Herping Ethics by Matt Ricklefs:
One of the great things about getting more...experienced (don't want to feel too old) is that you continue to realize that there is always some new to learn. We have over 50 years combined experience in herping yet have learned much more in the past 10 years than we ever have before. Part of this education is having the website to look back on as reference which has been extremely valuable and eye opening.
We continue to add to our knowledge every year and always try and stay open minded. We encourage people to never stop learning. Be aware of ALL that is going on around you, especially when out in the field. Appreciate what others have to offer (positive and negative). Be respectful to people, habitat and living things. Be humble with the information you give and receive. Take time to pause and enjoy what you are doing and who is around you. We (humbly) offer our experience so that these things can help you develop good habits and help you examine what you do and/or have done.
Your "ethics" are something YOU decide on, but remember they are something you WILL share with others whether you mean to or not.
We want to give a sincere thanks to all those that we have learned from.
As a final thought we offer the following...hey, didn't want to end on too serious or preachy note.
Herping - a wild and crazy frontier
These are the voyages of the duo known as...Herpjournal
Its ongoing mission: to explore strange new places and information
To seek out new herps and new locations
To boldly go where most likely a lot of herpers have gone before!
Happy habits everyone!
Editor's note:
The nice concise ethics paragraph on the home page, and the original idea of this content is thanks to the wonderful talent of Jim. The rambling fluffy stuff at the end (hint: rambling usually starts with "one of the great things") is due to Matt's love of using two hundred words to say what can be said in twenty words. I guess this is another fun perk of a friendship and herping that has lasted many, many years.
