With the lifting of certain restrictions and relaxation of others, the HSS decided to organise a physical event for its members, the HSS Slither.
Modelled after the style of frog and bird races, the HSSSlither comprised several teams that went herping over 24 hours. Since it was the event’s first run, we decided to keep it as an exclusive members-only event; with luck, it might be open to the public for future runs.
In addition to letting our members run wild in the great outdoors, this event also aimed to boost the appreciation, awareness and conservation of reptiles and amphibians in Singapore and give our newer members a chance to get to know the society better.
HSSSlither 2022 was held from 14 – 15 May with 20 participants from HSS; over the 24 hours, the participants made 65 observations of 38 different species.
And, what even is a competitive event without categories to excel in and prizes to win? The categories we decided on were ‘Most Species Seen’, ‘Best Photograph’, and ‘Coolest Observation’, and our teams did their best to excel in all these categories!
The ‘Most Species Seen’ title was clinched by Team 4, who saw a whopping 29 species! Congrats to Team 4 (Sankar, Dhanushri, Drima, and Jerome).
Entries for ‘Best Photograph’ comprised some stunning herps, but Emmanuel’s photo of the copper-cheeked frog with its large catchy bested all others!
The ‘Coolest Observation’ category was hoping to cover rarely seen species or unique herp interactions, and we were not disappointed. The winner for this category was Team Cloudies, who observed a changeable lizard (Calotes versicolor) predating on a Bowring’s supple skink (Lygosoma bowringii).
Other entries included a dog-toothed cat snake (Boiga cynodon) while road cruising and a napping red-tailed racer (Gonyosoma oxycephalum).
And in addition to having fun, the participating members contributed a lot of important feedback and suggestions which would help us further streamline further HSSSlithers and make it conducive for participants of all ages and herping experiences.
A huge thank you to all the members who participated and here’s to the next (and hopefully bigger) HSSSlither!
Herpetological Society of Singapore 