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Title: Texas Snakes: Identification, Distribution, and Natural History by John E. Werler, James R. Dixon, James Ray Dixon ISBN: 0-292-79130-5 Publisher: University of Texas Press Pub. Date: 15 July, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $59.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.71 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The best book on the snakes of Texas
Comment: I've encountered numerous books about herps, and this one is one of the best of them all--it is certainly the best book pertaining to the snakes of Texas specifically.
The species descriptions are accurate; detailed species information is given with each species. Behaviour, range, habitat, diet, reproduction, are all covered in a fair degree of depth for each species.
Despite on reviewers comments, I have no complaint with either the common or scientific names; it uses common names I've heard frequently. In most cases, it will write them in a grammatically corret fashion; Yellow bellied water snake as opposed to yellowbelly water snake, say, but that merely makes the work appear more professional and read much better. The latin names...well taxonomy is always under debate anyway, and I would personally agree with most of thier decisions (although I'm a mere hobbyist).
The photos are incredibly well done; I particularly like that the authors saw fit to provide mulitiple photos with locality information for highly variable species (i.e. western coachwhip, bullsnakes, etc.).
Rating: 5
Summary: Good Enough to Make Your Skin Crawl
Comment: This is a wonderful book on Texas snakes. As one who recently had a (noninjurious) run-in with a western diamondback rattler, I can attest that the photography is stunning. This is almost an artwork. This book provides a wealth of information that is easily accessible to the nonspecialist on each species--range, specific habitats within that range, generalized behavior traits, likely reactions upon encountering humans, diet, mating habits, etc. The only real criticisms I have of the book are minor. It would have been nice if the color plates had been interspersed with each species covered, rather being placed all together. As it is now, one reads up on the snake and has to thumb through the book to find the picture. Also, as many of us buy this book to be able to identify snakes we are likely to encounter in normal activities, more information pertaining to where one is likely to encounter each species (e.g. in leaf litter, under rocks, inside ranch buildings) would have been helpful. This is a book that every Texan who wanders outside should have, as well as those interested in herpetology or snakes. As a librarian I have encountered numerous books on Texas snakes. This one is far and away the best.
Rating: 5
Summary: Magnificent work -- more like this needed for other regions
Comment: The authors inform us in the preface that work on this book began twenty years before publication. It shows. It has all the usual sections you would expect from such a guide: a general introduction, an identification key, a note on venom, an extensive bibliography and, of course, species and subspecies accounts. But those accounts have a level of detail and thoroughness that are unmatched by any other guide, and each gives an in-depth survey of the scientific knowledge of the snake in question. The range maps are extraordinarily detailed and precise, and the 208 color photos are nothing short of exquisite.
Nitpickers will surely complain that this book does not always follow the standard common and scientific names established by Collins. Suffice to say that there is a fierce debate about taxonomy at the moment, and to dismiss a book because its authors take the other side of that debate ignores the treasure of knowledge that a book like this offers. Frankly, most readers couldn't care less one way or the other; there's more to herpetology than just taxonomy. The snakes remain the snakes no matter what they're called.
If only guides to snakes of other regions were this good. Highly recommended.
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Title: A Field Guide to Texas Snakes by Alan Tennant, Joseph E. Forks, Gerard T. Salmon ISBN: 0877192774 Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: A Field Guide to Spiders & Scorpions of Texas (Gulf Publishing Field Guide Series) by J. A. Jackman, John A. Jackman, John A., Ph.D. Jackman ISBN: 0891230483 Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann Pub. Date: May, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Texas Bug Book: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Malcolm Beck, Howard Garrett ISBN: 0292708696 Publisher: University of Texas Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: The Birds of Texas by John L. Tveten ISBN: 0940672634 Publisher: Shearer Publishing Pub. Date: 01 October, 1993 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas: With Keys, Taxonomic Synopses, Bibliography, and Distribution Maps by James Ray Dixon, James R. Dixon ISBN: 0890969205 Publisher: Texas A&M University Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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