07/14/13

Herps Alive! A Reptile Rescue Herpetologist Writes About Frogs

Guest Post by Keith Gisser

I know what you are thinking.

Why is a reptile rescue guy writing about frogs? They aren’t reptiles. And captive frogs don’t need to be rescued. Gators, boas, pythons, maybe even big monitor lizards and iguanas, sure. But frogs?

Herps Alive! The Interactive Reptile and Amphibian Experience, is a traveling educational herpetology program and display. We have presented in 36 states (primarily at college campuses, but also at libraries, festivals elementary and high schools). Now in my fifties, I did my first paid program at age 17, and now my daughter a degreed Interpretative Naturalist, and my son, a marketing whiz, often travel and help me. We offer display programs and interactive lectures as well as classroom sessions, and have presented an estimated 3,000 programs since we started (we have worked some “real” jobs here and there).

As your reputation builds, you start getting calls to adopt animals. Usually they are pets that people can’t keep. Sometimes they are police seizures or animals from other unfortunate situations. We have always accepted these animals in an effort to keep a good relationship with the museums, nature centers and law enforcement officials who contact us.

But in the last year or so, the rescue mission has taken on a life of its own. We have been asked to take in dozens of animals. And for the first time, we began rehoming a few. As a result we are spinning off our rescue mission and working on moving it to a separate location, as we turn it into a charitable foundation.

But what about the frogs?

I have been fascinated with frogs my entire life. My career as a herpetologist probably began at age nine when I caught a toad. I brought him home in a rinsed out pickle jar. (That was 45 years ago when such behavior was acceptable. At the time they were also in the genus Bufo, not Anaxyrus) I have bred several species of frog in captivity and always include a discussion of metamorphosis in my educational programs.

Right now we have three frogs among our 150 animals. Our Southern Toad (Anaxyrusterrestris) was living in a Carolina classroom after a student had brought him. He had been in captivity for too long to be released, so when we came in to do a program, the teacher asked if we could take him. Known just as The Toad, he eats crickets and small worms, as well as waxworms.

Beatrice is an African Clawed Frog (Xenopuslaevis) who was raised from a small size by my son’s ex-girlfriend. When she moved into a new home, she asked us to take her on. Beatrice was raised in a 10 gallon aquarium. When we tried to move her to a larger one, she went off feed and seemed generally unhappy. So back into the ten she went even though it really is too small for her. She loves her goldfish and nightcrawlers and eats anywhere from 10-30 a week. Unfortunately, her relatives have been taking a bad rap lately as they have been identified as the culprits that carried of the dreaded chytrid fungus. It’s not really their fault. In everywhere except their African home, they were used as lab animals. They were used as part of a pregnancy test. The problem is not with them carrying the fungus, but rather with the irresponsible people who have released them outside their normal environment.

Finally, there is Poncherello Pegone Pixiefrog, our African Bullfrog (Pyxicephalusadsperus). “Ponch” is named for the mayor on the cartoon My Gym Partner’s a Monkey., who is also a Pixie, or African Bullfrog. We adopted him from a breeder because he appears to be blind in one eye and the breeder did not want him. Ponch eats thawed mice off tongs, usually one or two a week. He is also a regular in our programs, having traveled to 14 states since we got him two years ago. While our other frogs are kept in our entrance hallway (Our facility is not air conditioned), Ponch loves the heat and his aquarium is kept in our snake and lizard room, where the high ambient temperature helps him with digestion.

We hope to see you some time in the future…

About Keith Gisser:

Keith caught a toad (Anaxyrus ssp) when he was nine and his herpetology career began. He has presented Herps Alive! an award-winning, nationally recognized interactive reptile and amphibian program based in Ohio, at over 170 college campuses and hundreds of other venues in 39 states.

Gisser, who has been a herpetology educator for over thirty years and currently maintains about 140 reptiles, amphibians and crocodilians, nearly all of which are adoptions or rescues, about half of which are used in his programs. The rescue and adoption mission has taken more and more of his time and efforts in recent years and will soon be “spun off” as the Herps Alive! Foundation, which is in the process of seeking non-profit status and accreditation as a rescue.

07/4/13

Frogs Crossing the Road in the Rain

Rio Grande Leopard Frog by Sara Viernum

A frog fan, Brian, emailed about the frogs in his area crossing the road when it rains, and I asked a few experts to advise him. We all agreed to share this content so you can know what to do in your own area.

