wes_von_papineäu
Our Roving Correspondent
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- Wes von Papineäu
LOWELL SUN (Massachusetts) 07 August 09 Pepperell woman serves as a cross guard... for salamanders (Hiroko Sato)
Every spring for the past 10 years, Jeanne Nevard of Pepperell has stood on the side of roadways to help salamanders safely cross the street and into wetlands. Nevard calls the activity "salamandering," and organizes a group of volunteers. A member of Nashoba Conservation Trust, Nashoba Watershed Association, the Pepperell Garden Club and the Massachusetts Bluebird Association, Nevard, 53, also protects bluebirds by placing nest boxes around the community.
Q: Where do salamanders cross roads?
A: There are specific wetland areas with vernal pools where they go back year after year. Even though roads cut through the areas, they still have the internal instinct to go back to their birthplaces and lay eggs, and sometimes they have to cross a road. Babies will hatch about a month and half to two months later.
Q: How do you know when to stand guard for salamanders?
A: On a rainy spring night at certain temperatures, the rain signals them to start the mating process. From March to the end of April, thousands of individual salamanders cross roads.
Q: How do you help them?
A: Salamanders have to be moist all the time. So, if the rain stops, you sprinkle them with a bottle of water, gently lift them up and put them in the direction they are moving, 10 feet into the shoulder of the road.
Q: What's the biggest challenge in saving salamanders?
A: You have to have really good eyesight and quick wits. For example, Elm Street is a very heavily-traveled road and is difficult to cross. As you are saving a salamander in your lane, there may be another one a few feet ahead in the opposite lane, and an oncoming car could kill it. And salamanders are very slow. It's a good exercise.
Q: What does a salamander feel like?
A: Sort of rubbery, similar to frogs, slightly moist but not slimy. They are very light, a fairly tame animal. They are between 3 and 8 inches long and look like a stick with the head sticking up.
Q: How did you get into salamandering?
A: One of the Nashoba Conservation Trust members, Paula Terrasi, showed me where they cross, and we started crossing. Then, we expanded to a group of six to 10 volunteers. After my ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2000, I retired from a display-ad sales job for a Boston area arts magazine and re-dedicated my purpose in life to help protect the animals that cannot speak or defend themselves. I am nine years cancer free.
Q: How many salamanders have you saved?
A: Personally, I save about 15 to 25 salamanders on a busy night.
Q: You also protect bluebirds.
A: I put bluebird boxes in conservation land and private properties with open meadows to discourage non-native house sparrows from nesting. If you don't watch out for bluebirds and don't monitor the boxes, house sparrows often attack bluebirds. House sparrows came from England in the late 1800s. They poke a hole in (bluebirds') eggs and throw them out and often attack their parents.
Q: How do bluebirds know the boxes are for them?
A: Each bird has their own signature nest design. Bluebirds nest in tree cavities and make very neat nests with pine needles. I look after 25 boxes on my street.
Q: Why is it important for you to save these creatures?
A: It's for the future. Who are we to let them die? We should let them exist for future generations. If more people could be aware of these beautiful creatures, more could be saved for our children to enjoy.
http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_13014027?source=rss
Every spring for the past 10 years, Jeanne Nevard of Pepperell has stood on the side of roadways to help salamanders safely cross the street and into wetlands. Nevard calls the activity "salamandering," and organizes a group of volunteers. A member of Nashoba Conservation Trust, Nashoba Watershed Association, the Pepperell Garden Club and the Massachusetts Bluebird Association, Nevard, 53, also protects bluebirds by placing nest boxes around the community.
Q: Where do salamanders cross roads?
A: There are specific wetland areas with vernal pools where they go back year after year. Even though roads cut through the areas, they still have the internal instinct to go back to their birthplaces and lay eggs, and sometimes they have to cross a road. Babies will hatch about a month and half to two months later.
Q: How do you know when to stand guard for salamanders?
A: On a rainy spring night at certain temperatures, the rain signals them to start the mating process. From March to the end of April, thousands of individual salamanders cross roads.
Q: How do you help them?
A: Salamanders have to be moist all the time. So, if the rain stops, you sprinkle them with a bottle of water, gently lift them up and put them in the direction they are moving, 10 feet into the shoulder of the road.
Q: What's the biggest challenge in saving salamanders?
A: You have to have really good eyesight and quick wits. For example, Elm Street is a very heavily-traveled road and is difficult to cross. As you are saving a salamander in your lane, there may be another one a few feet ahead in the opposite lane, and an oncoming car could kill it. And salamanders are very slow. It's a good exercise.
Q: What does a salamander feel like?
A: Sort of rubbery, similar to frogs, slightly moist but not slimy. They are very light, a fairly tame animal. They are between 3 and 8 inches long and look like a stick with the head sticking up.
Q: How did you get into salamandering?
A: One of the Nashoba Conservation Trust members, Paula Terrasi, showed me where they cross, and we started crossing. Then, we expanded to a group of six to 10 volunteers. After my ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2000, I retired from a display-ad sales job for a Boston area arts magazine and re-dedicated my purpose in life to help protect the animals that cannot speak or defend themselves. I am nine years cancer free.
Q: How many salamanders have you saved?
A: Personally, I save about 15 to 25 salamanders on a busy night.
Q: You also protect bluebirds.
A: I put bluebird boxes in conservation land and private properties with open meadows to discourage non-native house sparrows from nesting. If you don't watch out for bluebirds and don't monitor the boxes, house sparrows often attack bluebirds. House sparrows came from England in the late 1800s. They poke a hole in (bluebirds') eggs and throw them out and often attack their parents.
Q: How do bluebirds know the boxes are for them?
A: Each bird has their own signature nest design. Bluebirds nest in tree cavities and make very neat nests with pine needles. I look after 25 boxes on my street.
Q: Why is it important for you to save these creatures?
A: It's for the future. Who are we to let them die? We should let them exist for future generations. If more people could be aware of these beautiful creatures, more could be saved for our children to enjoy.
http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_13014027?source=rss