One of the great wildlife migrations is happening right now in Vermont, and it is taking place right at our feet.
You may have already heard the spring peepers or wood frogs calling in your backyard. Or perhaps you’ve noticed salamanders crawling over rocks in a nearby stream. Amphibians are on the move, but their spring breeding migration can too often become deadly.
Amphibians migrate by the thousands each spring in search of breeding pools. This migration frequently takes them across roads and highways where they are killed by cars, which contributes to the species’ decline in Vermont, according to biologist Jens Hilke with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.
 “Frogs and salamanders become active on rainy spring nights, which will likely be happening earlier this year with the warm weather we’ve been experiencing,” said Hilke. “On these nights, drivers should slow down on roads near ponds and wetlands, or try to use an alternate route. These amphibian ‘hotspots’ can lead to the death of thousands of animals on a single night.”
Hilke is asking drivers to report these hotspots, or areas with large numbers of frogs and salamanders that cross the road all at once. They can contact the Vermont Reptile & Amphibian Atlas by emailing Jim Andrews at [email protected].
Watch a video about this great wildlife migration here.