DEM Announces Publication of Reptiles of Rhode Island Book

Published on Tuesday, August 06, 2024

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) is announcing the publication of Reptiles of Rhode Island, available in hard copy with funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s State Wildlife Grants Program. All revenue generated by the sale of this book will be directed towards DFW’s wildlife conservation efforts. 

Reptiles of Rhode Island is the companion volume to Amphibians of Rhode Island, published in 2018. It provides meticulous accounts of the state’s seven native turtles and 13 native snakes and their respective habitats, accompanied by beautiful photographs. Far more than a field guide, author Christopher Raithel’s book also combines an exhaustive search of the historical record and four decades of intense personal study to provide comprehensive information on the state-wide distribution, demography, seasonal movement, reproduction and development, research needs, and conservation status of each species. An additional chapter is devoted entirely to conservation, detailing overarching threats as well as the actions the public and biologists can and must take to safeguard the amazing creatures detailed within the book’s pages.

Christopher Raithel was hired as the staff zoologist at the outset of the Rhode Island Natural Heritage Program in 1979 and became the nongame and endangered species biologist at DFW until his retirement in 2018. As one of the increasingly rare naturalists who has come to know his subjects and their world in great depth, Chris’s enormous compassion for them shines through in the less technical sections of his writing.

To order a book by mail, visit www.dem.ri.gov/bookorder to download a mail order form. Please allow up to six weeks for processing and delivery. Books are $20.00 each and are $15.00 each when you purchase five or more.

Reptiles of Rhode Island may be purchased in person at the DEM’s Division of Boating Registration and Licensing offices located at 235 Promenade Street, Providence RI, weekdays from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Accepted forms of payment at that location are cash, check, money order or, for an additional fee of $1.50, credit card.

The book is also for sale at the DFW Headquarters located at 277 Great Neck Road, West Kingston RI between the hours of 8:30 AM and 4 PM. Accepted forms of payment are money order or check. Cash or credit cards cannot be accepted at this location.

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