Contacting
Wendell-Find out how you can help Frogs and Toads!
MySpace URL:
http://www.myspace.com/wendellsfrogpage
Wendell-Find out how you can help Frogs and Toads!'s Interests
General
Why is it so important to educate the public about amphibians and reptile? Here is a quote from Carl Linnaes, 1758.
"These foul and loathsome animals are abhorent because of their cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eyes, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom; and so their Creator has not excerted His powers to make many of them"
This was from the founder of the classification system used today for all life. Fortunatley, they are for the most part looked a little more favorably, but many still have a hatred or fear and are not even sure why. Through public education, those of us that care about these animals can share with others the joy, beauty and usefullness of these creatures. With the decline of so many amphibians, this is more important now than it has ever been. Please check out the different links on my page to find out a way that you can help and make the world a better place for them, which in turn makes it a better place for all.
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MySpace Amphibians Group Try the USGS Frog Call Quiz, click the calling gray treefrog frog Hyla versicolor and then go to the public quiz section. This is a great way to learn the calls for your area!
I love the outdoors. I enjoy hiking and camping. I have started fishing, although I think I enjoy sitting along the bank more than catching fish, which is probably a good thing since I do not catch many. Herping is my passion, especially amphibians) but I also enjoy birding. I love photographing wildlife, especially frogs and salamanders. I am working on surveying the herpetofauna of Clinton County to get an accurate idea of what is here. I hope to find a massasauga here and extend its range by one county to the south. I've been told many stories about "rattlesnake" sightings here, but there is no record of any venomous snake being found here. I also hope to find a Plain's leopard frog and prove it is not extirpated in Indiana. I am also working on an experiment to test the effects of aroma from a hog farm on frog calls. I enjoy talking with kids about amphibians through school and nature programs. In September of 2005 I found a bullfrog with a malformed leg here in my home county, I had read about this, but seeing it here really made me decide to try to teach others about amphibian declines and conservation and to promote Frogwatch USA and NAAMP. These are programs anyone can get involved with, they are very beneficial to frogs and science, and they are really fun. The International Reptile Conservation Foundation works to conserve reptiles and the natural habitats and ecosystems that support them.
If you are a Hoosier over 18 and plan to go Field Herping, you must have a valid Fishing or Hunting License to collect. Indiana Outdoor Online Licensing Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society
Copy and paste this code into your myspace! --->
Music
I have recently heard a couple of CDs that I flipped over. One I heard at the Midwest Herpetological Symposium in Indianapolis. Mark Heinrich performed songs from his CD about herps and herping. He has one called "Safe Sex" about the external fertilization of frog's amplexus. Another called "She's a Tiger" about the Tiger Salamander. Very funny stuff!
The other is from a new friend on MySpace, they found me and thought I would like their song "Ribbity Rockin", they were right. It is an awesome kid's song about frogs. The rest of the album is dedicated to sea animals including one about Sea Turtles that I love as well! They are spreading such a great conservation message to kids.
In high school and for a while after, I was known as "Wendell the Headbanger". Just after I turned 21, a bar I frequented had a evening that a local radio station put on and they used me as an attraction, one time they had a "pool party" (a DJ set up on the patio by the pool) and their commercial was "Come see if Wendell can bang his head, TWELVE FEET UNDER WATER" The funny part was the pool was only 8' deep. I like many kinds of music. I was raised on old country and still like the oldies. I listen mostly to an alternative station, but love the rock classics too. My kids are named after James Taylor, Bob Dylan and Joshua Kadison. I wanted my daughters name to be Melissa Janis,(Melissa Etheridge, Janis Joplin) but my wife didn't like it. I told my daughter and she loved it and has a doll named that. If she would have been a boy, it would have been Lennon Reed, after John Lennon and Lou Reed. I DO NOT care much for rap, though the Beasties had their time.
Movies
I love a good action movie, and a nature film as well, and no, what Johnny Jackass does with wildlife does not make it a nature film. I find that kind of behavior, especially on film where it could influence others, apalling.
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My new favorite show is Chuck. It has action, beautiful girls and computer nerds, what more could anyone want from an hour of TV. Its genius and constantly unpredictable. How refreshing! It has actually surpassed X-files on my all time favorites.
Mother Nature is watching and wants you to BE THE CHANGE! click on her picture to make a difference
Books
My favorite book as a kid was Dr. Seuss' The Lorax It was so great that he spoke for the trees, I try now to be the voice for the frogs. (Well, they have a voice, I'm more of a translater) I also wrote a few books as a kid about a super hero I created called Dr. Dinosaur. I even wrote one that was backwards, you had to hold it to a mirror to read it. (yeah, I have always been a bit odd) I read mostly non fiction biology and nature books. Enviromental Thrillers such as A Plague of Frogs, Tracking the Vanishing Frog, Fire in the Turtle House. As well as the Classic Environmental books such as Silent Spring, A Sand County Almanac. Al Gore's Earth in the Balance. As far as fiction, Michael Crichton is by far my favorite...Jurasic Park, Andromedia Strain, Congo, Sphere...but I'll be in line for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 7/21/07! (I had my book at about 12:15am) I think Harry has to die, but I really hope that doesn't happen. (If you haven't read it, go now, log off and go to the library!)
Michael Palmer's medical thrillers have caught my interest lately. Very good author!
Help preserve box turtles, leave them WILD!
Greetings from the Hoosier National Forest
Heroes
While I have considered myself a fan of Rupert Boneham since the first time I saw him on TV, I got to meet him and learn a little bit about what he does with his troubled teen program and his love of herpetology. He has went from my favorite Survivor to HERO. Click on his picture to check out his work with Rupert's Kids.
This may sound strange, but another hero of mine is "Gimpy", my bullfrog. I found him just after he morphed from a tadpole and one of his back legs didn't form correctly. I had read about similar things all over the world, but finding this close to home inspired me to try to get more involved in conservation and to try to make a difference. RIP Gimpy
Wendell-Find out how you can help Frogs and Toads!'s Details
Who I'd like to meet: I enjoy meeting people with an interest is our environment and who want to help it through conservation and education. While herpetology (the study of amphibians and reptiles) is my main interest, especially amphibians, I also love to meet others with natural interests such as birds, plants, fungi, etc... I like to hear the other side of conservation too. I love to debate with people about issues. I know that I am not always right, so I love to learn from others to find a better solution to problems.
Check out these sites to see how you can help amphibians.
