Rating: 
Summary: Best Field Guide I've Come Across So Far
Review: The pictures are excellent, similar looking species are placed next to eachother so it is easier to tell them apart, the descriptions of every organism tell you everything there is to know about physical appearance, where they breed, what their voice sounds like (for frogs), their size range, and their eating habits. There is also usually a fact or two about the organism also ("this frog is often hunted in the south for its legs" "this frog is not as wary of humans as most other species" "biggest turtle species in the united states" "often hunted to be made into soup" etc. I've had this guide for three years, and it has helped me dozens of times to identify organisms that i have captured. The best of its kind.
Rating:
Summary: The most complete North American reptile and amphibian book.
Review: This book contains 657 full color pictures of over 470 species of reptiles and amphibians in North America. It covers from habitat locations to breeding and feeding. This is a must for any child or adult who is interested in our native animals.
Rating: 
Summary: well, two and half,
Review: This book may have been something for it's time, but it's since been eclipsed, and has become outdated.
For one thing, the book was written in the 70's--it's older than I am. Taxonomy has changed, but that's not the most important (taxonomy is always changing).
Ranges have shifted; habitat changes have forced various species into new areas and out of old ones, new species have been introduced and become established, etc. Even if the range maps were up to date, they're poorly done; very small and hard to see, and inexact.Furthermore, the book doesn't delinate subspecies; all kingsnakes (L. getula) and rat snakes (L. obsoleta) are treated as one species a piece, despite each having over six very distinct subspecies. This is problematic as the various subspecies of kingsnake have remarkably different size, patterns, and ranges; a desert king is a rather different animal than an eastern king, but the book just gives you the same info for both. It happens numerous times with king snakes, milksnakes, ratsnakes, and all the pituophis species. It list some 10 subspecis for P. melanoleucus, and gives the same info for all of them, despite radical differences between, say, a northen pine and a bullsnake or SD gopher snake. It does the same thing with kingsnakes; it list 7 subspecies ranging from the Eastern to the Mexican, and gives on set of info for all of them. This occurs many times throughout the book, and negates it's value as a field guide. By now, with the explosion of herpetocultural writings, you're better off buying a good area specific guide; a Peterson's is a decent choice, or you can by a guide just for your state if there's a good one; such books typically give more in depth info and better done.
Rating: 
Summary: Its time for a new edition
Review: This book was written in 1979. The text and photographs were excellent, although the range maps were so small as to be useless, and the common names were the awkwardly academic types used in the first half of the last century. Supposedly, this book was updated in 1997. The text is still good, as are the photographs, but the common names still have not been corrected, the range maps are still too small, and over 70 new species that are now recognized from North America are missing from this book. This Audubon Guide is out-dated. Time to write a new one, with standard common names, modern taxonomy (drop the subspecies), and maybe some new photographs. Not recommended. Get the Peterson Guide. It may be a decade old, but its newer than this book.
Rating:
Summary: SUCH a GREAT guide
Review: This field guide is really interesting!!! It shows all reptiles and amphibians of North America! The photos are in full color and I've identified several herps with this guide without any difficulties!!! Although this field guide was made a while ago, it still looks it's been made in these days! It's good as national audubon society field guide to birds of western region, which is one of my favorites. I've had this book for nearly 2 years, and it still looks new as ever. The informations are very interesting if you read them. It's easy use, colorful and interesting. So if you're interested in American herps, get this guide right now.
