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<u>BEACON JOURNAL </u>(Akron, Ohio) 04 April 07 Crawl of the salamander - Amphibians are looking for romance (Bob Downing)
The salamanders might be on the move.
That telephoned message was enough for Barbara and Chuck Vellius of Bath Township to scrap plans to catch a movie and head for a dark corner of Sand Run Metro Park in Northwest Akron instead.
They met naturalist Danusia Casteel of Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, and about 15 others, all of whom were hoping the wet, warm night would be perfect for a mass migration of sex-craved salamanders and frogs.
It's a little-known but fascinating rite of spring.
When the weather is just right, Casteel said, hundreds of salamanders might be spotted wiggling and slithering across Sand Run Parkway as they make their way back to the vernal pools where they were born to breed and lay eggs.
On this March night, with dime-size spring peepers and wood frogs keeping steady chorus, Casteel and her group carefully searched the darkness with flashlights.
They found a few salamanders -- mostly 6-inch-long creatures with a slimy purplish skin and yellow spots. The spotted salamanders were at the bottom of the shallow pools that flanked the parkway, which had been closed between Merriman Road and North Portage Path.
But it was not the big night the searchers hoped for. Though male salamanders were on the prowl, there was no sign of the females, Casteel said.
That didn't disappoint those accompanying her on the salamander hunt.
``It's exciting... but then my family is convinced that I'm nuts,'' said 43-year-old Stow resident Susan Blair.
Ben Tipton, the 7-year-old son of Scott and Dana Tipton of Bath Township, was impressed with the croaking frogs.
``I think my ears are gonna fall off,'' he told his parents.
The salamanders normally live beneath the ground. They only spend two weeks a year above the ground -- in March or April when the temperature is above 40 degrees and it is raining.
They may migrate up to a half-mile through the woods to reach the vernal pools. These shallow ponds typically dry up and have no fish, which would eat salamander and frog eggs.
When mating at night, several males may circle a female making a grapefruit-sized ball of amphibians in the water. Such a ball is called a congress of salamanders, Casteel said.
The males will then drop their sperm packets and the female will pick one and bring it into her body to fertilize the eggs. The salamanders then move back into the woods and disappear from sight.
The vernal pools are critical to salamanders, and many experts feel that such seasonal ponds are increasingly at risk from invasive species, polluted runoff, mosquito-control sprays and destruction of habitat.
There are about a half-dozen known vernal pools in Sand Run Metro Park and numerous vernal pools in Liberty Park in Twinsburg.
The Stark County Park District has identified 19 vernal pools within its countywide system, said Darrin Petko, the district's resource management crew leader.
Four of them are being monitored this year: near Deer Creek, Walborn Reservoir, Nimishillen Creek and Sippo Lake, he said.
In 2005, a coalition of Ohio environmental groups kicked off the Ohio Vernal Pools Partnership to educate the public about vernal pools and to monitor them.
Spearheading the project was the Columbus-based Ohio Environmental Council and the Nature Conservancy, a national land-saving group with a Columbus office. Other groups have enlisted in the effort.
David Celebrezze of the Ohio Environmental Council said vernal pools are usually small, dynamic wetlands that provide a mini-ecosystem, which reduces flooding and provides a special home to amphibians.
His vernal pools program has a Web site at www.ovpp.org. He also can be reached at 614-487-7506.
One Ohio eco-group, Friends of Wetlands, has proposed that the Ohio legislature declare vernal pools to be Ohio's official wetland and that the spotted salamander be named the state amphibian.
That group can be reached at Friends of Wetlands, P.O. Box 2016, Elyria, OH 44036 or e-mail www.fowl.org.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/community/17024430.htm
The salamanders might be on the move.
That telephoned message was enough for Barbara and Chuck Vellius of Bath Township to scrap plans to catch a movie and head for a dark corner of Sand Run Metro Park in Northwest Akron instead.
They met naturalist Danusia Casteel of Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, and about 15 others, all of whom were hoping the wet, warm night would be perfect for a mass migration of sex-craved salamanders and frogs.
It's a little-known but fascinating rite of spring.
When the weather is just right, Casteel said, hundreds of salamanders might be spotted wiggling and slithering across Sand Run Parkway as they make their way back to the vernal pools where they were born to breed and lay eggs.
On this March night, with dime-size spring peepers and wood frogs keeping steady chorus, Casteel and her group carefully searched the darkness with flashlights.
They found a few salamanders -- mostly 6-inch-long creatures with a slimy purplish skin and yellow spots. The spotted salamanders were at the bottom of the shallow pools that flanked the parkway, which had been closed between Merriman Road and North Portage Path.
But it was not the big night the searchers hoped for. Though male salamanders were on the prowl, there was no sign of the females, Casteel said.
That didn't disappoint those accompanying her on the salamander hunt.
``It's exciting... but then my family is convinced that I'm nuts,'' said 43-year-old Stow resident Susan Blair.
Ben Tipton, the 7-year-old son of Scott and Dana Tipton of Bath Township, was impressed with the croaking frogs.
``I think my ears are gonna fall off,'' he told his parents.
The salamanders normally live beneath the ground. They only spend two weeks a year above the ground -- in March or April when the temperature is above 40 degrees and it is raining.
They may migrate up to a half-mile through the woods to reach the vernal pools. These shallow ponds typically dry up and have no fish, which would eat salamander and frog eggs.
When mating at night, several males may circle a female making a grapefruit-sized ball of amphibians in the water. Such a ball is called a congress of salamanders, Casteel said.
The males will then drop their sperm packets and the female will pick one and bring it into her body to fertilize the eggs. The salamanders then move back into the woods and disappear from sight.
The vernal pools are critical to salamanders, and many experts feel that such seasonal ponds are increasingly at risk from invasive species, polluted runoff, mosquito-control sprays and destruction of habitat.
There are about a half-dozen known vernal pools in Sand Run Metro Park and numerous vernal pools in Liberty Park in Twinsburg.
The Stark County Park District has identified 19 vernal pools within its countywide system, said Darrin Petko, the district's resource management crew leader.
Four of them are being monitored this year: near Deer Creek, Walborn Reservoir, Nimishillen Creek and Sippo Lake, he said.
In 2005, a coalition of Ohio environmental groups kicked off the Ohio Vernal Pools Partnership to educate the public about vernal pools and to monitor them.
Spearheading the project was the Columbus-based Ohio Environmental Council and the Nature Conservancy, a national land-saving group with a Columbus office. Other groups have enlisted in the effort.
David Celebrezze of the Ohio Environmental Council said vernal pools are usually small, dynamic wetlands that provide a mini-ecosystem, which reduces flooding and provides a special home to amphibians.
His vernal pools program has a Web site at www.ovpp.org. He also can be reached at 614-487-7506.
One Ohio eco-group, Friends of Wetlands, has proposed that the Ohio legislature declare vernal pools to be Ohio's official wetland and that the spotted salamander be named the state amphibian.
That group can be reached at Friends of Wetlands, P.O. Box 2016, Elyria, OH 44036 or e-mail www.fowl.org.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/community/17024430.htm
