Mike Pingleton
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somuchpingle.bsky.social
Mike Pingleton
@somuchpingle.bsky.social
12K followers 850 following 2.6K posts
Naturalist, Author, Peru wildlife guide, all photos mine 📷 Panasonic G9🪲 Host of the So Much Pingle herpetology podcast 🐸 Co-author of "The Field Herping Guide" 📗 Co-creator of HerpMapper (herpmapper.org) 🦎 Herpetofauna blogger at fieldherping.org 🐢
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somuchpingle.bsky.social
A Scarlet Kingsnake (Lampropeltis elapsoides) from NE Louisiana. These small (<24in) kingsnakes are mimics of the venomous Eastern Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius) and a joy to photograph. #herps #snakes #NaturePhotography 🌿
Side image of a brightly colored snake, posed on a leaf and facing right. The front quarter of the snake is in the image, the body starting at lower right to middle left where it curves back to the right, with the head and neck in an S-shaped curve. The snake is a banded tricolor, as follows a wide red band, followed by a narrow black band, then a wider white band, another narrow black band, and then repeat. The neck and upper and lower jaws are white, while the top of the head and the nose are red.
November 25, 2025 at 3:18 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
I finally wrapped up photo processing from last December's South Africa trip, so here's a timeline cleanse before I hit the sack. A Highveld Crag Lizard (Pseudocordylus melanotus), or as I like to call it, a Pumpkin-bellied Rock Hopper. Drakensberg Mts. #herps #lizards #NaturePhotography 🌿
Side image of a lizard perched on a rock, and facing right. The limbs and the sides of the lizard's body are pumpkin orange, and there is a wide black stripe running down the back. The tail is black from the tip up to the black legs, where it is splattered with orange. The head is various shades of brown and the chin is dark gray. The lizard sits on a reddish rock in the foreground, and in the blurred background is a rocky hill covered in vegetation.
November 24, 2025 at 5:19 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
If you see this, post your getaway vehicle
Image of Richard Scarry’s apple car. The red apple car has four tiny wheels and the right side shows a windshield and the car interior. Visible inside the window is a worm (“Lowly”) with a red bow tie and a green hat.
November 21, 2025 at 6:12 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Adding this to 2025 Lessons Learned: groundhogs can climb chain link fences. My wife calls them “land otters”. 🌿
November 21, 2025 at 4:20 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
🧵2 of 2 - The pigment used is likely a mixture of ground red rock and animal fat. The overhang provides a great deal of protection for the petroglyphs from the sun and other elements. I find the depth of feeling that comes with connecting with others across deep time to be indescribable.
Side image of a rock overhang. The image can be broken into four triangles, all meeting in the middle of the image. The upper triangle is the ceiling of the overhang; the bottom triangle is the floor. To the left is the back wall, where there are petroglyphs. To the right is a slope with green vegetation that lies outside.
November 19, 2025 at 10:22 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
🧵1 of 2 - In the Drakensberg Mts of South Africa, we hiked up a steep wooded canyon to a rock overhang, to have a look at some petroglyphs. The small groups of reddish figures were likely rendered by the San, or Bushmen, people. They may be thousands of years old. My favorite group in this image.
An image of human figures painted on a flat section of rock. There are three figures, all rendered in the same faded red pigment. They are facing left, in a walking pose. The leftmost figure may be a male, the middle figure may represent a female, and the smaller rightmost figure may be a child.
November 19, 2025 at 10:22 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
It's been 11 months but I'm finally finishing up processing on my South Africa photos. This one is from up in the Drakensberg Mountains - so much interesting flora (and potential fauna) contributing to this view of the landscape. #Flora #NaturePhotography 🌿
Side view of a hilly landscape under fluffy gray clouds. In the foreground on the left side is a steep slope, covered with rocks of various shapes and sizes, and with grasses, succulents, flowering plants, and small shrubs. The slope falls away to the right, revealing rolling grasslands that extend to a line of hills on the horizon.
