Monday, May 25, 2015

Rescue mission !

Yesterday while walking in "my" new woods I spied something unusual in a recently dried-up puddle.  Actually it wasn't ONE something.  There were a couple of somethings.  And the more I looked,  the more somethings I found.

Can you see them ?


Here's a closer look.


The somethings were Wood Frog egg masses.

I wondered why they were high and dry as egg masses can not survive outside of water. My best guess would be that this overly long Winter and late Spring put off the frogs' schedule, and the eggs were laid late and the pond dried up before the eggs had a chance to hatch and grow.

For once I was glad that some thoughtless person had dumped their junk in the woods, as I found a small plastic pail which I filled with water from a puddle ...


and  collected as many masses as I could and took them to a vernal pool in the woods.  I hope that that pool will be able to sustain them for the 6-8 weeks they need to hatch and turn from Tadpoles into Frogs.

Vernal pool in the woods
Today Kaitlyn and I headed back to see if we could find any more stranded egg masses that I'd missed, and to move other batches from a ditch that was close to drying up.

See all the floating masses ?


We gathered them all up and re-located them to the vernal pool


 But stopped for a quick photo op first.



We'll keep an eye on the vernal pool.  Not sure WHAT I'll do if it shows signs of drying up.  I'm hoping for some good Spring rains to keep it replenished.


And I WILL go back tomorrow just to make sure we didn't miss any.


20 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Flora. This is my idea of FUN ! lol... though I didn't tell you about the AWFUL midge flies that circled our heads and drove the dogs nuts !

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  2. And what a great eye you have! I would not have noticed this village of critters waiting to be saved
    Good for you!

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    1. Linda, once you start looking they're hard to miss as globby bits of "jello" just don't fit in the normal landscape. lol

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  3. Rain today bodes well for the little tadpoles. What a kind person you are, and I hope the masses do have time to develop. Beautiful pictures of your woods too.

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    1. Actually it IS raining here today and we have more later in the week. I'll go back and keep an eye on them ...

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  4. I think you have educated a lot of us! Good for you Sybil!!

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    1. Thanks Sara. It makes me feel useful. Like I DID something with my day.

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  5. You guys rock! What big hearts you have for all the earth's creatures. (And it's always heart-warming when we feel like we're sharing our love in a concrete way. Or a vernal pool way.)

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    1. Thanks Kathy, it was Kait's idea that we head out to see if I'd missed any on my first rescue mission.

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  6. You should now title yourself "Sybil, Friend of Frogs."

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    1. Perhaps I'll add the letters F.O.F. after my name on official documents ... and then just wait for the first person to ask ... lol

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  7. It is wonderfully kind of you and Kaitlyn Sybil! I am touched :)

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    1. Awww thanks but really it made ME feel so good to do it. Sometimes we are actually "rescuing" ourselves when we do such things ...by trying to give our lives meaning.

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  8. Sybs, this made my day. You're the best.
    xo j.

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    1. Glad you liked it. You're pretty darn swell yourself Julie. Hugs.

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  9. This post is educational for me. Never have seen any frog egg masses. So interesting to see. It's great that you guys rescued the frog eggs and I surely hope the eggs will have enough water. You need some of the rain that we've been getting here in Texas.

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    1. OMG I've heard about the very tragic rain you've had in Texas. Deaths ! Pity you can't share that rain with California. Hope you are safely out of harms way.

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  10. Congratulations, you have earned 100 Karma bonus points.

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    1. Dear Les, thanks to the 100 Karma bonus points, I will not be coming back as a Deer Tick.

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Thanks for stopping by. I really do love to read your comments.