Sign 12 - AMPHIBIANS, REPTILES AND FISH
 

Although siltation and freeze-outs in shallow water may deter these animals at present, we hope the following marsh animals will eventually breed here.

Frogs and toads are the voices of spring and a major food of herons, bitterns, terns and kingfishers. As aquatic tadpoles, they eat plants; then they become insect-eaters on land. The most abundant amphibians to be heard in spring, in order of appearance are:

1. Chorus frog - a tiny striped sprite with a loud voice, which sounds like running a finger over a comb. Often called spring peeper, but the true peepers (which whistle) prefer wooded edges such as at the pond on the north side of Picnic Point. Both tiny frogs mature in one year, reaching a length of one inch.

2. Leopard frog - the common medium sized green, dark-spotted grass frog with two light colored ridges down each side of the back. Voice: a long snore and several growls.

3. American toad - the abundant warty creatures that give long trills. Long strings of eggs produce numerous tadpoles and toadlets before fall. May be found a mile from water.

Other amphibians you might hear in this area: spring peeper, cricket frog, tree toad, and green frog. Tiger salamanders may also come here to breed.

Frogs sing to cause males and females of the same species to assemble in suitable places for efficient breeding. Males mount the females, grasping them to squeeze out the eggs, which are fertilized in the water. Rain (or rise in water level), increase in temperature, and onset of night - individually or in combination - stimulate frogs to call and mate. Frogs need shallow gradual vegetated edges in which to breed, mate and feed safely, so that birds don't find all of them.

Reptiles: Breed on land but often feed in the water, just the reverse of the amphibian way of life. Garter snakes and several large and small upland snakes may feed on frogs and birds' eggs in the marsh. They hibernate in upland dens. Turtles are more aquatic, feeding on plants and small animals in the water and hibernating in the mud, like frogs; but they too lay their eggs out of the water. Snapping turtles may lay in wet decaying vegetation such as rat houses, or in moist soil on shore. The abundant red-bellied painted mud turtle and the rarer spotted Blanding's turtle must travel to dry sandy hillsides, carrying a supply of water so that the eggs can be wetted down when buried, Young painted turtles remain in the ground after hatching, traveling to water in the second year.
 

       Fish can survive if water doesn't freeze to the bottom, and not too much of organic matter is decaying in the summer. Marsh fish may include several minnows, sticklebacks, small sunfish, bullheads, sometimes catfish and the introduced carp. Future marsh management may provide more fish, amphibian: and reptile habitats.