Salamanders, frogs and newts might be a little slimy and creepy to some people, but definitely not everybody. Forty-five people helped the little critters out recently as they were trying to cross in New Haven, Vermont, road during their annual migration to mate.

Salamanders are just one of many amphibious species which return, en masse, to the ponds and waterways where they were born in order to give birth to their own young.  Yet although they may feel a powerful nostalgic pull to their birthplace,  they often get into trouble when they find that the routes to their homes are now inhabited and developed by us clumsy humans.  Each year, thousands of amphibians meet their deaths on roads around the world.

 

When the night time rain starts to fall during early spring, many roads between forests and vernal pools are literally crawling with amphibian activity. Some evenings, hundreds of the tiny animals attempt to cross the roads to mate, unfortunately many of them never make it to the other side due to the volume of automobile traffic.

In areas from rural Vermont to cities like Philadelphia, the amphibians get human escorts, which are named bucket brigades in some places, to help them cross the roads safely.

 

Recently, University of Vermont student Kaitlin Friedman and forty four other volunteers armed with torches and clipboards, helped a group of wood frogs, peepers, blue-spotted, red-backed and four-toed salamanders cross the road, while keeping track of how many animals they saw. The volunteers also kept track of the amount of traffic on the road and the number of amphibians that were not lucky enough to make the crossing.

 

During the escorted crossing, most cars slowed down, with some stopping to inquire what was going on. After two-hours, the helpers had spotted 589 amphibians, and 97 dead ones. However, a few miles down the road where there was more traffic, volunteers sadly found more dead creatures than live ones.The tide turned a couple hours later though as 205 live and 98 dead amphibians were found.

 

The state is now considering digging tunnels under the road for critters to use when they want to mate, which could cost up to $350,000. Tunnels were installed in another New England city in 1987, and have proved to be 70 to 80 per cent effective.

 

However, some citizens question why people go to such trouble to help salamanders, especially since there are so many red-backed salamanders in the forests. But the loss of salamanders and other small amphibians could affect the ecosystem as the animals are both predators and prey.  As with most things in life, it is also wise to adopt a 'prevention is better than a cure' approach to preserving wildlife, as many species which are critically endangered now, were in such abundance a few decades ago that people were encouraged to hunt them to control their numbers.

 

It is nice to know that for many people, helping the little animals cross the road safely just seems the right thing to do.