If you see people lined up along the streets of Northern New England on a rainy night in the next week or so, they are probably on a mission to help endangered frogs and salamanders in their yearly amphibian migration. These tiny critters must travel from tiny little pools called “vernal pools” where they have hatched out of and grown to maturity, to get out on their own and seek mates. However, many of them must cross busy New England roads where they end up getting killed by vehicles during their annual amphibian migration. So, many local residents are on a mission to help these creatures get to their destinations safely so the species can survive.
Amphibian Migration Occurs in Several States
Millions of amphibians are affected that live in places like Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, according to the National Wildlife Federation. In addition to the normal problems like getting across roads alive during amphibian migration, some animals may die due to their vernal pools drying up before they can travel elsewhere, which is due to a late spring and a drier summer.
That means that speed is of the essence if the volunteers want to save as many of these endangered creatures as possible,
The amphibians involved in the yearly amphibian migration include four kinds of salamanders, including the yellow spotted salamander, as well as the wood frog. According to officials at the New Hampshire Fish and Game office, the amphibians are vital to the ecosystem because they eat mosquito larvae. The wood frog is also a food for many other species of animal.
Amphibian Migration Occurs in Rain, Lower Temperatures
The times of the amphibian migration are usually on rainy evenings with temperatures ranging from the 40s to 50s. Officials in the affected areas are asking residents and those who travel these roads to watch out for these creatures and try to avoid killing them, or even to help save some if they can spare the time by ferrying them across the streets to safety.
In affected areas, hundreds of volunteers participate in what is called the Big Night, in which they do their best to save thousands of the salamanders and frogs trying to travel across the roads during the amphibian migration season. They are decked out in reflective clothing and using flashlights to find the critters and then catching them by hand and putting them into containers to travel with them across the highway to safety. The Harris Center for Conservation Education for instance, has been training people since 2007 to help out with the amphibian migration and have even documented creatures that have returned year after year by taking photos of their spot patterns.
If you happen to be in the New England area please, slow down, and save the lives of the frogs and salamanders in the amphibian migration trying to travel across the road to survive another year.
In this quick video tour accounting for a couple’s quick tour through Japan, you’ll experience a beautiful forest evoking a better place for amphibians than any unsafe New England roads:
https://youtu.be/qf1vQ9DfIj4
