MCMS Froglogger Captures Six Species!

The Froglogger placed at Mill Creek Middle School (Solomons, NW) captured an amazing six species of frogs on May 16! Thanks to Mr. Hendrix for capturing this night of frog calling frenzy at Mill Creek!






 



  The species include the following.

• Spring Peeper  
• Green Treefrog
• Cope's Gray Treefrog
• Southern Leopard Frog
• Northern Greenfrog
• American Bullfrog

Thoughts and Observations for the MARA Project from Mrs. Campbell's Class from Calvert Middle School

From Emma D.

Find  the hidden frog!

Frogs are very important to humans and the environment. For the environment amphibians filter water. Also they control the population of diseased animals. For example, turtles eat diseased frogs so that no other frogs get the disease. The frogs produce chemicals that are helpful for humans to help us combat diseases. Both amphibians and reptiles control insect and small mammal populations. Many frogs are disappearing due to human activity and environmental problems that again humans are causing. Humans hunt frogs for a food source. Pollution and destruction of habitat have driven frogs from their natural habitat. New species are taking the natives food sources. Due to pollution new diseases have had the time to reproduce more rapidly. The Chytrid fungus has been killing off many off many of the different species of frogs. Global warming has caused the rising of the earth’s temperatures and some frogs may not be accustomed to the warmer temperatures. They may ultimately die or move to find new sustainable habitats. Humans can take many actions to protect amphibians and reptiles. We can cut back on pollution. Cutting back on pollution will prevent global warming and stop the rapid reproduction of diseases and fungus. People can stop poaching frogs for food. Construction Agencies can stop cutting down trees, clearing fields, and draining wetlands for housing developments that the agencies can’t sell. Also farmers can use fewer pesticides on their fields to prevent the killing of innocent animals. I have had many interesting encounters with reptiles and amphibians. My brother and I went to a pond in a community to find different types of frogs. We were on the shore when we saw four Bull Frogs jump into the water at the same time. We kept walking when we started to hear Bull Frogs, and then we started to see them as we heard them. We kept walking and as we went on we kept seeing frogs jumping in the water ahead of us. Another time I caught a skink and my brother thought it as dead. I opened my hand and it jumped on my brother, and it almost went up his shirt and down his pants pants. He started screaming like a little girl while I watched. Amphibians and reptiles Heard/seen • American Bull Frog • Spring Peeper • Blue-Tailed Skink



Jessie M. from Bendedict SE found the Eastern Gartersnake near her basement.

Natalie C. from Prince Frederick SW made a fantastic observation of an Eastern Ratsnake on the prowl, as it hunted for young birds or eggs from this nesting box.

Eastern Ratsnake on the hunt!

Ian H. from Broome's Island CE sent in some photos of some of his observations a Fowler's Toad and an unknown lizard species.

Fowler's Toad from Broome's Island CE

Unknown lizard species from Broome's Island CE

Finally, Abby H. from Prince Frederick SW made some great recordings of Fowler's Toads making their calls from near her home.

The Results are In!

Our preliminary MARA data is in and we've mapped out seventh grade sightings to date.  Check out the links below for each species.  The links will take you to the Scribble Maps website and the map may take a few seconds to load.  If you notice any errors of omission or have any questions about the data, Please contact the CHESPAX office at X2960.

Please note that Upland Chorus Frog and Wood Frog reports are not listed below.  Upland Chorus Frogs do require recorded documentation and have only rarely been recorded in Calvert.  Wood Frogs only vocalize during the late winter and would not expected to be calling during the late spring.

Northern Green Frog

Southern Leopard Frog

Pickerel Frog

Green Treefrog


















Fowler's Toad












Spring Peeper













Eastern Cricket* 
(*name changed from Northern Cricket Frog)













American Toad

Eastern Spadefoot

American Bullfrog

One Student's Experience with the 

MARA Project!

Gabriella F. from Ms. Coggeshall's class at Calvert Middle School made some interesting observations from her home (Prince Frederick SW).  She shares some of her observations below:

I was doing my homework when my dad called me outside from the garage. He told me to come quiet and slow, and naturally, my first though was “my puppy got his head stuck in the porch railings again!” So I walked out and up to my dad.  “What is-” I started to ask, but he cut me off, put his finger to his face and pointed to what I thought was a rock on the side of our front porch. “You really brought me out here to show me a rock?” I asked quizzically. “But” I thought, “at least I don’t have to get my puppy’s head out of the railings!” “NO!” He said defiantly. “Go look.” I walked over and saw this little guy! This is a Cope’s Gray Treefrog. Cope’s Gray Treefrogs have a high trilled call and toepads that act as suction cups and allow them to climb and grip objects. This is a great adaption due to the fact that they like to hang around in trees. As you can see, this little guy was using the toepads to its advantage. That advantage was getting away from the camera!

