Background

Herping Virginia was started after Ty and Evan completed a 'big year' of herping all across the state in 2020. After accumulating thousands of photos and other multimedia during their adventures, the idea for a repository containing all of the stories and data from their herping travels was born. The site framework was built out over the course of 2021, and it was formally launched at the start of 2022. Please enjoy this collection of information about Virginia's incredible reptiles and amphibians. 

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The Herping Virginia Team

Ty Smith holding “Pitch” the Northern Pinesnake.

Ty Smith
Chief Herpetological Specialist

In Ty's neck of the woods, most call him the 'Snake Man.' While he enjoys birding and fishing, Ty has always had a special passion for herping. He received his first herp field guide at age 7 and has been studying-up on herpetofauna ever since (over 17 years). Ty is a Master Naturalist (with over 1,000 hours of volunteer service), former State Park Naturalist, and Virginia Herpetological Society (VHS) member with an expertise in East Coast Herp identification and southeastern species habitat/distribution . His goal is to pass his love and knowledge of herps on to anyone that is interested. He also seeks to use iNaturalist records to help research herps in a different and more efficient way than anyone else has before. Ty handles species IDs, education, photographs, and most of the literature on our website. 

"Herping Virginia was created to compliment VHS's herp website. I want this to be a place where other passionate herpers can go to acquire information about enjoying our state's unique set of herpetofauna. Citizen science is a large part of our goal, and we also wish to focus on growing the old and new hobbyist love for these animals." -Ty Smith

iNat Username: @tysmith

Evan Spears
Chief Exploration Specialist

As a lifelong naturalist, Evan has always had a love for the outdoors. After getting into birding at a young age, he was quickly drawn to the hobby of exploring the natural world for animals both large and small. Evan only has a few years of herping experience but has already seen and documented over 130 Virginia species. He enjoys traveling across the state to search for new and exciting herps to add to his life and county checklists, as well as trying to fill the gaps in the current understanding of their distribution across Virginia. Evan is our expert on maps and geography, but also helps with education and resources. 

"We hope this site will continue to grow as we continue our journey to grow as herpers." -Evan Spears

​iNat Username: @easpears

Evan Spears eclipsed by an American Toad, Franklin County, Virginia (July 2021)

Lindsey Smith exploring streams in Dinwiddie.

Lindsey (Hottinger) Smith
Chief Outreach Specialist 

Lindsey has had an affinity for herps since she was a little girl and her dad taught her how to catch frogs. Her curiosity about wildlife grew through the years, and she started using iNaturalist in high school. She and Ty ended up meeting years later and she joined the Herping Virginia team. While Lindsey is continuing to learn by spending lots of time in the field, her area of expertise is in business administration and marketing. She is using her skills to help Herping Virginia reach more people.

"My dream is that Herping Virginia will continue to educate and inspire people of all ages to learn more about the natural world around them- whether it is sparking a child's interest of frogs, or talking to farmers about how to safely co-exist with wildlife. " - Lindsey Hottinger 

iNat Username: @lindseysmith_herpingva

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Photo Contributors 

We would like to thank all of our photo contributors from across the country that help us show everyone these marvelous creatures. If you have some high quality photos of one or more species that we do not have many photos for, or even photos of species variation, special activities (feeding, nesting, defense posturing, etc.), or even habitat photo that you are willing to allow us to use, contact us below! You can explore our guides and species profiles to see how we accredit photographers. We prefer photos without watermarks. 

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We will do our best to respond within 24 hours. If you are asking for a Herp ID, please fill-out our "Herp ID Forum" found HERE.