Happy Friday!

YouTube is finally up, but it left me little time for much else. Like finding more stories to share…

What I do have is awesome, and it got my feels worked up, though.

A snake species has been named after Steve Irwin!

It is crazy how long and far the impact of one man can be. During introductions in the Master Herpetology course nearly half of us credit him with inspiring our love for animals and conservation as kids.

A species of wolf snake in India has been named The Irwin’s wolf snake (Lycodon irwini).

They are a reptile-eating species and look awesome!

“The specific epithet is a patronym honouring the late Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 1962–1964 September 2006), the renowned Australian zookeeper, conservationist, television personality, and wildlife educator. His passion and dedication to wildlife education and conservation have inspired naturalists and conservationists worldwide, including the authors of this paper.” (Naveen et al, 2025.)

What an awesome tribute to add to the legacy. I am not an emotional person, but when I first read this, it got some feels.

You can read their full write-up at Evolutionary Systematics.

I wasn’t ready for the YouTube launch yet, but I went forward with it anyway because I knew it would just keep getting pushed off.

I figure I can figure out all the little things I jacked up in these 2 videos (I had 4 planned) while hardly anyone is watching. 😂

I have to re-record ANOTHER one due to a newbie recording error AGAIN…

At least I have something out, though. I am going to keep shooting for 1 video a week and see where it goes.

The learning curve is steep, so slow and steady is the only answer here….

The first video is just all about the “why” for a pet snake:

And in the second, I go over some great beginner options:

Let me know what you think and what I can improve on them!

I hope everyone and their scally family members are safe after all this cold.

See you next week!

Will