November 18, 2025 at 2:58 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Henry "Buster" Brown served from Okinawa through occupied Japan. He was in the Civilian Conservation Corps before the war, making him a natural fit as a SeaBee ("Construction Battalion"). My grandfather's experience as a SeaBee gave him a life-long career in civil construction. #VeteransDay
Vintage sepia-toned portrait photo of a man in uniform with hat, neck tie, and a coat with several medals pinned to it.
November 11, 2025 at 5:37 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Giant land snail, Peruvian Amazon. The shell is about the size of a tennis ball.
Angled down image of a large snail, crawling across the leaf litter on the forest floor, from left to right. The snail's body is a pale yellowish-brown, and the shell is a mixture of colors, from light reddish brown to yellowish brown to beige.
November 9, 2025 at 5:56 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
I'm a little achy, feverish and listless from a Covid vax, so I'm just processing photos tonight. For #FrogFriday here's an African Clawed Frog (Xenopus laevis), observed in SE Free State, South Africa. Note the upturned eyes, perfect for laying in shallow water. #herps #frogs #NaturePhotography 🌿
Angled-down image of a frog lying in shallow, muddy water. The frog's color is a very dark blackish-brown with small streaks of a lighter brown. All four limbs are partially submerged. The eyes are tiny, and are located up on the top of the head.
November 8, 2025 at 2:01 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Next stop for Air Force One
image featuring a highway to the left and a road sign to center-right which reads "Shartlesville 1 mile"
November 7, 2025 at 4:16 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
I could smell the mustard and the onions
A still image from the movie Tombstone. Doc Holliday lies in bed, covered by white blankets. Wyatt Earp sits in a chair next to the bed, looking at Holliday.
November 4, 2025 at 11:40 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Adding to my Middle Earth life list, the Giant Sungazer (Smaug giganteus), endemic to highland grasslands in South Africa. They live in self-dug burrows and eat invertebrates and small vertebrates. Low and slow birthrates leave them vulnerable. #herps #lizards #NaturePhotography 🌿
Side image of a lizard perched on a rock, facing left with grasslands and hills in the background. The lizard's body color varies from light brown to dark brown. The most striking feature are the scales on the body, limbs, and head, which are enlarged, curved, and end at the tip in a pointy spike.
November 2, 2025 at 9:07 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Rabbit Rabbit! (Ribbet Ribbet?)
Going thru photos for the next book project and here's a rarity - a Leathery Milk Frog (Trachycephalus coriaceus). In 21 trips to NE Peru, I've only seen one. Called "milk frog" b/c skin glands produce a milky, irritating liquid.  #herps #frogs #NaturePhotography 🌿
Side image of a frog perched on a large green leaf, facing left. The frog's principal color is a brownish pink, with the digits featuring a more reddish pink. There are no markings on the head, back, limbs or digits, but the flanks have a number of lighter brownish-pink blotches that are bordered with reddish pink. The iris is also a brownish-pink, and the pupil black and horizontally elliptical.
November 1, 2025 at 6:28 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Grandson Phil successfully runs the guillotine gauntlet down the block. Lots of kids in our neighborhood and it’s just so much fun to see them in their costumes. #SpookySeason
Image of a young trick-or-treater in a cat costume, carrying a plastic jack-o’-lantern full of candy.
November 1, 2025 at 4:10 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
That night in Greece when beach umbrellas became something...else. #SpookySeason
Side image of an outdoor restaurant seating area at night. In the foreground are empty tables and chairs; in the middle ground are tall umbrellas, folded down. The scene is faintly illuminated and spooky, as the umbrellas look like hooded figures.
October 30, 2025 at 3:12 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Halt!

Mandatory wallpaper check.
Image of cell phone wallpaper screen - a microscope image of diatoms. Some are round, others triangular, and a few are five-sided. The colors run from light grays to dark, and light blues to dark.
October 28, 2025 at 2:48 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Enjoying a little shinrin yoku at the prairie park today. My goal is to walk every day if I’m home and it’s not icy.
