Springtime floods created a bumper crop of frogs and toads - KMBZ
There is a lingering effect of all the flooding earlier this year, lots and lots of frogs.
If your evening serenade was a bit louder this summer, you can thank springtime flooding along the Missouri River.
"It created a lot of water on the surface for a lot of our amphibians, especially frogs, to breed in," said Jeff Briggler, Missouri state herpetologist.
Populations can increase quickly, because female amphibians can lay anywhere from 500 to a few thousand eggs at a time. Only about one percent of eggs result in full-grown, reproducing adult frogs or toads. This year, that one percent resulted in a much larger number.
"A of these animals are pushed out of the floodplain into people's yards, so hundreds, even thousands of frogs and toads are seen across the Missouri River Floodplain."In some places the number of frogs has been almost biblical. It could be a unique experience for folks like Briggler.
"Some of these species of frogs and toads that we saw hundreds and thousands of, I mean I may never see that again in my lifetime," he said.
https://ift.tt/2kyfLCC
Comments
Post a Comment