Mike Pingleton
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somuchpingle.bsky.social
Mike Pingleton
@somuchpingle.bsky.social
17K followers 880 following 2.9K 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
Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · Nov 8
Welcome everyone, and thanks for following - let's build community, let's heal, and not give up. My agenda? 20k photos just sitting on my hard drive is a waste, so I'm gonna share 'em out - mostly nature pix, esp. amphibians and reptiles, but other subjects too. I'm glad you're here.
A middle-aged man (me) sitting at a table in a small restaurant in Hong Kong. Hunched over because I am very tired, I am holding my cup of morning coffee in front of me. I am wearing a blue shirt, my hair is short and graying, and I have a mustache and goatee. The worn table is painted a neon green, and behind me are other customers having breakfast.
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Just say no to cognitive amplifiers
Face shot of Bugs Bunny saying “No”
January 3, 2026 at 4:19 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
I’m batman
Angled down image of an orange cat’s head resting on a gray sofa fabric. The cat’s head throws a shadow that kinda looks like Batman’s head in silhouette.
January 3, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
jayispainting.earthskyart.ca
Possibly my finest work.

You might have to be from the UK or Ireland to get it though...
jayispainting.earthskyart.ca JayIsPainting 🍁 @jayispainting.earthskyart.ca · 1d
Every year we watch Lord of The Rings about a week before A Christmassy Ted and every year, I've told myself I'd make this.

This year, I finally did.

It's a pretty niche joke (you need to know the Father Ted tv show) but it makes me laugh
January 2, 2026 at 4:12 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Rabbit-Rabbit-Rabbit! A look back at the 2025 garden add-on. Mid-March I tilled the ground & built a frame for a 6 inch raised bed, 12ft x 30ft. Added 5 tons of soil and planted pots and seeds I started, mostly natives. Made a few mistakes, learned some things, it was so much fun! #garden #flowers
Angled side view of a a large wooded frame resting on bare ground in a back yard. The frame is a 6 inch raised bed, and while some soil has been added inside the frame, there is far to go to fill it up. The wooden frame is orangish color, being finished with a cedar stain to match the cedar fence which runs behind it. Angled side view of a raised bed garden, three months after planting. The bed is full of green plants and some flowers are blooming, mostly purple and red coneflowers and yellow brown-eyed susans. More mature and taller flowers are blooming behind the new bed along the orangish cedar fence - yellow susans, white shasta daisies and pruple and red coneflowers. A closer view of the raised bed garden at the end of June. There are many flowering plants in view, including yellow zinnias and pink cosmos, purple, coral, and yellow coneflowers, and yellow susans. Behand the bed and along the orangish cedar fence are more mature and taller purple and coral coneflowers, white shasta daisies, and some towering swamp milkweed and bee balm, both with pale purple flowers, A side image of the raised bed garden in late September, mostly a shot of flowering plants. the middle and background of the shot is a riot of yellow susans; in the foreground are white, purple, and coral cosmos. On the left is a sprinkling of orange coneflowers.
January 2, 2026 at 2:06 AM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
emilytaylorscience.com
I am excited to share my new book, California Amphibians and How To Find Them, hot off the press from Heyday Books and ready to help guide your wet winter frog and salamander adventures! It is available now from my website or Feb 3 at bookstores.

www.centralcoastsnakeservices.com/shop.html
January 1, 2026 at 1:23 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Music for wrapping up some 2025 to-do lists (and pushing away the darkness)
Image of an album cover: "Bruce Hornsby - Spirit Trail - 25th Anniversary Edition" Features a middle-aged white man with very short grey hair, in a dark suit, white shirt, and striped tie. He has a round, clean-shaven face, and has a sort of surprised look. His eyes are as wide open as can be, showing white all the way around his blue irises. One hand is visible, clutching a lit cigarette lighter. A cigarette is sticking straight out of his right ear (on the left).
December 31, 2025 at 9:27 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Thanks to the clearsky app, I found out I was on someone's block list for being "a birder".

I'm kind of a birder, but more birder-adjacent, but I will wear that banned-birder badge <struts around>

The thread I'm quote-posting from is hilarious, btw.
wapplehouse.bsky.social Kristi Yamaguccimane @wapplehouse.bsky.social · 4d
What’s the funniest reason someone got mad at you on Bluesky this year?
December 30, 2025 at 11:11 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Me saying bye to 2025
a black and white photo of a person standing in the snow in the woods .
Alt: a black and white video clip from a silent film - a man in a suit (Buster Keaton) runs across the screen, left to right on open ground in front of some trees. As he exits the shot on the right, a large bear appears on the left, chasing him
media.tenor.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:45 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Here's a Nakon Si Thammarat Caecilian (Ichthyophis supachaii), observed in a shallow rivulet near a forest trail in peninsular Thailand, 2023. Caecilians are amphibians, & generally live underground, although there are some completely aquatic species. #herps #caecilians #NaturePhotography 🌿
Angled down image of a worm-like caecilian moving through a thin sheet of water over rock and pebbles. The caecilian is a dark gray from nose to tail, and there are narrow but bright yellow stripes on either side of the body
December 29, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
ellisjrosen.bsky.social
Here are four of my most popular cartoons on 2025
December 29, 2025 at 5:06 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Atmosphere looking ominous here in central Illinois.
Side view of a rain-soaked parking lot full of cars, under a wall of gray clouds.
December 28, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
dr-mafeta-phaka.bsky.social
Northern Forest Rain Frog in all its rotund, and grumpy-faced glory.

