The Urban Pantheist

Today there was an Urban Nature Walk at Quincy Quarries! Nice view, huh?
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Yesterday I went with @WildDedham and three other hikers for a ramble in the Dedham Town Forest. Most people, including Dedhamites, have never heard of the forest, and that's kind of a nice thing. Ideally it will receive some conservation attention before it becomes well-known to the public. Since it's fairly isolated and fenced in, there's very little in the way of invasive species there. One idea is to complete the fencing to create an exclosure keeping deer out, then plant other native plants (the ones like trillium, that deer tend to graze out of existence) and preserve the place as a native forest plant sanctuary, like Garden in the Woods.

Anyway, it was a pretty amazing place, and we stayed for three hours despite some of the worst mosquito activity I've ever experienced. The mushroom hunting was the best I've ever seen.

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So my boss, Dr. Eric Baitchman, when he isn't taking care of all of the animals in Franklin Park Zoo and Stone Zoo, is trying to stop the extinction of all the frog species on earth. He does his field work in Panama, researching the spread of the Chytrid Fungus, treatments for it, and perfecting captive husbandry of frogs and other amphibians, so that there will be a population to reintroduce when they get on top of the disease.

He is a finalist in a contest to win a $25,000 grant to support the project. It's success could literally mean saving multiple species of amphibian from disappearing forever. Please go over to this page, register and vote for proposal 2. It takes just a minute or so, doesn't cost you anything, and could be the only thing you do today to prevent the extinction of a species.



The Last Frogs on Earth thank you!

After a meeting in the Development office. Talking about this event.

Farrar Pond, Lincoln Massachusetts.

Blue poison dart frog Dendrobates azureus

Found only in the rainforests of the South American nation of Suriname, this frog was unknown until 1968. Wild poison dart frogs get their skin toxins from their diet of tiny jungle insects--captives fed on fruit flies and crickets remain sadly harmless.

This individual is in holding (off-exhibit) for the time being in the Children's Zoo.

More information about this species: http://www.rosamondgiffordzoo.org/animals_gallery.asp?id=62

On this day in 365 urban species: Jewelweed.

Photo by cottonmanifesto. Location: Scarboro Pond, Franklin Park, Boston.

Urban species #171: North American Bullfrog Rana catesbeiana

A close comparison between the bullfrog and the common snapping turtle is compelling to me. Both are the largest of their kind in New England--no other local amphibian comes close to the full pound that a large bullfrog might weigh. They're both ambush predators--though bullfrogs are far more aggressive, and able to prey on animals nearly their own size. And they are both animals that become more common after humans change the landscape.

Bullfrogs tolerate a wide range of water pH, including the acid conditions found in urban ponds. They are more tolerant of pollutants than most amphibians, a group of animals that has permeable skin that allows toxins from the water and air to pass into their bodies. Bullfrogs also have a history of being introduced into new places, either by accident, or to be used as a food animal. When bullfrogs enter an ecosystem that is new to them, they often become a major threat to native frog species and other animals. Not only do they feed on other frogs, but they are known to carry diseases that impact other frogs more strongly than bullfrogs.

Bullfrogs are surprisingly long-lived. They survive as tadpoles, legless larvae that scavenge on aquatic plants and carrion, for two winters. It takes them another two to three years to reach sexual maturity. The male's basso profundo mating call is a sign of summer on the urban pond. The female can deposit up to 20,000 eggs at a time, most of which will be eaten by fish, turtles and other animals. The few that survive to become tadpoles, and then frogs, may live up to ten years.