Since this website was launched in 2003, there have been sweeping changes in the taxonomy of reptiles and amphibians, largely due to the transition from morphological to molecular methods of classification.  As a result, there have been wholesale revisions of phylogenetic relationships and nomenclature, affecting both the scientific and common names of many familiar species and subspecies. I respect this revolution in systematics, being generally in favor of anything that gives us a better understanding of herpetological evolution and identification.  At the same time, I’m extraordinarily lazy.  Keeping up with the name changes, and making timely revisions to obsolete (and obsoleta) labels on older pages of this website requires a serious commitment to veracity, something of a liability to the dedicated field herper.  But there’s also another reason. Each of these trip reports is a snapshot of an experience, and the names in use at that point in time are a marker of fond memories.  I take some small delight in preserving the recollection of how favorite herps were called back then, even if the names and identities are no longer current. So as new trips are reported, I’ll use whatever contemporary names are applicable, but please forgive the vestiges of outdated ones.  Not consistent or technically correct, but for me, emotionally accurate.  Elaphe forever.