Chad Hawks, a great friend, had an assignment to produce a logo and marketing plan for a fictitious business. Tongue in cheek, he crafted the "Handsome Prince House of Herpetology," because of my fascination with frogs. At the time my collection was raggedy, but now I'm starting to live up to the logo. He was very insightful, as usual, I should have known my interest and collection of frogs would grow to the extent it has because frogs have such deep roots in my past.

Out by the ponds at 2 years old.

I've had frogs in my life for as long as I can remember. My love of frogs started with Graggy, (a family name for my Grandma). I would often visit and stay with my grandparents and Graggy would start the visits with a walk around the gardens to show me where the frogs were hiding. She would show me the pacific tree-frogs curled up in the garden hoses, under decorative rocks, and in planters and flowerpots. Back at my dad's house I would hunt frogs, toads and pollywogs in the ephemeral pools (though often as not I was hunting snakes and crawdads as well).

My older brothers took up soccer and so I'd spend my time around those rains soaked fields looking for frogs. I occasionally smuggled a frog or two back home. I don't think it's the cause, but my parent's house still has pacific tree frogs living in the window-wells and flower baskets.

In high school I started reading books about herps. In independent study biology, I built a tadpole tank that was self-sustaining (with only the additions of light and occasionally water). It was displayed in the biology class with some pacific tree-frog tadpoles in it. It stopped sustaining itself when pens, spit wads, and a textbook were added (by the special Ed biology class).

Continue on to more history.