Field herping advice

As I may or may not have mentioned before, I'm working on a project this summer. I'm trying to get all of the herps in this area (around Erie, PA) on camera. No real reason, I just want to see if I can do it. When I was doing work for the PA Herpetological Atlas a few years ago, it really opened my eyes as to how many reptiles/amphibians were out there that I have never even seen.

For as much as I'm outside though, my luck at finding any of them stinks. Anybody have any advice they can offer? I know about going out around dusk, flipping logs/boards/rocks, etc. Anything other than that? I know there are more out there obviously, and I'm barely even finding many representatives of the most common species.

I'm also working at the Erie Zoo. Part of what I do is a reptile show. The head reptile keeper has been giving me advice as far as specific locations to look for certain hard-to-find species...so I go there and still don't find anything, not even the common ones!

1) Get a good field guide for your area.

2) Spend some time learning how weather affects animals.

3) Middle of summer is generally a terrible time to look for herps.

4) Get linked up with someone that field herps your area. Experience can save you a lot of trouble and can be the difference between success and failure.

5) Lurk on a few field herper sites and see what successful collectors find, when they make finds, and what yhe conditions were like. Field Herpers is a good place to start.

6) Don't get discouraged if you have days when you get skunked. Even the best in the business spend day after day in the field with nothing to show for it.