, goal of a perfect safety record. please offer your assistance and offer ideas no matter how small. We now face challenges with succession in our committees, After all this is your organization; make the CHS a part of you. which benefited from long-tenured volunteers who deserve more 1 Bulletin of the Chicago Herpetological Society 55(1):2-18, 2020 The Herpetofauna of Presque Isle State Park, Erie, Pennsylvania: Annotated Checklist and Comprehensive Bibliography Brian S. Gray Natural History Museum at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center 301 Peninsula Drive, Suite 3 Erie, PA 16505 [email protected] Abstract Thirteen species of amphibians (9 frogs and 4 salamanders) and 18 species of reptiles (9 turtles and 9 snakes) have been reported to occur at Presque Isle State Park, Erie County, Pennsylvania. However, six of those species have not been observed on the peninsula in more than 60 years. The Northern Spring Salamander and the Wood Turtle likely never had established populations on Presque Isle, whereas the Pickerel Frog, Woodland Box Turtle, Hog-nosed Snake, and Eastern Milksnake were likely extirpated. One of the 25 extant species established at Presque Isle, the Red-eared Slider, is an introduced invasive species.
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