Episode 84: Tales of the Bushmaster

Hello everyone and welcome to Episode Eighty Four!  And while we’re at it, I hope you all remain safe and healthy out there. It’s good to be back in the recording studio after a long absence, and I appreciate everyone’s patience while I was out having a good time. I spent several weeks in Thailand, on a herping trip that started in Bangkok and finished at the southern tip of the country, on the border with Malaysia.  I saw some amazing herps and other wildlife, lots of pit vipers including several Wagler’s pit vipers, one of those bucket list serpents for me. So Much Pingle Patrons! A big thank you to the show’s newest patron, Daren Riedle!  I’m sure you all remember my conversation with Daren back in Episode 78 – that was a fun one and I get a lot of comments about that show.  So thank you so much Daren for supporting the show and for taking part as well!  And as always, I want to thank everyone who keeps the show rolling along. And if you’re out there listening and you would like to kick in a few bucks, it’s easy to do, you simply go to the So Much Pingle Patreon page. You can support the show for as little as three bucks a month – less than a fancy cup of coffee! You can also support the show via one-time contributions via PayPal or Venmo (please contact me via email to somuchpingle@gmail.com). So this episode arises out of some singular events that happened in Peru earlier this year.  I was down there with Matt Cage for three separate herp tours, and the crazy bit is that we encountered 7 bushmasters across the three trips – one on the first, FIVE on the second, and one on the last trip in February.  Now, we are happy to get one Lachesis muta on an expedition – there’s no denying that the chance to see a bushmaster is a big draw for our clients – and sometimes we may even find two.  But during our second trip, after five bushmasters were found, I decided to record with some of the folks involved, attempting to capture some of the experience. So please enjoy my conversations with Jill Rials and Michael Moffat, Jeff and Berk, the Brothers Martineau, and Richard Legere. Thanks for listening everyone! And as always, please keep the comments and suggestions coming, and please take time to rate the show on your podcast platform! The show email is somuchpingle@gmail.com, and there’s also a So Much Pingle group on Facebook, for discussion, comments, feedback, suggestions, herp confessions, tips for herping better, etc. -Mike