NATCHEZ &045; Martha Jenkins always wanted her son Russell to just put down all those snakes he kept fooling with as a youngster.

Like most people unaware of the difference between the poisonous and non-poisonous species, Jenkins’ mother thought every snake she came across was going to be venomous.

She could not do anything to squelch her son’s interest, which has fostered into a hobby he now shares with three of his four sons.

&uot;When I was their age, I was way into reptiles,&uot; said Jenkins, a U.S. Postal Service worker in Jackson. &uot;At Christmas all I would ever ask for were books about reptiles. Now they’re using the same books I used. Their knowledge is just waiting to be tapped.&uot;

Along with sons Shane, 15, Cody, 13, and Connor, 6, Jenkins has been paying numerous recent visits to St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge, conducting a herpetological survey of the reptile and amphibian species on the refuge, on the request of Refuge Manager Randy Breland.

In just a handful of weekend trips, Jenkins has already identified 45 different species, stretching 25 yards of aluminum flashing into a ‘V’ shape with five-gallon buckets buried at ground level.

&uot;We were out until 11 p.m. (Friday) and we got up early this morning to explore. Usually we’ll drive for a number of hours, and if an area looks promising we’ll see what we can find.

&uot;Quite often we don’t even collect what we see.&uot;

In June, Jenkins came down to decide where he wanted the focus areas to exist at St. Catherine and installed the drift-fence traps.

The information gained will not only provide Breland and the refuge a more definitive herpetological inventory, which they’ve never had, but also clue them into if any of the amphibian species contain abnormalities.

As of now none have been found, but cases have been prominent in northwest Mississippi.

&uot;What we’ve been able to catch is what most people would see out in the woods,&uot; Jenkins said. &uot;But nothing that would be crawling around the house too much.&uot;

Just this weekend, the Jenkins crew had discovered a Gulf Coast toad and a turtle of the same name, both of which are exotic to this location, to go with indigenous snakes such as copperheads and cottonmouths.

Gulf Coast toads can be recognized by a prominent stripe down their side and the center of their backs, with a sunken-in cranium between their eyes.

&uot;Over the years the range sort of blurs the line,&uot; Jenkins said. &uot;Usually it has to do with integration or migration.&uot;

The back of the refuge’s SUV the Jenkins research committee uses is loaded with species in containers, which can live for days with proper attending, and also a three-tier plastic storage shelf harboring the essentials.

Items such as mosquito repellent, Ziploc bags for collecting, a first-aid kit, duct tape, alcoholic prep pads and antibacterial gel &uot;for munching on the roads&uot; can all be found inside.

Jenkins said he has all three boys spray themselves down with Off on every trip in case they run across any mosquitoes that harbor the West Nile Virus.

&uot;But you can’t live life worried about something like that if you’re doing something that makes you happy,&uot; Jenkins said. &uot;This is what we love. I can’t imagine not being able to get out here like we want to.&uot;

The passion the Jenkins share is unfathomable. On a recent trip, the youngest child, Connor, despite getting five stitches put into his thumb at the time, spotted a click beetle.

&uot;I like garters, ribbons and redmilks the most,&uot; Connor said, speaking of his favorite snakes. &uot;They’re all cool and stuff. They’re very nice.&uot;

Russell Jenkins nurtured his interest as an adolescent through Terry Vandeventer. Jenkins said Breland, his brother-in-law, contacted him because Breland knew: &uot;I eat and breathe this stuff.&uot;

The idea is to conduct the survey for the next few years, keep extensive field notes and administer a long-range population study once a decent inventory is amassed.

&uot;We’ll be coming down on the weekends,&uot; Jenkins said. &uot;In the winters we go stir crazy inside the house because we can’t get out.&uot;

Cody Jenkins has 16 separate species of arachnids and spends a lot of free time on the Internet researching them.

&uot;We go out all the time &045; even times when I don’t want to go,&uot; Jenkins said. &uot;It’s an interest that I have with them, and I enjoy imparting my knowledge onto them. They could be into much worse things.&uot;

He said just spending time with his sons is what he gets out of it the most.

&uot;Over the years you get out of it with trying to make a life for your family,&uot; Jenkins said. &uot;But now they’re into it, and it’s an excuse to get out and play. For us, it beats sitting around the house watching a ball game.&uot;