Brian asks:
To reiterate our conversation, there is an ecosystem in and around the Salt Pond community in Bethany Beach DE, which subsequently is intertwined by a few roads. There is one particular stretch of about two blocks where, like clockwork, when it rains the frogs cover the street. It seems to be two species doing this; the bull frogs and little peepers. I did a rough estimation of about 125 of these frogs are being killed by car traffic every time it rains. That’s roughly 4000 per summer season. What is it about the rain that draws these frogs to the pavement? And what practical solution can be done to lessen the slaughter?

Best regard, Brian H.

Bullfrog by Sara Viernum

Two responses from the experts:

Hi Susan and Brian,
Happy for others to chirp in as well, but the frogs are not so much attracted to the pavement, but the rains signaling the fact that its time to breed! So when this happens the frogs migrate from where they live their everyday lives to a suitable breeding site, which hopefully still exists. I’ve seen cases where the traditional ponds have been turned into carparks or shopping malls and all the frogs turn up and say “WTF?” And inevitably die. There is another explanation and that depends upon the size of the frogs – if they are adults then the above explanation is probably true, however if they are metamorps or juveniles then its quite likely this is a mass migration AWAY from the breeding site of newly developed froglets to find a good place to live and the only way they can avoid drying out on the hostile pavements is to travel when it rains.

OK – what can be done to save them?

People try many things, during rainy days you can get volunteers to help the frogs across the roads, you can put signs up to warn motorists and tell them to be careful, you can close the roads – all these have differing successes depending on manpower, but the best solution is to advocate for some frogs tunnels and drift fences to be installed. Essentially you erect a barrier, which for these species would need to be carefully constructed as peepers can climb very well and bullfrogs can jump very well, and these barriers prevent the frogs from crossing the road and direct them to an underpass where they can cross the road safely (obviously the same needs to happen on the other side so that they don’t get squashed coming back). Having said all this, both the species mentioned are fairly common species and are not under threat (although it would be good to get their ID professionally confirmed) and are not in decline – at the moment, so it would be difficult to motivate city councils or governments to take action for a fairly common species. But its great that Brian wants to do something an it would be great if Kerry Kriger (Save the Frogs) or I can help.

All the best

Phil Bishop
Associate Professor
Chief Scientist
Amphibian Survival Alliance

Ranid Eggs by Sara Viernum

Brian,

Susan with Frogs Are Green forwarded your e-mail to me. Roadways are a huge problem for herpetofauna as you’ve found out. The frogs are mostly likely coming out on the roads during rainy nights to move to breeding grounds or in search of food. Frogs love rainy nights and move around a lot during them. Some possible solutions to help save the frogs are to petition the city and or your local Fish and Wildlife/Dept of Natural Resources office to install frog crossing signs and get the speed limit lowered and/or to install fencing that diverts the frogs to an under road crossing (if one is nearby). If this is a little used road you might asked that it be closed during certain seasons like the famous snake road in the Pine Hills in Southern Illinois that is closed twice a year to allow rattlesnakes to migrate. Another possibility is to start a citizen group that devotes time to cruising the roads on rainy nights saving the frogs. I’ve heard of a few areas in the US where people do this.

Thanks for being concerned about the frogs.

Cheers!

— Sara Viernum, The Wandering Herpetologist

Spring Peepers by Sara Viernum

06/25/13

Win win situation for the Hedgehog and for the Frogs in New Zealand

Guest post by Phil Bishop
acting director at The Centre for Science Communication (University of Otago)
Associate Professor/Chief Scientist ASA

Hedgehogs are cute and cuddly.

Many children are exposed to characters like Beatrix Potter’s Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, so it was no surprise that when I found a baby hedgehog (called a hoglet) sitting motionless on the sidewalk at 4.30 in the afternoon that I felt moved to help.

This is in New Zealand and many people may not realize that New Zealand was probably one of the last places in the World to be colonized by land mammals. The only native mammals we have in New Zealand are two species of bats and marine mammals like seals and dolphins. So all the rats, mice, stoats, weasels, possums and of course, hedgehogs, have all been introduced in the last couple of hundred years.

Nearly all the land mammals are introduced species and the native wildlife (birds, reptiles and frogs), who have been happily evolving on their own for the last 80 million years in the absence of mammals, haven’t a clue what to do when they encounter an introduced, vicious, mammalian predator.

