It's looking like about ten inches of snow outside right now as I write this. The total could be around 16 inches. I got no herping finds to report, and no trips to contemplate with this kind of weather. I'm not quite ready to do an end-of-the-year post (I could still find something cool next week, right?), but luckily there is something new to post about: House of Herps.

This is a blog carnival, which, for those new to the concept, is a periodic compilation of blog posts on a related topics. It was organized by more-general naturalist bloggers and birders, something that took me aback at first. Herpers suffer from a powerful mix of paranoia and low self esteem: what normal people could possibly take an interest in the objects of our psychopathology? They must have some ulterior motive. Are they trying to steal our spots?

Once I got over the initial sense of being weirded out, I had a writing crisis - what interesting herping topic could I come up with in the middle of winter? I volunteered my post about Herp Atlas submissions (see below), but on reviewing the other posts in the House of Herps' first edition I've realized the obvious: the audience is not other herpers, but rather people with a broad and genuine interest in nature, so they'll be fascinated by topics that jaded herpers have given up on. I was going to write about scouting for January, but hell, maybe I'll do redback salamanders (Plethodon cinereus).