Leave No Trace

Amphibians are dying out like crazy, 

and frogs and salamanders may be largely extinct 

by the end of the twenty-first century. 

Imagine an animal that begins its life in the water, 

but ends it on land 

- already, that's pretty weird. 

But, also, a lot of them are incredibly tiny and look wildly improbable. 

They have funny little toes, 

they stretch their throats into weird bubble shapes when they croak, 

and some of them are poisonous to the touch. 

I think kids from the twenty-second century 

might mythologize amphibians 

the way kids today mythologize dinosaurs.

~Annalee Newitz

Hands of some of the campers today. I had to blur the faces of two boys who are "that age."* [The perfect gift today]

I rolled my suitcase into the community center and began to organize the materials on a table before the volunteers showed up. This gig requires planning and flexibility - and volunteers, lots of volunteers.** The audience constantly changes so there is an ebb and flow of cliques. They are at a distracted age...in a distracted age.

My bag was packed. I love rolling suitcases.

Some of the "budding scientists" from two weeks ago were long gone. Still, the early group was marvelously cooperative and I had one young man*** in the second group who walked up to me at the end of class to see how he might be able to join us in our next amphibian watch (on Saturday). I gave him my card and asked him to have his parents email me.

The coral snake looks pretty real! (Photo by Mary Ann Melton)

The presentation includes the frogs (and one toad) most commonly seen and heard here. As we played the call of the Gulf Coast Toad, one young lady reacted -"I see those all over the place and I have heard that call!" 

One. All it takes is to capture the imagination of one - and I think we got two.

We had a fairly successful frog chorus (cricket frog rock clickers, Leopard frog trillers, bullfrog thrummers, and chorus frog card & comb players). It sounded pretty good, but there was user error with the audio recorder. I have another chance on Thursday and two more on Monday (with the little ones - possibly a more cooperative group). 

Frogs, snakes, insects, and such were captured, identified, and recorded. And we identified two snakes on iNaturalist.**** That was amazing, considering everything was rubber or plastic. Yikes!

Examining the Red-eared Slider.

I could not have managed without the amazing volunteers from our group (Good Water Master Naturalists). They called the group to order, introduced our topic and activities, handed out materials, organized the specimens, ran the audio/visual equipment, kept track of the nets, cleaned up, and took care of many things I am sure I missed. [A big round of applause and a "Hurrah!" for the indispensable "helpers!"]

American Bullfrog...and a pig? I don't think I have ever seen a pig on an Amphibian Watch. Feral hog evidence, but never a pig...donkeys at Berry Springs...no pigs.

My neatly packed suitcase is a wreck (it was easiest to just throw everything in and zip it up), but I have time to sort it all out before Thursday...different town and audience. [Shhh! Don't tell, but I have a plan for frog races.]*****

And I plan to start Thursday with a visit to the family. Stay tuned.

NOTES:

* How many photos do I have where one or both of my brothers managed to sneak in? I love them now, but I was not amused then. I loved it today.

**I have already taught it once. And the audience today is not exactly there because they want to be there...a little entertainment helps.

***He was a Scout. He had already had "Leave No Trace" training and so he was going to know many of the answers. He agreed to let others have a chance to answer. I do hope he comes to catch frogs on Saturday.

Leave No Trace Principles:

• Plan ahead and prepare.                                       
• Travel and camp on durable surfaces.                 
• Dispose of waste properly.                                                                         
• Leave what you find.                                            
• Minimize campfire impacts (be careful with fire).
• Respect wildlife.  
• Be considerate of other visitors.

****iNaturalist recognized the coral snake and decided the black snake was a North American Racer (I gotta write that down so I remember it - 3 more classes, you know).

I need to research North American Racer.

 *****I like to change things up. It's not like I will have repeaters at any of the sites (although camp counselors may hear the same stories and jokes too many times). Maybe I just do it for the repeat helpers and MAM, the woman who runs the projector (and helps to focus me...by the time this summer is over we will have heard it six times. I don't know about her, but I am easily bored). Changes are under way.