Masssive population density

[jeff]

I have been seeing alot of herps in one particular area here, almost entirely localized in one area about the size of a football field. All the shots here taken within 300 feet of each other. This is good news, considering the huge population decline in all amphibian life in this area (west of central cascade mountains) due to development.

First the A.macrodactylums:

this shot taken in a tubberware on paper towel- i swear the background is not photoshopped!

The A.gracile:

These guys were all over the bottom of the pond, and at night you could see hundreds of them with a good flashlight.

A nice looking Rana aurora, of which there were 2 adults and the tadpoles

And a few garter snakes

In all a good end the the summer as far as I am concerned.

(Message edited by newtsrfun on September 17, 2006)

 

[kara]

i like that frog!!

 

[jeff]

I guess this shot didn't upload, so here it is

 

[warren]

Nice shots, Jeff! Do you happen to know if the dorsolateral folds develop later? I have a specimen tentatively identified as a Columbia spotted frog, but the color scheme is quite similar. However, the head is more rounded and there are no dorsolateral folds. He is a recent morph though, so coloration should change in the next few months. I just wasn't sure about the fold development. Either way, the population was still about 40 miles east of known occurrences of R leuteiventris and even further afield for the R aurora. Heh, I still haven't found any A macrodactylum and they are supposed to be the most common caudate of Washington! lol
Sounds as if you aren't too far from my stomping grounds. Drop me a line sometime if you'd like to do some joint herping.

 

[mike]

Very nice! Great to see photos of those animals in the wild. What elevation were you at?

 

[jeff]

Thanks for the comments everyone! The long-toeds were a very chance encounter on my part. I have been keeping an eye on a section of a storage water pond that conatains alot of wildlife, and there is a cement overflow structure that is up the hill slightly. In that I discoved the frogs earlier this summer that I have been keeping an eye on. Well anyway on a quick trip to just look around last weekend, I was about to leave when i checked the pipe and the salamanders were down in the bottom, which is about 13 feet down, sitting on the bottom rung of the access ladder. You can see this in picture one. I moved them out, took some shots, and put the in a better spot. I am assuming that they somehow fell down there in the first rain we had a week ago.

As far as the elevation, its about 600 feet or so, fairly low. The thing is, this spot lies on a huge hill that has one more valley before the mountains start gaining elevation.

 

[jeff]

Here is a shot of the structure I keep talking about, its the one in front with the cage over it.

Nothing but frogs in there tonight however, and the water is quite murky from the rains. Mabye by tomarrow I can find out how morphed all those gracile are getting.

 

[simon]

Lucky. I wish I lived in washington. That's a pretty funny location to find Long-toeds, though. Pretty sweet.
Nice find again Jeff