Amphibian Patrol

The call came in right after supper: tonight's the night the amphibians are on the move at the Wilton Wildlife Preserve. Weeks ago, I had volunteered to help the frogs and toads and salamanders cross the road between the woods and their mating pools on the other side, and I'd been waiting for the summons. Finally, it was warm enough and rainy enough for the critters to start their annual exodus, according to naturalist Kenny Barnett, who had spotted a few early starters and sent out the word for us volunteers to meet on Scout Road by 9 PM. Unfortunately, by 9 o'clock the rain had stopped and the temperature had dropped 15 degrees, so we never did find the masses of amphibians we had expected. But we did find a few, including some quite unexpected ones, plus a number already squashed on the road. Happily, this little Four-toed Salamander in the photo was still intact, as well as being easy to see on the yellow centerline. We made sure it got safely across.

Our task tonight was to collect any amphibians we found on the road and place them in a bucket, where we could examine them and determine their species, size, and sex, before releasing them safely on the side of the road nearer their mating sites.

Being small and dark and slow-moving because of the chill, the critters were pretty hard to spot on the dark asphalt, but we did find enough to make the evening interesting.

Here, Kenny is measuring one of the salamanders.

Seven-year-old Cameron got to stay up past his bedtime to help with the catch-and-release project tonight. Here he releases one of the salamanders after it was sexed and measured.

Here are the creatures we found on the road tonight. Mostly, we found Spring Peepers, a wee little ruddy frog with a distinctive X on its back.

And we also found quite a few of these Four-toed Salamanders, which Kenny told us were an unexpected find, since this species of salamander is rarely found in inland sand barrens such as the dominant habitat of the Wilton Wildlife Preserve. There is, however, sufficient deciduous forest adjacent to the sand barrens to provide these little salamanders a home.

Here, Kenny shows us the diagnostic speckled belly of the Four-toed Salamander. He also noted how round its belly was, indicating that this was a female full of eggs.

Aren't these the cutest little toads you have ever seen?

They are Spadefoot Toads, belonging to a genus (Schaphiopus) different from that of our more common Bufo species of toads, and they have smoother skin and eyes with vertical, rather than horizontal pupils. Before we volunteers arrived on the scene tonight, Kenny located these Spadefoot Toads by following the sound of their distinctive call and caught them in the act of mating, so he was able to easily capture them to show to us.

This is a species of toad we are not likely to see any other time, first, because they are quite uncommon in our area, and also, because they spend most of their lives buried in sand. Here, Kenny shows us the distinctive hard black ridge ("spade") on the toad's hind foot, which the toad uses to dig its way into the sand. Apparently, it can dig its way down until it is completely covered in just a matter of seconds.

Just seeing those darling little toads was worth coming out on a rainy, dark, cold night to see. And once again, I am reminded of just how lucky I am to live among so many rich and diverse wildlife habitats here in Saratoga County.