Atlanta, Georgia: Any connections?

[Zach_Lim]

Hey everyone,

Zach here. I've been flirting with the idea of moving to Atlanta from San Francisco and was wondering if anyone of the Forum (that is still active) lives there? I was wondering if anyone knew of any potential naturalist/nature institution positions available? Looks like a wonderful city for nature center, museum, aquarium, zoo jobs, and I'v been applying haha! Maybe I'm missing some

Thanks guys,

Zach

[technoendo]

Hey Zach! I can't help with helping finding a job over there, but did want to mention the Orianne Society, a conservation group that does a bunch of work with Indigo snakes, eastern diamondbacks, spotted turtles, hognose snakes, and a long list of other critters. I briefly lived in Atlanta back in 2003 or so and would have loved to help out Orianne, but they didn't exist until 2008. I'll be heading out to Places You've Never Herped 13 this weekend and will be checking some alligator snapper turtle traps, looking for hognose, and might even have a chance at capturing an indigo (under their permits as a volunteer/member) or seeing an eastern diamondback if I'm lucky. I have no idea if Orianne is hiring, however if you do head to Atlanta they are a great organization for networking and meeting other herpers/biologists/conservation folk. I met a kid that volunteered at the Atlanta Zoo, a few animal vets, and a bunch of other casual to hardcore Georgia/Southeastern herpers. Its produced some good friendships: 2 weeks ago I was visited by an Orianne field biologist in WA on his vacation for 4-5 days of heavy herping + rattlesnake telemetry, and in another 2 weeks another fellow I met at PYNH8 will be up in WA and we're going to go and look for amphibs for fun.

http://www.oriannesociety.org/

[Zach_Lim]

Hey Zach! I can't help with helping finding a job over there, but did want to mention the Orianne Society, a conservation group that does a bunch of work with Indigo snakes, eastern diamondbacks, spotted turtles, hognose snakes, and a long list of other critters. I briefly lived in Atlanta back in 2003 or so and would have loved to help out Orianne, but they didn't exist until 2008. I'll be heading out to Places You've Never Herped 13 this weekend and will be checking some alligator snapper turtle traps, looking for hognose, and might even have a chance at capturing an indigo (under their permits as a volunteer/member) or seeing an eastern diamondback if I'm lucky. I have no idea if Orianne is hiring, however if you do head to Atlanta they are a great organization for networking and meeting other herpers/biologists/conservation folk. I met a kid that volunteered at the Atlanta Zoo, a few animal vets, and a bunch of other casual to hardcore Georgia/Southeastern herpers. Its produced some good friendships: 2 weeks ago I was visited by an Orianne field biologist in WA on his vacation for 4-5 days of heavy herping + rattlesnake telemetry, and in another 2 weeks another fellow I met at PYNH8 will be up in WA and we're going to go and look for amphibs for fun.

http://www.oriannesociety.org/

Thank you so much for the detailed reply! Sorry for the long gap in response- been quite busy. I ended up landing a job with a nonprofit environmental institution, so all is well!

I will definitely try to get out and volunteer or at least join some Orianne events!

That being said, any Georgia herpers want to get out in the field come the end of November, let me know!

[tomharten]

I worked at the Chattahoochee Nature Center (Roswell, GA) back in the early 90s. It sounds like you've got things lined up job-wise, but it might be worth checking in there to see what is happening on the natural history scene. We used to lead trips over to Sapelo Island through the nature center and there was some interesting herping over there. Walked up my first EDB on Sapelo while bringing a group to the beach for a night hike. It was pretty awesome.

Nice thing about Atlanta is that you can pretty easily do a long weekend to places like Apalachicola NF. I used to leave on a Friday after work, get into a campground late and then have the weekend to explore.

I miss that area and hope that you enjoy it!

[Jimi]

Sorry Zach if I'm being a little dense, but - just to be clear - have you indeed succeeded in moving to Atlanta?

If you're in GA I'd just like to echo Tom's statements about a couple of areas - Sapelo Island (and most of the other barrier islands) is just wonderful (and exciting for those big EDBs, ha ha). And as Tom noted, ANF in FL is also really nice and not so far away. But right within GA there's plenty to do - really, there's no need to leave the state, it's one of the very best in the east for herping and just getting outside. The hilly north is a blast, as are the fall line (e.g. around Augusta) and alluvial (e.g., Altamaha River) sandhills. Pine Mountain is a weird outlier just an hour and a half or so SSW of the city - a rock ridge sticking up out of the clay. Try FDR state park there. Canoe-camping the Okeefenokee should not be missed either. GA is a great, very diverse state. Besides herping, there's good river-running and mountain biking, and super-sweet beaches.

I recommend the Jensen et al "Amphibians and Reptiles of Georgia" as a reference book.

Good hunting! You're just in time for hitting the winter-breeding anurans and caudates.

OK in good conscience - and good humor - I just can't avoid plugging this stuff:
https://sectionhiker.com/permethrin-soak-method-guide/

You'll be much, much happier if you never meet Mr Chigger.

