08/10/09

Photo Contest Update

Susan and I are thrilled by the many entries we’ve received for the Frogs Are Green photo contest! If you haven’t sent in a photo, you still have time: the deadline for sending in entries is September 1st. So as you go off on vacation to the lake, woods, or mountains, keep your eye out for photogenic amphibians. Or if you are having a staycation, consider spending a day checking out your local area for frogs. I hope you will also take a little time to browse through the wonderful photos we’ve received. The thumbnails of the photos are along the right side of the blog. If you click on the photo you will see the photographers’ names as well as additional photos they have submitted.

Wood Frog, White Mountains, NH

08/7/09

Tee Off for Frogs

Maybe it’s because I grew up on suburban Long Island, but I do have a fondness for golf courses. These open spaces, with their green rolling hills, seemed like “nature” to me when I was a kid.

But golf courses are far from natural and they take their toll on the environment. Golf courses require thousands of gallons of water a day to keep them green. Large quantities of pesticides and fertilizers are used on them, which pollutes local water sources, and harms wildlife. When golf courses are created, animals often lose their natural habitats.

According to an article in the Oregon Environmental News, however, some golf courses are going green. The golf courses’ water hazard, for example, may double as homes for frogs, turtles, and other wildlife. Hardier grass varieties are planted that don’t require as much water, fertilizer, and pesticides. Dead trees are left standing to attract insects, which attracts birds. Water is periodically tested for chemicals, which helps frogs, and other animals. Wildlife corridors allow larger animals to pass through undisturbed.

This is great news for animals and for the environment. I hope this new green (and no, I don’t mean that kind of green) mentality continues to spread among golf course managers and members of golf clubs. If you’re an avid golfer, please show your support for Frog-Friendly (and Bird-Friendly) green courses.

Here’s more information from Audubon International about the Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, a certification program that helps golf courses protect the environment and also preserve the natural heritage of the game of golf. It also includes a list of green golf courses.

The 13th green at Puakea Golf Course, Kaua'i, Hawaii Photo Courtesy of Puakea Golf Course

08/4/09

Toad Lit 101 (The Wind in the Willows)

Continuing “Toad Week” at Frogs Are Green, I thought I’d write about literary toads.

I couldn’t find many books with toad characters, except Frog’s best friend Toad in the classic Frog and Toad books, which I wrote about in an earlier post. I do remember one toad character—Commander Toad, an intrepid toad in space. When my sons were young, they loved The Commander Toad series by Jane Yolen. These easy-to-read books for 2nd to 3rd graders are genuinely funny and absurd.

One toad character, of course, is a genuine literary star: Toad in The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, aka Mr. Toad in the Disney version. Toad is an unforgettable character—self-centered, obsessed with motor cars, impulsive, conceited, flying off on every adventure, and constantly getting into scrapes.

It’s possible Toad was Grahame’s alter ego. Kenneth Grahame was a stodgy London banker, who really wanted to be an artist/writer, spending his days in the countryside “messing around in boats” as River Rat so famously says to Mole.

The Wind in the Willows was published in 1908, but without illustrations. I have an edition printed in 1927, inherited from someone in my family. It has only one illustration on the frontispiece:

Ernest Shepard, who also illustrated the Winnie-the-Pooh books, first illustrated the book in 1931. Kenneth Grahame approved the sketches before he died, so this is usually considered the definitive edition. Over the years it has also been illustrated by Arthur Rackham, Michael Hague, and others.

Illustration by Ernest Shepard from The Wind in the Willows

Recently two annotated versions of the classic were published to coincide with the book’s 100th anniversary. One was published by Harvard University Press; the other was published by Norton. Charles McGrath wrote an interesting article in The New York Times, in which he discusses the sometimes questionable 21st-century interpretations of this classic.

