Kennebec Land Trust and Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed plan to participate in the statewide community science project Maine Big Night. With help from volunteers, members will collect data on migrating frogs and salamanders as they cross roadways during the spring.
Every year when temperatures and weather are right (thawed ground, 40% temperatures, and wet roads at night) amphibians embark on a mass migration from their winter habitat to their breeding grounds in vernal pools or other wetlands. Roadways pose significant challenges for amphibians and lead to high mortality rates. Monitoring big nights provides data on amphibian migrations and helps to implement conservation strategies for safer passage, according to a news release from Marie Ring with Kennebec Land Trust.
KLT and Friends of the Cobbossee have adopted two 1,000-foot-long roadway sites to monitor near KLT’s Gott Pasture Preserve in Wayne. Anyone who can operate safely on a roadway is invited to join. Volunteers will collect data on amphibians present and help them safely cross the road. Safety vests and headlamps are required to participate. KLT and Friends will have them available, but people should bring their own if they have them. Families are encouraged to participate, but children must be old enough to be aware of road safety.
When the conditions are right between now and May 15, they will contact participants.
To sign up, or for more information, contact Ring at 207-377-2848 or mring@tklt.org, or Cami Wilbert with Friends of the Cobbossee Watershed at 207-395-5239 or cami@watershedfriends.com.
All volunteers are required to sign a waiver available at tklt.org.
For more information visit mainebignight.org.
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