Gary Sipperley has been a good buddy for over a quarter century.   Bob Applegate introduced us back in 1974, whereupon we teamed up for some  California-style herping the very next day out in a forested region east of San Diego.   The most spectacular catch that day turned out to be Gary's long lost snake hook, but it was my (Bill's) first field day in California, which made it great automatically.   A few years later, Gary showed Kathy & I the most intense night of road cruising I'd ever experienced to date when the chilly desert roads we drove were literally crawling with rattlesnakes (inset picture circa Sept. 1978; Kathy is looking on from the jeep).   That adult red diamond rattler on Gary's snake hook later posed for a gorgeous slide - it can be seen in my Reptile Photo Gallery on Blue Chameleon Ventures' website.  

The large view was taken of Gary in one of his herp breeding rooms during a brief visit to his desert hideaway in April 1995.   The snake in hand is an under-appreciated one by modern herpers -- a royal diadem rat snake Spalerosophis diadema from the dryer regions of  Pakistan and India.   His sliding tray system is immaculately designed and built; he's a perfectionist in his carpentry as well as his choice of animals that San Diego Reptile Breeders breeds.