This is another Cope’s Gray Treefrog that was found in my pool filter. After taking him out of the water and making sure he was alright, we placed him back where he belongs!

This is a Black Rat Snake. They are not poisonous to humans, but if provoked, man do they bite! We found him under our porch, but where afraid my puppy would eat him, so we put him in this bucket so we could put him back into the woods.

This is an Eastern Fence Lizard. My younger brother found this little guy and put him in an open container so that he could look at him for a few minutes, and, don’t worry! We put him back.                  

When I went to listen for frog calls on last Tuesday or 5/22/12, I heard the low ‘rum’ sounds of some bullfrogs and my little Cope’s Gray Treefrogs buddies were trilling out too!

  All right! So here are some questions!

Why are amphibians & reptiles so important?

                One of the biggest jobs of amphibians and reptiles is acting as one of the first indicators to bad air, and bad water. Frogs live in water and we drink water. So when there seems to be a problem with the water, which we can see because of frogs dying off due to water cleanliness and salinity, it shows that the water is not safe for us to drink. Also frogs, as tadpoles, eat algae, which clear the water and allow the sunlight to filter through the water and then the underwater plants are able to get sun. This last job isn’t as important to the environment as it is to us. Frogs eat insects such as mosquitoes and flies. This leads to a nice even amount of pesky insects and leaves the summer days less ‘buggy’.

Why are amphibians disappearing?

 Well, with this, the reasons make us look like pretty bad predators. We are destroying their habitats by bulldozing ‘their’ land to build homes and other establishments. Not only does bulldozing take away their land, but it also is another cause off run off and pollution in the water. Non-native species can also be a big problem. They take the native species land, food, and other needed resources. People hunt and kill frogs, not as much here as other countries though. Illnesses are one other huge impact. Chytrid is one of the worst amphibian skin infections, it kills many and fast.

What actions can we do to help these species?

 We can participate in programs such as MARA to locate frog species, where they live, and try to protect them from harm.  When frog species, especially endangered ones, are located and found in their most desirable place to live, we are able to protect the area from harms such bulldozing, water pollution, and from hunters. We can also use less air harmful pesticides and outdoor sprays. They pollute the air that both we and the frogs breathe. But frogs can’t take all of that harmful air and they get sick and die. One other thing is to not release exotic amphibian pets into the wild.  This causes problems with non-native species, especially invasive ones. Non-native species will come and possibly overtake the native populations. This will lead to less space, food, and water for the native species and more competition between the native and non-native populations.

Herps at Home!


Alert students from Ms. Hayward's class spotted some animals for the Atlas project right in their own backyards!

Evan F. found an American Toad beside his house in Lower Marlboro, CE.  While Austin J. found this well camouflaged Cope's Gray Treefrog near his pool in Bristol, SE.

It is amazing what we can find living right outside our  homes once we start to look.  Keep the pictures coming!

An American Toad from Flint Hill Road!

An American Toad found by Evan F. of Northern Middle

Cope's Gray Treefrogs are more often heard rather than seen.

Austin J. went eye to eye with this Cope's Gray Treefrog in Bristol, SE

Rotten, Rotten, Rotten

Joseph W. from Ms. Deck's class at Plum Point Middle School recorded some great sounds of Green Treefrogs calling near his home (Benedict, CE).  Our training materials describe the treefrogs' call as sounding like they are repeating the phrase "rotten, rotten, rotten".  What do you think that they sound like?

Night of the Spadefoot

Eastern Spadefoots are an unusual toad that spend most of their lives underground, emerging only during the breeding season in late spring on very rainy nights.  This spadefoot was found in a pool in Owings (North Beach, CW after the thunderstorms of last evening.  Several of our seventh grade classes have reported spadefoots from different locations in the county.

Eastern Spadefoot found in North Beach, CW

Note the elliptical pupils on the Spadefoot's eyes.

The small crescent shaped black structure or "spade"on the hind foot is used for digging.