Two new annotated versions of The Wind in the Willows

I received a copy of the book, illustrated by Tasha Tudor, when I was around 8, the summer after 2nd grade. My mother was part-owner of a bookstore and brought home the newly published book. That summer, I remember thinking I could read anything. I wasn’t intimidated by the book’s size or by the Edwardian prose. But I’m not sure I actually read more than a few chapters. Still, it’s on my bookshelf and has survived at least 10 moves in my life. Maybe this summer I’ll try to finish it.

NOTE: Please send along the titles of your favorite frog books (fiction) for future Amphibian Lit posts. Books with salamanders and newt characters okay too!

08/2/09

When Irish Toads Are Smiling

Recently I read on the Friends of the Irish Environment website about a small scale project that’s made a big difference for the endangered Natterjack toad, the only toad species native to Ireland. Only about 8,000 Natterjack toads remain in isolated pockets on Ireland’s Dingle peninsula.

One of the main problems for the Natterjack Toad is habitat loss. With a reduction in aquatic ecosystems—ponds, vernal pools, bogs—due to development, populations of toads have become isolated from each other, and eventually their numbers will continue to dwindle.

To help the toads colonize new habitats, the Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service launched a project called Toad in the Hole. They pay farmers to dig and maintain ponds on their land. So far the program has been a success. The farmers are motivated, not just by the money—the ponds take quite a bit of work to maintain. Rather they are motivated because they want to help conserve the species.

As Michael Foley, a landowner from Rossbeigh, says, “I got involved purely to conserve the species. The people of Kerry are very proud of the toads. They are part of the country’s culture.” His pond is now teeming with toadlets and tadpoles.

This project makes so much sense to me, and yet it didn’t cost a huge amount of money. Each farmer is paid the US equivalent of about $1000 a year to maintain the pond. I think similar projects could be implemented in many areas where amphibians’ natural habitat has been destroyed.

Sometimes the problems facing amphibians seem insurmountable, but the solutions don’t necessarily have to be complicated.

A young, not fully grown, Natterjack Toad. Photo by Piet Spaans.

07/30/09

A Froggy Birthday

I celebrated my birthday this past week, and my husband John gave me a frog book, wrapped in frog paper, with, of course, a frog birthday card (featuring a red-eyed tree frog).

Anyway, I love the book he gave me: Frogs and Toads of North America: A Comprehensive Guide to their Identification, Behavior, and Calls by Lang Elliott, Carlos Davidson, and Carl Gerhardt. Each page spread features one type of frog: on the left is all the information about the frog, on the right side is a full-page photo of the frog. This book is packed with the natural history of frogs and toads, including information about their range and habitat, descriptions of behaviors, and tips for finding, observing, and identifying frogs and toads.

So as you take pictures for the FROGS ARE GREEN photo contest and need to identify the frog or toad, or if you wonder what kind of frogs and toads you have in your backyard or in your part of the country, consider getting this book. The book also comes with a CD of the calls of 99 frog calls.

07/27/09

Good news for The Mountain Yellow-legged Frog

I’ve been reading some pretty gloomy stories lately about the worldwide amphibian decline, but I’ve also read a surprising number of hopeful stories as well. Here’s one Susan passed along to me:

A population of a rare, almost extinct western frog, the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog (Rana mucosa) has been found in the San Jacinto Wildnerness in Southern California. Until last month researchers had estimated only 122 adult Mountain Yellow-legged Frogs remained in the wild. This species was once widespread, but declined over the years when non-native trout were added to recreational fishing waters, disturbing local ecosystems. Tadpoles often become prey to non-native fish such as trout.

Biologists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the San Diego Natural History Museum made the discovery. Reading this article from the Environmental News Service, I realize how many zoos, state, local, and federal government agencies need to be involved and motivated to save an endangered species. The San Diego Zoo, for example, has a program is to breed mountain yellow-legged frogs in captivity and return them to their native habitat.

Kudos to all biologists, museums and zoos, and government agencies involved in this effort!

Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey

To learn more about this, I recommend watching the PBS Nature special The Thin Green Line. (You can watch it online.) This absorbing documentary is about all aspects of the amphibian decline, but includes a segment on the Mountain Yellow-legged Frog in Yosemite. Check out The Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog site as well.