A Great Day for Amphibians!

It was one of those perfect May days that you remember from childhood. It was warm enough for short-sleeve shirts, sunny, blue skies, a bit breezy. A perfect temperature, a perfect time of year. I convinced my husband that we needed to bike and hike up to the local game lands to check out the lady's slipper orchids, which bloom around this time of year.

I checked all the ladies' favorite spots, but mostly what I saw were just green nubs, the start of what will become lovely pink blooms. Even the wildflowers are running a bit behind, with the extreme dose of winter that we had.

But what a story awaited me in the beaver ponds and the vernal pools of the Scotia Barrens! For every bit of water was just loaded with amphibians of every kind! In the big beaver pond that we visit often, I spotted a huge cluster of dark strings of eggs, surrounded by more salamanders than I may have ever seen in one place in my whole life! And in one of the vernal pools that we visited, the water surface was alive with hundreds - no, thousands - of huge, squirming, hefty tadpoles.

It was a great day for amphibians! I took so many pictures that I lost count. Mostly, I just sat at the edge of the big beaver pond and watched, amazed. Salamanders are known to eat amphibian eggs, and frogs and toads both are known to eat the occasional tasty salamander. The salamanders cruised through the dark egg strands like tiny alligators or crocodiles amid the best buffet in the world. I wondered where all those eggs came from, and then before I left, my question was answered. I got to meet those responsible for making the strands: two pairs of eastern American toads.

At first, I didn't even see the toads because they were submerged. But then they surfaced, and I was looking right at them, head-on! I don't think the salamanders were in any danger from these two, as they were - ahem! - otherwise engaged. The smaller toad on top is the male; the larger one on the bottom is the female. As soon as I snapped a few photos, they sunk back down beneath the surface of the water, and it was a while before they came up for air.

The song to accompany this photo of amphibian bliss is a celebration of the day and of the moment: John Mellencamp, Your Life Is Now.