CROW FOOD: Ever wonder what those crows are
doing by the side of the highways each spring? If you’re an
amphibian lover – and who among us is not? – read no further.
[neWLine]
An item from the Bureau of Forestry, Elk State Forest,
sheds some light on this mystery and it’s not a pretty one for fans
of those springtime serenaders of the swamps.
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We don’t know who the author of this piece is, unfortunately,
but we still quote: “”… usually in March we get one of those
relatively warm evenings, the kind that beckons you go outside
after dark and listen for the spring peepers.””[neWLine]
When warmer temperatures team up with rain, it produces a signal
– according to our anonymous author – “”to be fruitful and
multiply.”” Hence, the sounds of the peepers and croaking of wood
frogs.[neWLine]
The male peepers (Are we surprised here?) are those responsible
for “”this seemingly constant calling as an advertisement that the
breeding season is here and they are willing
participants.””[neWLine]
Our author is also fascinated with a companion of these noisy
amphibians – the spotted salamander.[neWLine]
Adult spotted salamanders may be up to nine inches in
length, although five or six inches is more common. The deep
purple-black color with a dozen or so large yellow dots is
distinctive and hard to overlook.
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This gamut of spring amphibians is all dependent on spring
ponds, or vernal ponds, for breeding and egg laying. And,
unfortunately for them, many of these ponds are in proximity to our
highways.[neWLine]
“”Many of the amphibians dependent on these ponds need to cross
roads and highways to get from their winter refuge to spring
breeding areas and if you happen to be driving on a warm and rainy
night in March you will see dozens of wood frogs hopping across the
roadway. The salamanders are there too, just harder to see and much
slower.””[neWLine]
And this, of course, is the explanation of the presence
of the crows along the highway.
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Our writer has gone so far as to park his truck and investigate.
“”… sure enough the roadway is littered with the remains of dozens
of wood frogs, toads, spring peepers and even a few salamanders
that did not survive the gauntlet.””
