What goes into a book?

Answer: a lot of time and effort researching!

I spent this morning visiting Harvard University's snake expert, Van Wallach. Van took the time to show me parts of Harvard's enormous snake collection in the basement of the Museum of Comparative Zoology- row upon row of snakes preserved in jars of all sizes and shapes!

Here's Van with a Gaboon Viper skin. Notice how the colors fade once the animal dies.

And here's Jerry holding a "pickled" specimen!

I've got lots of snakes to illustrate! I'm really excited. I'm learning so many new, cool things about these fascinating creatures.