Herp Update: migration, records, oddities – April 25, 2021

Amphibian Migration

I see a bunch of showers in the forecast for later this week, but the actual amount of rain forecast is minimal and the chance of showers in any one place is pretty low. If the ground and roads are wet after dark in your area, you may see some amphibians such as Spotted Salamanders moving out of ponds. The Wood Frogs are back up in the woods already in most areas and their eggs have hatched in all the pools I have checked here in the Lake Champlain Basin.

New Town Records

Kudos to Leighanna O for finding and photographing the first Four-toed Salamander ever from Burlington! Kevin T sent in the first photo-documentation of Jefferson Salamander from Marlboro, and Carissa S provided a needed update for American Toad in Montgomery.

Oddities

My cousin Pam D sent photographs of what appear to be albino Wood Frogs in Shrewsbury. Usually white eggs are nonviable (dead) eggs that are (or will soon be) grown over with fuzzy white mold (saprolegnia). But these eggs developed. I will attach a couple photos.

Jenna M posted a photo of a yellow Common Gartersnake on the Fish and Wildlife Facebook page. I have never seen a gartersnake that looked like this one. Critters with too much yellow pigment (xanthic) are seen occasionally just like albinos or melanistic (very dark) anomalies.

Albino Wood Frog tadpoles
Image © copyright Pam Darrow and used by permission

Most of these Wood Frog egg masses have dark centers in a translucent jelly; one has white centers (probably nonviable).
Image © copyright Pam Darrow and used by permission

Unusual yellow gartersnake
Image copyright© Jenna Makarewicz and used by permission.