Vol 14 No 15
The blog below speaks for itself. I hope you can join the quest!
Hi all!
My name
is John Bateman and I am an instructor in the Department of Environmental Conservation. I’m in my second year at FLCC, and currently
teach an honors section of I’m a herpetologist by trade (herpetology is
the study of reptiles and amphibians), and I specialize in salamanders and
frogs. Outside of the classroom, I
organize a large volunteer effort to help save amphibians down at FLCC’s Muller
Field Station on Honeoye Lake, and this is the reason I am reaching out to you.
The
frogs and salamanders I work with endure winter underground, with some of them spending
that time completely frozen. When March arrives
and signs of spring start showing up (warm days and rainy nights), they thaw
out or awake from their sleep, and begin their migration to their breeding
grounds to complete their life cycle. Down
at Muller Field Station, this is quite the treacherous journey for them as
County Road 36 bisects their path. It turns
into a real-life game of “Frogger” (some of you may have to Google that game),
and many don’t make it. There is a
larger issue at play here, too. Globally,
amphibians are experiencing significant declines. There are more species of amphibians threatened
by extinction than those of birds and mammals combined, and this is why I work
with these animals. In 2019, we moved
close to 4,000 frogs and salamanders across the road over four nights and had
less than a 5% mortality rate. That
total number moved is actually low compared to past years. There have been single nights where more than
5,000 were moved in just a few hours! As
for the roadkill, my goal is to get that 5% even closer to zero, but I need
your help. The amphibians make their
crossing over about a ¾-mile stretch of road, so I need a lot of people to
cover that large of an area. Don’t feel
like you need to be an expert in amphibians to help, as I will cover the basics
on proper handling and ID techniques.
And no, they do not bite. While
you may not be crazy about the idea of handling something that is wet, cold,
and most likely unappreciative, it is a noble cause. Without our help there would be carnage on
the road, and we’re not sure how long their populations would persist without our
intervention.
While
you might not be keen on amphibians (yet…), they play a vital role in the
environment. They are eating the insects
that you consider pests, and are also food for the more charismatic birds and
mammals you might be fond of. Perhaps,
too, you’ll gain an appreciation for these critters. These animals rarely evoke enthusiasm, are
often misunderstood, and deemed insignificant or persecuted by humans (heck –
the word herpetology is based off the Greek herpes,
meaning a creeping thing), but their lives have value. I’ve been fortunate to have crossed paths
with a few students who share my passion for these creatures. Some of them shared that they found a love
for amphibians because they, too, felt society viewed them in these negative ways
and were able to draw parallels between their lives and that of a toad. I hope you might be willing to look past any
inherent fear or preconceived notions you might have of these creatures as they
will not hurt you. I promise. Plus, there’s the possibility of seeing some
other cool animals, like screech owls and flying squirrels. Memories will be made, selfies will be taken,
and you’ll go to bed that night knowing that you did a good deed.
If you
are interested I invite you to reach out to me.
My email is salamanders@flcc.edu,
or you can pop by my office (#2238 in the conservation wing) and I can add you
to the group chat. The nights we work
depend entirely on the weather (warm and rainy), and I do my best to send
alerts out a day in advance. Carpooling
is recommended, and most nights there will be a 15-passenger van bringing folks
down and back. We typically work from
7-10ish. Hope to see you there!
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