Snake Days raises awareness and dollars

By Jeff Barringer · June 21, 2012 4:17 pm

When we were kids, all of us had to write at least one "How I spent my summer vacation" essay for school. I never grew out of writing the essays or taking the summer vacations, but that's because I get to take some pretty cool "vacations" as an adult. This year I spent Fathers' Day weekend with Cindy Steinle and more than 100 other herpers attending the "Snake Days" celebration in Sanderson, Texas. Part work, part vacation, part adventure it was three days spent deep in the Texas desert learning about the reptiles and amphibians of that area. Then we spent our nights trying to catch and photograph some of them. Along the way we ran into some interesting people, some old (old) friends, some new friends, all with the same passion for the animals and the desert. We also picked up some trash along the road ways and raised some much-needed funding for reptile programs in Texas. Though this is the "First Annual" Snake Days celebration, in fact it is only a continuation of a long history of unofficial reptile meet-ups that have occurred in the Trans-Pecos stretching all the way back to the 1960s. Many of those same people were in attendance last weekend, some making an annual pilgrimage, others showing up again for the first time after 10, 20, or 30 years. Comparing the two photographs on the right, one taken this year, the other taken in the late 80s, you won't be surprised to see many of the same people appearing in both. Cindy and I want to thank Jeff Adams for putting together the first "official" Snake Days in Sanderson. It's good to finally have a home. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Snake Days 2012 Attendees "Snake Days" in the late 80s in Del Rio