[technoendo]

Jimi, I appreciate that link on permethrin treating clothing. A few years ago I have purchased some permethrin treated pants from ex-officio for a trip to costa rica, but between all the sunlight they see and the multiple runs through the washing machine I'm sure they've lost most of their effectiveness. I hadn't really considered treating my own clothes but it does seem economical. Fortunately, I spend a lot of time in areas where ticks have not been too heavy, but when I do go into some of the more tick infested areas this idea does look more attractive. I did notice that permethrin is a neurotoxin in high concentrations and gloves/outdoor ventilation/common sense are all required so I wouldn't take this lightly.

Covering oneself in permethrin treated clothing does look like a "nuclear option" for dealing with some parasites, but I'm sure many of you have already seen... we also have some new tick invaders here in the USA. I was irked by this study last week has determined the pacific northwest/west coast will be suitable habitat in addition to large swathes of the mid-west/northeast/southeast.

https://www.contagionlive.com/news/asia ... ival-areas

A few years ago I pulled 23 ticks off of me in Hood River, Oregon (Columbia River Gorge). None had attached to me fortunately. I'm sure there are some people on FHF that have crushed this record!



I moved from the west coast to Atlanta from 2001 - 2003 and the first time I saw fireflies on a summer evening I lost my mind and ran around in tall grass chasing them like a young dog seeing his first snow. The next morning I woke up to bumps and welts along the belt-line of my pants. It can sometimes take my body 3-4 months to heal from chigger bites (longer if I itch them). I keep returning to Georgia for snakes once or twice a year and almost every time I come home with fun memories + raging case of chigger bites! Keep your west-coast enthusiasm for fireflies in check Zach -- its a trap! Every time you lay on the ground for an eye-level shot of a herp you'll now be thinking more about chiggers and seed ticks -- btw, one herper said a pro-tip for removing seed ticks is keeping a roll of duct tape in the car! You can use the sticky side of the tape to blot hundreds-thousands of em if you walk into a nest!

My move from the west coast to Atlanta also began my relationship with Nerodia. I enjoy fishing and often when fishing from shore I'd run into them. I enjoyed how some would hang out on branches over water or coiled up on the shore. I'd fish the area for hours and they would bask and watch me warily. Oof the musk.

Good luck out there in Atlanta Zach. I saw you on Matthew's YouTube channel a few weeks ago hooking a hog of a ling cod from shore before you left for Georgia. Way to go dude! Always makes me smile when you appear on random videos online. "That Zach guy there takes some of the best snake photos in the bay area!"

[Jimi]

A few years ago I have purchased some permethrin treated pants from ex-officio for a trip to costa rica, but between all the sunlight they see and the multiple runs through the washing machine I'm sure they've lost most of their effectiveness.

Yeah it's fine (perhaps a little expensive...) to buy permethrin-treated clothing. But you can take ANY clothing and treat it yourself - by all means including stuff that originally came that way.

Yes, I don't rely on a treatment to endure more than about 2 months of light use & weekly (max...ha ha "what's that smell?!?!?") washings. Back when I was a "woods monkey" full-time field biologist, working in bug-intense regions, I'd re-treat monthly. Soooo worth it! Nowadays I just do a set of clothes for May-June, take July off, and re-apply for Aug-Sept. That's about all the domestic play-time I get where I live. We have a few ticks but no chiggers; sometimes the skeeters are insane but mostly they don't even exist.

I did notice that permethrin is a neurotoxin in high concentrations and gloves/outdoor ventilation/common sense are all required so I wouldn't take this lightly.

Right. Common sense starts with RTFM. R-T-F-M. Then FFTM (follow the f*cking manual).

Tick-borne diseases can be debilitating or fatal; some have no treatment and are with you until you die. So -

I wouldn't take this lightly

either!

It can sometimes take my body 3-4 months to heal from chigger bites (longer if I itch them).

For me it's about a month. Of hell. Chiggers are - along with no-see-ums IMO - the WORST.

Permethrin keeps chiggers - and seed ticks - off you too. DEET on the skin and permethrin on your clothes, and you can roll around in the tall wet grass and not worry a bit about the damn chiggers or ticks. I mean this literally - not hyperbolically. The no-see-ums will still hammer your exposed skin (they seem to laugh at DEET), but nothing else is getting through. No see ums in some parts of the world carry nasty stuff, but in the USA they are harmless (unless you count going out of your mind as harmful). https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/publi ... midge.html

I don't own stock in permethrin, but if I could find some, I would buy it!

[Zach_Lim]

Hey guys! Sorry for delayed reply- working 7 days a week between the nonprofit as an education coordinator and at the natural history museum as a Herp department coordinator. I'll give a proper reply tonight- off to survey a creek with the museum for salamanders.

Been in Atlanta now for about 2 months. No real free time but its a nice change!

-Zach

[Kelly Mc]

All the best in Georgia Zach, I wish you much joy in your keeping adventures at the museum.

Kel

[DarwinsBulldog]

That rules man! My brother and one of my best boys live in Atlanta. Bummed I never hit you up for a herp adventure out on the west coast, BUT I do plan on visiting Georgia. I really need to see an adamanteus. *this this dirtygreg_ from instagram*