#Herpetology #Amphibians #Herping 🐸
December 28, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
arthistoryanimalia.bsky.social
#FrogFriday 🐸:
Netsuke: Group of #Frogs on a Temple Bell
Sei Min, Japan, c.1850–1900
Marine ivory with metal inlay
Worcester Art Museum 1976.228
worcester.emuseum.com/objects/1411...
#JapaneseArt
official museum photo of object on white background, rotation view 1 netsuke of an army of frogs piled together on a temple bell “metal inlaid eyes; striation in ivory indicates marine ivory” official museum photo of object on white background, rotation view 2 netsuke of an army of frogs piled together on a temple bell “metal inlaid eyes; striation in ivory indicates marine ivory” official museum photo of object on white background, rotation view 3 netsuke of an army of frogs piled together on a temple bell “metal inlaid eyes; striation in ivory indicates marine ivory” official museum photo of object on white background, rotation view 4 (underside; looks like a skull) netsuke of an army of frogs piled together on a temple bell “metal inlaid eyes; striation in ivory indicates marine ivory”
December 27, 2025 at 3:29 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
I already have too many yet-to-be-used writing journals but holy cow, these were so cool. I had to avert my eyes, put my hands in my pockets, and walk away. #IMayHaveAProblem
Two leather-bound writing journals standing up on a book store shelf. The leather is a yellowish-brown and each cover features an animal, rendered in a ‘wood burning’ style. On the left is a raccoon, and on the right is a great horned owl. Additionally, the page edges are tinted, and show a series of relief images in white - on the raccoon book, it is a series of raccoon footprints; on the owl book, it is a cascade of feathers.
December 27, 2025 at 1:46 AM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
"They have a Fucking cave troll"
thecallisandra.bsky.social Callisandra @thecallisandra.bsky.social · 8d
The Lord of The Rings movies were rated PG-13. By current rules that means that each film could contain one use of the word "Fuck". Which line are you altering to insert the most useful swear word?

"I can't carry it for you, but I can Fucking carry you"
December 27, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
alisonfisk.bsky.social
✨✨Seasons Greetings!✨✨

Here’s a selection of my favourite ancient Egyptian blue hippos seen on my travels.

Now where’s William? 🦛❤️

📷 by me

#Archaeology
My collage shows ten photos of ancient Egyptian hippopotamus statuettes made of blue faience. I’ve drawn a santa hat on the hippo at bottom middle. This hippo is part of the collections at the Met in New York and is nicknamed ‘William’
December 26, 2025 at 5:25 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
Kids & grandkids left hours ago, and @nellanella.bsky.social and
I are watching some of our favorite Christmas movies:

Holiday Affair (Janet Leigh, Robert Mitchum)
Love Actually
While You Were Sleeping
up next:
A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott)

Wishing you all warmth, peace, and safe travels.
December 25, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
mariastrutz.bsky.social
A final set of bookmarks from a few years ago, featuring the Ghost Bear of Hookland, the blue Owl of Hookland (also called the 'Holland Owl' by Hookland archeologist @kjsoar.bsky.social) a swan skull surrounded by fossilized sea urchins and a Hookland Crow
#BookmarkoftheDay 🖤🐾🤍
a bear with a crescent moon and stars in the background reflected in waters below, a swan skull and fossilized sea urchins marked with five pointed stars, an owl perched on a post with a windmill and clouds in the background, a strutting crow with flowers in the background reflected in the water of a pond below. Linocuts, black and white, Maria Strutz
December 24, 2025 at 2:34 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
The children were all tucked snug in their beds… #cats #OnlyBeautifulThings
A straight-down shot of two cats sleeping on an ottoman. One is an orange tabby, the other is a solid dark gray. They are facing each other, heads tucked under and paws holding each other.
December 24, 2025 at 10:28 PM
somuchpingle.bsky.social
TIL
robthomasbirds.bsky.social Rob Thomas @robthomasbirds.bsky.social · 10d
A spectacular Ghost Slug (Selenochlamys ysbryda) found by my daughter in N Cardiff - within a mile of the home of the late Bill Symondson who first described the species, along with Ben Rowson of @amgueddfacymru.bsky.social It is one of the few species with a Welsh scientific name (ysbryd = spirit)
December 24, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
paulscheer.com
In 2023 I became obsessed with videos of dads in cargo shortswaiting in parking lots during Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. So when she came to town, I grabbed a camera and headed down to talk to them. I thought it'd be funny. It turned out to be something else entirely.
December 23, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
menestune.bsky.social
Camofrog 🐸

#frog #herps #amphibians #love #nature #lake #pnw #seattle #animals #photography #goodmorning #eastcoastkin
Green frog with black stripes lounging in a pond with her arms and legs spread out and floating. There is a lot of flotsam and reflected light making her blend in to the scene.
December 23, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
ellisjrosen.bsky.social
December 23, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
annadent.bsky.social
Not now, haunted Victorian shoes
December 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Mike Pingleton
langurlover.bsky.social
🐸
New miniature bright-orange toadlet found in southern Brazil and named after Lula
In a small stretch of the Atlantic Forest in southern Brazil lives a bright-orange species of frog that’s new to science, researchers report in a recent study. The miniature amphibian measures just ov...
news.mongabay.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:15 PM