Well first of all for those who don't already know, let's define herping. Herping comes from the word herpetology which is the scientific study of reptiles and amphibians. Reptiles and amphibians are known as "herps". Hence the word herping which some people simply call snake huntin'. Now remember, herping is not killing or collecting as many snakes as possible as do the rattlesnake roundup participants. Herping is done by reptile enthusiasts who love reptiles and care about their well being. We simply look for snakes in their natural habitat, catch them if possible and release them after taking a photo or two. Before you go herping, you must determine what kind of animal you are looking for because this will determine your whole day. Different snakes are in different habitats at different times of the day and different times of the year. On this particular day, we (my wife Sarah, her brother Hunter and I) were looking for cottonmouths (aka water moccasins) along the Flint River. So, we decided to take our boat, which we call the Tadpole, down the river to see what we could see. The Flint is a river in Georgia that flows from Atlanta down almost to Florida and if you count all its twists and turns is about 350 miles long. For our trip we decided to take a 10' jon boat due to the fact that it is relatively small and is fairly light and manueverable which allows it to be lifted over obstacles that may lie in our path, besides, it's the only boat I had. Now, three healthy adults cannot possibly stay afloat in a vessel this compact so, I thought it would be a good idea to have an inner tube in tow for the third person and we could all switch out and relax while the two aboard Tadpole did the paddling. This all worked out wonderfully for the first 100 yards. We all of a sudden began to hear what sounded like rushing water. As we rounded the corner we saw a beautiful rock strewn waterfall with an eight foot drop. Quickly, we paddled to the muddy bank and trudged past the falls with Tadpole dragging behind us. Fifteen minutes later we were back onboard looking at a group of fallen trees across the river. And so it continued for our seven hour trip down the Flint, tree after tree after tree. I now know that red wasps enjoy nesting in the fallen trees. Unfortunately, I did not learn this until I was thrice stung on my left shoulder. I also realized that the more you drag a 10' jon boat, the less light and manueverable it becomes. We spent more time in the water that the boat did! The next time I put Tadpole in the Flint, I will be 60 or 70 miles below Atlanta or will take a chainsaw with plenty of gas. And, as for the snakes, we saw a few but none were cottonmouths. We still had fun though and that was the important thing. I could have stayed home that day and watched television but instead I gave myself an adventure I'll never forget and didn't even have to leave town.