Roadblock in front of: amphibian passageway – The Washington Post

The wood frogs are frozen in a suspended animation. Salamanders wait under the frost line for the signal to return to their place of birth. A tripta of thawed ground, favorable temperature and rain encouraged them to emerge and migrate to spring pools during courtship nights and explosive breeding.

When they do, Keene, N.H., agrees not to fall under the wheels of passing cars.

For the second year in a row, Keene City Council voted unanimously to set up roadblocks and barriers during major amphibian migrations. It's a two-way gift: nature makes it look good, leaving lasting impressions for those who like to see hundreds of frogs come out of the woods.

"It's the only time of the year they settle in and move around, which makes it look like it's really magical," says Brett Amy Thelen, Scientific Director of the Harris Center for Conservation Conservation. Hancock, New Hampshire.

Thelen watches the weather obsessively and keeps a five-day salamander forecast on the center's website. The first major amphibian migration this year was probably in the early hours of April 8, when people were sleeping. Fortunately, the migrations take place on several nights and, on April 12th, after the quilting, the conditions finally seemed promising for the action during waking hours.

The Keene Public Works Department received Thelen's green light, broadcast social media information, and installed road barriers and signage: North Lincoln Street would be closed to assist in a migration. # 39; amphibians.

The prospect of a "big night" – when hundreds or thousands of amphibians could cross at a time – sparks much enthusiasm. Thelen hears a lot of people – even those who will not brave the cold and the rain, but will feel proud of Keene for taking the plunge. A woman from all over the state wrote:

"It gives me hope that Keene would do something like this. . . It gives me hope at a time when we do not have much hope. "

Since 2007, volunteers trained by the Harris Center have led approximately 43,000 creatures on roads in the Monadnock area of ​​southwestern New Hampshire. There are other programs across the country, some in warmer places, that started to work before Keene. The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area closes River Road to protect breeding amphibians; East Brunswick, N.J., has passage for Beekman Road; and outside of Philadelphia is the Schuylkill Center Toad diversion program.

Schuylkill saw his first action on Ides of March, when 30 American toads and an unusual number of pike-frogs appeared. Volunteer coordinator Claire Morgan and assistants escorted them to a tank to lay eggs in a setting of cattail and blackbirds.

According to her, in six to eight weeks, volunteers will return for a second phase. Hatched eggs transformed into "toads" will make a difficult jump into the tank, from the other side of the road and into the woods to perpetuate life.

Program managers agree that road closures are not as effective as more expensive permanent solutions.

After examining mortality data at a high-density crossing site, Monkton has moved beyond brigade infrastructure to support unusual species, such as the blue-spotted salamander.

After 10 years of determination supported by foundations, wildlife grants, fundraisers and a transportation development grant, Monkton built culverts under the existing pavement with a fence to channel the tiny creatures.

Jim Andrews works with Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas, which keeps data on the state's herptiles. He saw the success of the project via the camera: previously, hundreds of people could cross the night in a few hours. Now, he says, a few thousand people would not be surprised to go in each direction.

To be honest, these forest dwellers were crossing this place long before the advent of the retail store and the resulting traffic was now invading their trampling areas.

Exactly how long?

Andrews has a mind-blowing estimate and is happy to give some confidences to a few colleagues:

Ray Coish, professor emeritus of geosciences at Middlebury College, explained the retired Vermont naturalist, said the Champlain Sea covered much of the lowlands until about 9,000 years ago. Then, give a thousand years to a small creature to go up the Hudson Valley to Monkton. All conclude that the spotted blue salamander has passed through at least 8,000 years ago – a detail that Andrews considers "impressively impressive".

No surprise that It is unlikely that Ambystoma laterale performs a self-reorientation as soon as possible Homo sapiens. Some amphibians show amazing site fidelity – the phenomenon of returning to the same place year after year.

Think of Johnson's environmental friend, who built a cabin on a hill to find a parade of gray treefrogs the following spring, crawling up to the house and heading for the woods.

"She realized with some sorrow and doubts that she had positioned her home directly in their old flyway," Johnson said.

When Big Night arrives in Keene, a child's scream marks the first yellow-spotted salamander sighting of the season. "I see one, I see one." Volunteers take pictures to follow them. Thelen thinks to recognize one by the unique pattern of spots on the back.

A supernatural howl – the owl scares, ensures a local – cut through a chorus of chirping sounds from the breeding pond. The sky is darkening and spring peaks are beginning to plow the road. Children dressed in a raincoat, supervised by their parents, help frogs crossing, depositing their slimy finds on a floor strewn with needles and pine leaves.

The night brings memories to Sarah Wilson, who kept buckets and jackets on hand for outings when her daughter was younger.

"Sometimes we were just two of us in that dark, perhaps wet night, coming and going on that road. And it would be quiet except for voyeurs, "she says.

Emily Wilson, now a graduate student in sound design at Yale University, credits her "enthusiasm for listening" to this special relationship with her mother during soggy parties.

Dozens of people came and left around 10 pm, when councilors Maggie Rice, 25, and George S. Hansel, 33, arrived with friends. Both have been trained at the Harris Center and are ready to have fun after dinner.

The rain is rising. Frogs fill the light spots of the lantern abundantly. The children have come home to sleep and the adults rush with shameless pleasure, putting slimy creatures in their palms.

"There is something very powerful about holding a wild animal in your hand and knowing that you are doing it in a helping way," said Thelen.

Around midnight, the few remaining difficulties to leave, but stay watching when someone spots a wood frog amplex – a hug before fertilization. The male clings to the female and goes to the wetland to start.

The brigade has 9 spotted salamanders, 336 wood frogs and 275 spring grapplers (2 found dead after the barricades).

It's calm now, but for chirps.

As the journalist gets behind the wheel coldly and prepares to go back to the door where the cemetery is facing the road, she pauses. Extra caution is required, as one of them is now a bit wiser for the current night dances, when the ground thaws as it is and a few degrees move in the right direction.

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