Caution! Amphibians in road - and people too!
... they crawl on their bellies and can look like a stick in the road.
One of the highlights of spring is the chorus of frogs that enliven many a nighttime wetland with their shrill and insistent calling. While we associate the spring peeper with wetlands and vernal pools, that is not where they spent the winter. Most of the year they live on land in moist woodlands and lowlands in the vicinity of wet areas. But, like all amphibians, they must mate and lay their eggs in water, as their young are completely aquatic tadpoles that breathe with gills.
In fact, the majority of Vermont's amphibians (frogs, toads, and salamanders) share this trait, living on land but breeding in water. The word "amphibian" befittingly derives from two Greek words — “amphi” meaning both and “bios” meaning life. So, come early spring, they wake from hibernating in the shelter of leaf litter or underground burrows and head for the wetland breeding grounds where they will congregate with others of their kind in a festival of breeding.
In the age of the automobile, this migration presents a problem. Roads are usually built to avoid steep grades, preferring to take the flattest route in the landscape. They often follow the courses of streams and rivers and the edges of lakes. Wetlands, too, are most common in floodplain areas along rivers and streams (riparian wetlands) or in isolated depressions surrounded by dry land. Examples include basins and potholes that occur along the margins of lakes and ponds. Wetlands are also found in low-lying areas where the groundwater intercepts the soil surface.
The juxtaposition of roads and wetlands spells disaster for migrating amphibians. For a start they migrate at night, to avoid desiccation and predators but it’s hard for drivers to spot them in the dark. Many rainy spring nights see roads littered with the corpses of frogs that were crushed by vehicle tires. A case in point is the stretch of Route 113 approaching the top of Thetford Hill from I-91 and, further along the same road, on the downslope going north from Thetford Elementary School.
Increasingly citizens are becoming concerned. What are the effects of this yearly attrition on amphibian populations long-term and what can be done?
The North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier is encouraging citizen volunteers across Vermont to not only help amphibians cross roads, but to collect data on the locations of crossing sites and the species observed. This information is shared with the VT Agency of Transportation as well as with biologists at the VT Center for Ecostudies and the VT Amphibian and Reptile Atlas. Raising awareness and recruiting volunteers to help amphibians cross is about the only protection we can offer, since a permanent solution — putting in amphibian road underpasses — is beyond the finances of most communities.
For a NBNC video identifying VT amphibians see:: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRxLeXDNpj8
Thetford is doing its share, thanks to the Thetford Conservation Commission and their Inventory of Natural Resources. Provisional crossing points have been mapped, and many have been verified.
Taking observations along these crossing points requires an ability to predict when amphibians will move. They prefer to cross on the first rainy night in spring when the air temperature is at or above 45 degrees Fahrenheit. This is often referred to as the Big Night, though there will be animals that cross before and after this as well.
At present, the prediction is there will be a major crossing on the night of MONDAY MARCH 31st.
Starting around 8:30 pm, volunteers will be walking the following roads: Academy Rd, Godfrey Rd, Tucker Hill Rd, Robinson Hill Rd, and possibly Houghton Hill Rd.
Please be on the lookout for signs saying "People in Road — Go Slow" and "Amphibians Crossing." Volunteers are provided with reflective vests and are instructed to get to the side of the road and shine their flashlights on themselves to be as visible as possible whenever a vehicle approaches. They will also place cones and flashers on the road center line.
Frogs are easier to spot as they often hop, and when still they tend to sit up from the road surface. Salamanders are harder to see, they crawl on their bellies and can look like a stick in the road.
If you do see an amphibian crossing the road and wish to help, stop and park in a safe place — it will be dark! Amphibians have permeable skin through which they breathe, and lotion from hands is not good for them (but better than getting killed). Pick the animal up and, keeping it near the ground in case it escapes your grasp, move it to the side of the road in the direction it was traveling. Above all, be safe; never attempt this on a busy road, please.