It’s April and we’re now entering into the spring. It’s becoming that time of year when amphibian wildlife like frogs and salamanders are going to be coming out of hibernation to reproduce in small wetlands called vernal pools. This can be most noticeable at night because that’s when they chirp the most and call out, since it’s also their mating season.
New Hampshire Fish and Game put out an informative post for people to be aware about this topic. The NewEnglander went out and interviewed environmental science professor Mark Mitch to dive a bit deeper into this.
“In the nights where there’s peak activity, one of the things that will happen- when these amphibians are out, they’re also migrating,” Mitch said, when asked why it is important for Henniker and the surrounding communities to be aware of the issue. “So they’re returning to the vernal pools and one of the issues that crops up is they often will cross the road, and if people are driving and they’re not paying close attention to it, they could end up splattering some of these amphibians accidentally.”
According to Professor Mitch, if you’re driving and you spot one of these animals, the best thing to do is “just to try to avoid them so either slow down, and maybe swerve them so you can make sure that you’re not going to end up running over any of the amphibians.”
