Herp Update : crossing zone results, Mudpuppies

Herpers,
once again conditions were perfect for amphibian movement last night and I have two sets of herp reports to share.  The women of the Kelly family (K, M, and A) checked the North Street crossing area in New Haven and my sister Linda and I checked Morgan Road here in Salisbury.

During one pass over and back through the long New Haven crossing area, the Kellys found:

• Eastern Red-backed Salamander (3)
• Four-toed Salamander (5, one dead)
• Blue-spotted Group Salamander (6)
• Spring Peeper (2)
• Wood Frog (1)
• Common Gartersnake (1 dead on the road)

Kate noted that a unusually large number of them (5) were missing their tails

On one 15 minute walk over and back through the Morgan Road, Salisbury crossing my sister and I found:

• Spotted Salamander (2 large adults)
• Blue-spotted Salamander group (2 large adults)
• Eastern Red-backed Salamander (14 adults)

All the Salisbury amphibians were alive and had full tails.

Mudpuppies

During the non-target mortality surveys that took place after the recent lampricide treatments, USFWS found 21 dead Mudpuppies in the Lamoille, 26 in the Winooski, and one in the Missisquoi. My understanding is that 20% of the length of the river treated was surveyed for non-target mortalities.  I don’t know how this translates to river bottom area but these numbers are at most 1/5 of the totals.  They also do not include the Mudpuppies netted during the nighttime rescue effort on the Lamoille River (52 caught, 17 died, 35 moved upstream).  [ see also https://www.vtherpatlas.org/2020/09/03/herp-updates-and-a-request/ -KJT, ed.]