34 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY FEBRUARY 5-11, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com FACE TO FACE First, Emily Taylor has a bit of bad news to tell you: You’ve been lied to. “Almost everything people have heard about rattlesnakes is false,” she says. “The more potentially dangerous an animal is, the more mythology there is around them.” Mythbusting is not quite her occupation, although of course that is part of her career as a biology professor and director of the Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Lab at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. As an educator, the herpetologist turned to writing books to inform the more general public about her love of reptiles and amphibians. This week, her latest book—California Amphibians and How To Find Them—will be published, joining California Snakes and How To Find Them and California Lizards and How To Find Them. Taylor also educates people about rattlesnakes through training and snake removal via Central Coast Snake Services. Taylor visits Pacific Grove for a book talk on Feb. 6, followed by an interactive art session at 10:30am-1:30pm on Saturday, Feb. 7 (for event details, see p. 26). Weekly: How did you find your way to snakes? Taylor: Most people either fear or hate rattlesnakes, but there is a decentsized group of people who love them— and they love them fiercely. I became one of those people in college at UC Berkeley when I took a class on the natural history of invertebrates. It was kind of exciting; they were a little bit forbidden, a little bit dangerous. I realized how misunderstood they are, and it’s been a 30-year whirlwind since then. What do people misunderstand about rattlesnakes? People have been influenced by what they see on the internet and YouTube, that they are lying in wait for us, that they’re super dangerous. The actual risk is very, very low. People think of them as evil or nasty. They are shy animals, they have live births and take care of their babies. Rattlesnake bites are very severe when they do happen. With common sense, you can reduce the chance of that happening to almost zero. Have you ever been bitten? Once, in grad school in 2000. I was handling a snake and I was young and maybe a little careless. Two weeks later, with my arm in a sling, I was back out doing field work. It wasn’t the snake’s fault, it was my fault. Now I lead snake handling workshops throughout the state, and my techniques have been informed by my experience. You also remove rattlesnakes from people’s yards, as a free service. It’s kind of a movement. As people learn more about rattlesnakes, it’s like, “Oh my gosh, I’ve been wrong all this time, and we have alternatives to killing them.” We relocate them as close as possible, about one-quarter mile away. Humans are a much bigger threat to rattlesnakes than rattlesnakes are to humans. You’re now an author three times over, with an angle on how to find amphibians and reptiles. Herping is the new birding—it’s for people who like to go out and find things in nature, but want more of a challenge. There are techniques like flipping rocks, but you need to learn how to do it responsibly. Good herpers gatekeep the field; they say, “I had to learn it and I am not going to teach you.” One part of that is just old-fashioned attitudes. If you take somebody out to a place you have been hunting snakes and lizards for years, they could come and flip all those logs and ruin the habitat. There’s a culture of secrecy. It can be hard to find a mentor. I don’t tell people my herping spots either, but I decided to write these books to help people do it themselves. One of the things that makes herps different from birds or mammals is you can get your hands on them, feel their muscles and get that kinesthetic experience. An admission I should make: I’m afraid of snakes although I like watching them from afar. Should I try to be less scared? You’re missing out. When people get a chance to interact, especially to touch and hold a snake that is a low threat, those experiences are really neat. That kind of exposure can make you less likely to be afraid in the future. That said, having a healthy respect of snakes in the wild and just standing back and watching them is great. Learn more about Central Coast Snake Services at centralcoastsnakeservices.com or text photos and locations of snakes for identification purposes to the hotline at (805) 401-0811. Snake Charmer Biologist Emily Taylor became an author to share her love of ‘herping’ with the world. By Sara Rubin Emily Taylor shown doing field work in Colorado. She lives in Atascadero and her Central Coast Snake Services relocated rattlesnakes in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. Aragorn Want to meet Aragorn? Please fill out our online adoption questionnaire. Things to love: approx. 10 years old - 20 lbs - male - Chihuahua mix From the shadows of loss, a hero rises. 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