Rating:
Summary: Over-rated
Review: This guide has a lot of nostalgia for me; it was my first real field guide, a birthday present when I was in 2nd grade. But like many nostalgic items, it hasn't stood up to the test of time. On the plus side, the photos make a good book to introduce youngsters to the joys of the herping world. and animals are arranged by similarities to each other, not by family; a great help for the novice. And it covers "all" the reptiles on the continent, no need for 2 books. On the negative side, photos usually aren't helpful for id, and can in fact be very misleading. But the worse complaint is that the publishers haven't bothered trying to update this book, as they have some of there other guides. Reptile Taxonomy changes every year, and this book is over 2 decades old. Many new introductions, newly discovered species, and split off species aren't covered, and many animals go by out of date names. The ranges maps are also less than helpful, rarely delineating subspecies or race range, just species. Overall, skip this book and invest in the Petersons. They have been updated both in the late 90's, have better range maps, and use modern taxonomy
Rating:
Summary: Over-rated
Review: This guide has a lot of nostalgia for me; it was my first real field guide, a birthday present when I was in 2nd grade. But like many nostalgic items, it hasn't stood up to the test of time. On the plus side, the photos make a good book to introduce youngsters to the joys of the herping world. and animals are arranged by similarities to each other, not by family; a great help for the novice. And it covers "all" the reptiles on the continent, no need for 2 books. On the negative side, photos usually aren't helpful for id, and can in fact be very misleading. But the worse complaint is that the publishers haven't bothered trying to update this book, as they have some of there other guides. Reptile Taxonomy changes every year, and this book is over 2 decades old. Many new introductions, newly discovered species, and split off species aren't covered, and many animals go by out of date names. The ranges maps are also less than helpful, rarely delineating subspecies or race range, just species. Overall, skip this book and invest in the Petersons. They have been updated both in the late 90's, have better range maps, and use modern taxonomy
Rating: 
Summary: mediocre
Review: This guide is beset with problems, and there are better out there. The range maps are so general as to be mostly useless. They're incredibly small, to the point where it's hard to discern where the lines on it are; is that snake's western range limit NM or AZ? You can't tell! The written descriptions of ranges are too vauge as well; they list eastern, western, southern and northern limits, but it's not like an animals range will make a nice little square; there are places within those boundaries where it does not occur. Maybe a lizards westernmost point is in, say Alamogordo, NM: it'll list that as it's westernmost point. but say, as it's range extends northward, it is restricted to a more easterly distribution; that won't be mentioned. Furthermore, the guide is 25 years old. There have been massive taxonomic revisions since this was written; new species have been discovered, some species have been combined, some subspecies complexes split, etc. Ranges have also shifted since '79, due to development and climatic changes. Also, the guide only deals with species level info. This is unnacceptable for some animals; L. getula (kingsnake) has some 7-8 subspecies, ranging from the mexican black to the desert to the eastern; these animals have markedly different apperances, habitat, ranges, and behaviors. But the guide doesn't deal with that; it list info for "L. getula" in general, without dividing it into subspecies information. This makes the guide worthless for Pituophis melanoleucus, Lampropeltis getula, Lampropeltis traingulum, and several other species which contain a wide range of different subspecies. So what to do? Buy a good local field guide; they exist for most states- Degenhardt's Amphibians and Reptiles of New Mexico is execellent. Texas Snakes (Dixon) is good. Failing all else, most states maintain a listing of most native fauna online, usually whatever department deals with hunting and state parks will have a link to it. There is probably a good field guide for reptiles and amphibians of your state. If you need one for a bigger area, try Peterson's. They offer regional guides; one western and one eastern and central. They're a little more difficult to learn to use, but they're far more current, far more detailed, and once figured out, far more useful.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: This guide is the best to use for identification, for nearly half the book is made up of bright, clear pictures that enables precise identification. The guide also has sufficient taxonomy, although it is slightly outdated. If one desires range maps, I highly suggest the Peterson guide. The Audubon maps only show the basic region.
Rating:
Summary: Great guide...
Review: This is an excellent field guide for beginning herpers. The photos are excellent and it even has pictures for the different color variations of certain species. The herps are organized into groups such as striped, venomous, lungless, treefrogs, etc. and then they seem to be ordered by color. I have used this book to learn about what I should expect to find in places I've traveled to, where to be careful of venomous snakes, how where and when to find herps, identification and more. I even used this book last November when I went to Dominican Republic and it helped me in indentifying some lizards. I highly recommend this book for beginners in field herping. In my opinion the price is worth it just for the wonderful pictures this guide has.
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