Reddit reviews National Audubon Society Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: North America (National Audubon Society Field Guides)

This should concern you.

Not being a jerk here. I've got 20+ years experience with snakes, including working with them at multiple zoos and wildlife refuges, and I've seen some heck -- people getting bit due to misidentifying snakes and thinking they're cool or cute, or people who work with hots getting bit because they thought they knew the snake.

It's a disaster waiting to happen. Take some time. Pick up the green book, study it. Learn the snakes in your area and be able to identify them properly before every handling a snake. And remember that juveniles often have very different patterns and markings than adults.

If you're not 100% certain what kind of snake it is AND have a good reason to pick it up, just don't do it. For the snake's sake and your own.

/endrant

Some of the best times spent with my dad were going into the woods and looking for snakes, turtles, and frogs. We would go to a lake and catch frogs or turtles or into the woods looking for snakes. Assuming you live in an area where there are no venomous snakes, look on rocks in sunny spots or under wood in fields. Think about where mice might go and that is where you will find snakes. Step on the tip of their tail and grab behind their heads so they can't bite you.

[Get this book]http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-American-Reptiles-Amphibians/dp/0394508246/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341604390&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=field+guide+to+north+american+reptiles+and+anphibians and your own notebook. When you find a reptile or anphibian look it up in the book. Put down where and when you found it, how big it is, and maybe sketch a picture of it. Soon you will have a journal of all the animals you have found. Again Don't do this if you live in an area where dangerous snakes are an issue and always with your parents permission. I grew up in NY and dangerous snakes are very rare so I didn't have to worry about it.

Audubon Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians

http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-American-Reptiles-Amphibians/dp/0394508246

Audubon Guide to North American Insects and Spiders

http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Insects/dp/0394507630

The Audubon Guides were beautiful color-photographic plates over several hundred pages that detailed almost all major species. I found them on my father's shelves when I was 5 or 6 and carried them around with me for about 6 years. It is, to this day, why I know most snakes by sight, immediately, and the same for insects and spiders.

I wish I still had them.