Excerpt from an evening in heaven with Jay Tesauro (Zoologist – State
Non-Game Species Program); John Bunnell (Research scientist – Pinelands
Preservation Alliance); and Blaine Rothauser (Chief Biologist – Thonet
Associates, Inc.) May 21, 2003:
Blaine, “Hey Jay – is that
virgatipes – I think I hear it – it’s hard to
hear anything with all this
quanking going on.” Jason, “Holy expletive -
almost stepped on another amplexed
PB, man there’s another one in the
blueberry.” John, “Over here under the
stricta – I got a
southern lep bellowing – man they're everywhere!!” Blaine, “John, is that a fowlers I hear
in the distance? – sounds like a baby caught in the mud!”
And on and on and
on it went that night –
anurans all making love in a tranquil pond in the
inner most recesses of Wharton State Forest.
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| Southern Leopard Frog (Rana Utricularia) |
Like Caligula’s palace on a Friday night, frogs and toads gather at
temporary pools of water in spring and early summer for long nights of
cooing followed by prolonged bouts of breeding. I caught a pair of spring
peepers in amplexus earlier this year in order to show a group of school
kids that I took on a nature walk the following day. These frogs remained
in their love embrace for two days. How nice would it be to come back in
the next life as a peeper I wondered?
|
| Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans) |
The timing of our arrival to this football sized pond could not have been
better. We had driven quite a distance to get there through a torrential
thunderstorm on a warm day in late may. The rain had stopped by the time
we got to our destination at 10:30 in the evening – the perfect scenario
for an amphibious orgy. When we got out of the truck near the site we knew
we were in for treat. It was hard to have a conversation over the din of
frog call. Donning chest waders we slurped into the pool passing through a
transom into a world of deep nature. It’s really a mind numbing
experience. All three of us are committed to seeing places like this
remain unscathed for future generations to behold but as much time as we
spend doing field work we rarely find a moment to just sit and take it all
in. Field biologists and research scientists get wrapped up in deadlines,
data collection, phone calls, writing and workshops. It’s a bonus when
you’re just observing in child-like wonderment these species doing their
thing on their terms and on their watch. No pens, no paper no reason other
than to be close with another co-inhabitant on this planet.
“John – you mean to tell me this pond dries up – you could host Woodstock
here.” John, “Hard to believe but yeah, last year with the drought these
frogs didn’t breed, the
pond had hardly a drop, this is a correction year for these guys and their
making up for lost time.” You really couldn’t walk five feet without
seeing something else. “Hey guys I got peeper right in the open (usually
this is the toughest frog to find because of their size and secretiveness)
looks like he’s gonna pop.” When we all gathered around it stopped
calling. “Come on Jay get him horny again” Jason is great at mimicking the
calls of frogs – it scares me at times. He cups his hands and out blasts a
bird like trill. Within a few seconds the frog responds to Jay’s amorous
invitation. “Jay – I think your spending a little too much time in the
outback.” As the frog expands his vocal sac to half it’s body length my
cameras flash bombards it in quick bursts of light. For this one moment in
time this peeper felt like Julia Roberts at the Oscars.
|
| Spring peeper (Pseudacris Crucifer) |
Man what a night of nature hits. When we got back to the truck it was
after midnight and it felt good knowing that a place like this still
exists in the countries most densely populated state. How long this party
lasts is anyone’s guess. I do know this much - we need to get more people
out into true wilderness and experience it. The answer to preservation
lies in the understanding that we are not the only living thing traveling
on the rock. We need to find moments to spend amongst the other travelers
and understand, not just metaphorically, but really understand that all
other life forms get up in the morning for the same reasons we do – to
feed, live and pass along genes in perpetuity. The fact that people are to
busy surviving themselves and have been conditioned to stay out of the
wild places forecasts ill for the future of the remaining living treasures
and possibly our own kind.
Spring Peeper Factoid – Some male peepers don’t sing – they hang out near
males that do and let them call till their hearts content – when a female
moves toward it’s lover the “satellite” male moves in and tries his best
to mate with her.