I ended up in a dilemma – should I nudge the hedgehog into the oncoming traffic, it was cold and going to die anyway, or should I nurse it back to health and when its old enough, release it back into the wild to wreak havoc with our native wildlife or get squashed on the road as an adult!

The decision was a ‘no brainer’, I couldn’t let this little fellow die a horrible death so I had to rear the little 100 gm orphan. So now we have a large female hedgehog – a couple of pounds in weight – a vicious predators of my favorite animals that I have been working so hard to save – frogs! What to do?

Luckily I managed to find someone who was looking for a hedgehog as a pet – so she is now living with a family, never to be released to the wild, never to produce more hedgehogs, never to run the gauntlet of crossing a road but always having her every day needs taken care of.

A win win situation for the hedgehog and for the frogs!

While they might seem cute and cuddly hedgehogs are significant predators of frogs, lizards and even ground nesting birds – and probably play a significant role in the decline of Leiopelma frogs in New Zealand.

06/7/13

Hops for Habitat in Montauk – Open Call for Artists

OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS! Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County (CCE) has been actively involved in the protection and restoration of local eelgrass meadows that are an important habitat for many biologically and economically important species of finfish and shellfish.

To help raise community awareness, they are seeking artist responses to this issue and would like to see works inspired by underwater habitat reflecting the value of our local marine environment during our “Hops for Habitat” art show and sale in Montauk Brewing Company’s Tasting Room from June 28 through July 31, 2013.

Deadline for submissions is June 15.

Please visit www.marinemeadows.com or contact Kimberly Barbour at kp237@cornell.edu for submission information.

04/22/13

A – Z Frog Species: Spring Peeper – Pseudacris crucifer

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) is a tiny little chorus frog found across most of the eastern U.S. and Canada. Tan with a dark cross on its back they are often less than an inch in length. Making home to a number of wetland environments they prefer semi-wooded areas and must lay their eggs in an aquatic location. Feeding on a variety of invertebrates they can often be found near lights in warm summer months where all sorts of bugs gather. Capable of surviving temperatures as low as -8 dC they hibernate under logs or beneath lose bark. One of the greatest sounds of spring, their call, signals warm weather is here!

New series by guest blogger, Coyote Peterson, Coyote Peterson Brands, LLC.

09/18/12

God and an Endangered Toad: Faith Traditions and the Environment

A couple of weeks ago, there was quite a brouhaha in the news about the inclusion of God into the Democratic and Republican party platforms at the convention. Personally, I don’t think God cares too much about party platforms.

But I do think God might wish that we humans were better stewards of this beautiful planet and the animals that inhabit it along with us. Around the time of the conventions, the Zoological Society of London published a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission that listed the one hundred most threatened species of animals. These animals are unique and interesting in their own way, but they may die out simply because they don’t offer obvious benefits to humans. Are we being good stewards by letting this happen?

Although it’s rare, sometimes faith and conservation do join forces for good. Recently, I read a post by Brandon Loomis in the Salt Lake City Tribune: Utah Group Goes on a Divine Quest for Rare Toads.

Volunteers in Utah from Interfaith Power & Light, a faith-based environmental coalition, went on a search for the rare boreal toad (Bufo boreas), which occupies only 1 percent of its historic breeding places and is under evaluation for possible Endangered Species Act protection.

The most serious threat to the boreal toad is the chytrid fungus, a disease that is devastating amphibian populations worldwide. Biologists believe habitat protections can help reduce stress and can keep outbreaks in check.

Boreal toad. Photo courtesy of the State of Utah Natural Resources Department: Division of Wildlife Resources.

The interfaith group didn’t find any boreal toads, but their excursion wasn’t in vain. One of the volunteers was quoted in the article as giving her reason for the importance of their outing, other than the fact that kids love frogs and toads: “More and more we become so disconnected from nature. We might go to church on Sunday, but I feel like we’re called to do more than that.”

The search was organized by Jason Brown, a Mormon with theology and forestry degrees who teaches ethics at Utah Valley University. As quoted in the article, Brown said: “Depending on the faith tradition, biodiversity can be sacramental of God, or [indicate] God’s presence.”

We say Amen to that.

For more information:
The Interfaith Power and Light website has links to articles about different religious faith traditions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and others) and the environment. Please click here.
See Vernal.com for more information about the boreal toad.

Frogs Are Green

Environmental Organization Helping to Bring Awareness About Frog Decline Around The World

Category Archives: People Helping Frogs and Toads