As the earth thaws and spring rains drench New Hampshire, thousands of salamanders, frogs, and toads make their way to vernal pools to breed. Many are killed when their journeys take them across busy roads. Each spring, AVEO trains volunteers to serve as Salamander Crossing Guards at amphibian road crossings throughout the Monadnock Region. Volunteers count migrating amphibians and safely usher the animals across roads during one or more “Big Nights.” In the last five years alone, AVEO’s Crossing Brigades have crossed over 11,000 amphibians!
This year, our Salamander Crossing Guard training will be held in Keene on Thursday, March 22, 2012 from 7-9 pm (Keene State College Science Center Room 102) and repeated in Hancock on Saturday, March 24, 2012 from 10 am — noon (Harris Center for Conservation Education).
*****
Looking for the salamander forecast?
****
Materials for Crossing Guards:
2011 Salamander Crossing Guard Handbook (.pdf; 1.9 MB)
Bg Night scouting data sheet (for scouting out new amphibian road crossing sites)
Tips for scouting out new amphibian road crossings
Materials for Site Coordinators:
Site Sign-in Sheet
Summary Data Form (1/night, to be filled out by Site Coordinator)(courtesy of BEEC)
Mini Field Data Form (1/volunteer)
BEEC ID sheets: FROGS and TOADS or SALAMANDERS
Salamander Crossing Brigade Project Handouts (give to passersby on Big Night)
Online Data Submission Form (tally observations from your site’s volunteers)
*****
Get directions to the amphibian crossing site nearest you on our interactive online map of amphibian crossing sites in southwest New Hampshire.
*****
Want to help with salamander crossings, but don’t live in southwest New Hampshire? Check out this list of other amphibian crossing programs in the Northeast.
*****
In 2008, over 100 Salamander Crossing Guards crossed nearly 4000 amphibians at nine sites throughout Cheshire County and the Ashuelot watershed over the course of two Big Nights: in total, over 1100 spring peepers, 1100 wood frogs, and nearly 1300 spotted salamanders, as well as handfuls of two-lined salamanders, four-toed salamanders, red-backed salamanders, red-spotted newts, green frogs, American toads, and rare Jefferson salamanders, were spared the crush of the tire by our dedicated crew of volunteers.
In May 2008, the Keene City Council and Conservation Commissions both voted unanimously in favor of purchasing a 7.6-acre parcel of conservation land — previously slated for development — in the midst of our North Lincoln Street salamander crossing site; their decision to protect this land was based in large part on AVEO’s migratory amphibian data from that year’s Big Nights!
The Keene City Council’s Planning, Licenses and Development Committee also invited AVEO to give a presentation on amphibian crossings, and voted in favor of working with AVEO to close roads at Keene’s migratory amphibian hotspots during peak migration times! Keene Police are working with us to plan these road closings, a great reversal from 2008, when they asked our volunteers to abandon the North Lincoln Street site due to safety concerns.
Click here for our poster presentation (pdf) on Community-based Conservation of Migratory Amphibians in southwest New Hampshire, which AVEO presented at the Northeastern Transportation and Wildlife Conference in September 2008.
*************
For more information or to volunteer, contact AVEO at thelen@harriscenter.org or (603) 358-2065.
Connect