Side view of a layered outdoor scene with grayish-brown prairie plants in the foreground, followed by a line of three small trees with a few leaves hanging on. Beyond that is a line of light brown prairie grass, with a line of trees on the horizon under a blue sky with a patchwork of clouds.
October 27, 2025 at 10:03 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
#FrogFriday: A Three-striped Poison Frog (Ameerega trivittata) from NE Peru. A large poison #frog, up to 50mm (2in) in length. Males care for the eggs, laid terrestrially, and after hatching, they carry the tadpoles on their backs to water. #herps #frogs #NaturePhotography 🌿
Side image of a brilliantly colored frog, sitting on reddish-brown leaf litter and facing right. The frog's ground color is a deep black, which is interrupted by bright lime green stripes; one runs under the eye to the arm, and then down the arm to the fingers. Another green stripe runs from the nose, over the eye and down the sides of the back, where it connects with broad stripes of bright green on the legs and toes. The center of the back is black, speckled with many small green dots. The belly is all back, as is the eye.
October 24, 2025 at 10:03 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
A Black Witch (Ascalapha odorata), on an island off Baja Sur, MX. These large #moths are often associated with death and misfortune. They are the 'duppy bat' in Jamaica, embodying a lost soul or a soul at unrest (more fun facts on WikiPedia). #inverts #SpookySeason #NaturePhotography 🌿
Side image of a large moth perched on a branch, diagonally with head pointed at the lower right, and wings in the upper right and lower left corners. The ground color varies between rusty brown and brown, and there are wavy patters of light and dark on the wings.
October 23, 2025 at 10:02 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
For #SpookySeason, a White Witch Moth (Thysania agrippina) from NE Peru. Long was my quest for the White Witch; I'm glad I took a safety shot with my phone, as it flapped away while I reached for my camera. WWs are among the largest of #moths, with wings nearly 12". #NaturePhotography #inverts 🌿
A side view of a large moth on a tree trunk, facing right, wing tips pointing at the top and bottom of the image. The moth's ground color is a soft white, and there are patterns and bandings of pale gray, and others of a darker gray. The wings are long and slender.
October 23, 2025 at 3:44 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
For #TurtleTuesday, a profile of an Indian Flap-shelled Turtle (LIssemys punctata), at night in Goa province, India. "Flap-shelled" refers to flaps of skin on the plastron that partially cover the limbs. A creature of still waters - check out that snorky nose! #herps #turtles #NaturePhotography 🌿
Side view of a turtle's head, facing left. The turtle's head is partially retracted into the loose and wrinkled skin of the neck. The ground color of the head is a pale blue, almost a powder blue, with a faint touch of green. Overlying this are blotches of a dark charcoal gray; one large blotch covers the nose, another the eyes, and then there are smaller spots and streaks elsewhere on the head and neck. The nose is elongated, resembling that of a tapir. The iris is bright gold, and the pupil is round and black.
October 21, 2025 at 2:53 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
A Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia), nectaring on zinnias in the garden a couple weeks ago. Found statewide in Illinois but not a common butterfly, this is the first one I've seen in the yard. #garden #BloomScrolling #insects #GardenParty 🌿
Top-down image of a butterfly with wings fully opened, perched on yellow petals. The wings of the butterfly are composed of spots of browns, brownish-yellows, and brownish-oranges, each bordered in black. The effect is much like a stained glass window.
October 21, 2025 at 4:39 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Still some petaled faces in the back garden. The tall zinnias were a favorite nectar plant for monarchs and other butterflies, so I will add more next season. There’s still a few monarchs flipping around as of today in mid-October. #BloomScrolling #garden #flowers
Side view of a flower garden with red, orange, yellow, and blue petals.
October 16, 2025 at 5:37 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
I’m still trying to adjust after a weekend of camping in southern Illinois. Friends, minimal internet, maximum nature. I’m ready to go back right now. Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea). #frogs #herps 🌿
Side image of a bright green frog clings almost vertically to the stem of a plant. The frog’s greenness is interrupted by a white line running from the snout to the back legs.
October 15, 2025 at 11:19 PM