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COLLECTING 
Legal Restrictions 
In most areas there are no restrictions on collecting amphibians and 
reptiles, although official permission must be obtained to collect in national 
and provincial parks, and trespassing without permission on private property 
should be avoided. 
Collecting Containers 
It is usually most convenient to collect reptiles and amphibians alive. 
Small specimens, particularly salamanders and small frogs, are best placed 
in a jar when collected. Usually even a jar with a tight lid will serve for a 
short period (several hours, or longer) as these animals do not use the limited 
oxygen at a rapid rate. For longer periods the lid may be ventilated by 
punching holes (from the inside out) in it, or by cutting out a section and 
inserting a circle of wire screening which is held in place between the edge of 
the jar and a rim left around the top of the lid. A small amount of water 
should be added for moisture, but not so much that specimens cannot easily 
hold their heads above it. Moss, leaves, and the like may be added but are 
not necessary. 
Cloth bags, such as flour, salt, and sugar sacks, are ideal for snakes, 
turtles, lizards, and larger frogs. They must be restitched to ensure strength 
of the seams and may be provided with a drawstring top if desired. These 
can be carried looped through one’s belt. If no drawstring has been provided, 
the top of the bag may be knotted. With a drawstring, there must be 
enough excess string so that it may be wound around the neck of the bag and 
tied securely. For amphibians the bags must be thoroughly soaked to pre- 
vent desiccation of their contents. Bags of heavy plastic are recommended 
by some collectors. Canvas bags are too heavy, and the weave of burlap 
is too loose to make it a reliable container. 
Care must always be taken not to leave collecting jars or bags in the 
direct sun, as the rise in temperature in the containers will quickly kill 
specimens. Both bags and bottles should be thoroughly washed before 
re-using. 
General Collecting 
Reptiles and amphibians may be encountered in a wide variety of 
natural environments — woods, fields, ponds, marshes, lakes, rivers, and 
streams. They may be terrestrial, arboreal, fossorial, or aquatic. Many 
species, especially those most successful in Canada, are found in a variety of 
habitats, but others are quite specialized in habitat and restricted in distribu- 
tion. To collect the latter, a good text which gives what is known about the 
habitat preferences of the species must be consulted to determine the most 
likely places to search for it in a given area. 
Often the discovery of specimens is purely a matter of chance, and the 
somewhat flippant but time-honoured reply to the question of how many 
specimens a good collector may expect to obtain on an ideal collecting day, 
‘none or more,’ is all too true. The collector should always be prepared to 
collect a specimen of a rare species when he sees it, rather than assume he 
will get a second chance at a more convenient time. 
