Deer in the Toad Pool

 

These two small pools were constructed in an attempt to encourage toad production at Blue Jay Barrens.  The pool in the foreground is in its eighth year and the one behind was constructed five years ago.  Utilization of the pools by breeding Eastern Toads has increased each year.  Thousands of small toads have morphed from these pools to inhabit the surrounding area.  The temporary pools lose their water by midsummer and remain dry for several months.  Aquatic predators that would feast on the small tadpoles do not become established.  Click HERE for more on pool construction.

A multitude of other wildlife species regularly visit these pools.  Indentations in the pool bottom are made by Whitetail Deer that come to drink.

Heavy rains don’t cause the pool water to become cloudy with sediment, so what makes the water occasionally look like this.  Even when the weather has been rain free for several days, the water can suddenly take on the appearance of creamed coffee.  In an effort to discover what was happening, I installed a motion activated wildlife camera set to observe both pools.

I discovered that deer visits were the cause of the muddy water.

This compilation video shows the deer in action.  I don’t know how to explain their behavior.  This doesn’t happen every day, but it’s not uncommon to see it occur several times each month.

Other than developing a coating of silt on the egg strings, the toad eggs are relatively unaffected by the erratic deer activity.

The eggs have hatched and toadpoles are developing normally.  I’m expecting another successful influx of young toads into the local population.

Drought 2017 - Toad Pool

After several months of experiencing rain storms two or three times per week, the rain has stopped.  Three weeks of dry, hot weather has left the Toad Pool as nothing but a small patch of mud.  The last bit of open water disappeared on June 12.

The water level remained good until June 2.  That is when temperatures began reaching 90°F and strong, dry winds began to blow.  Under these conditions, you could almost see the pool growing smaller.

On June 5, an approaching storm front gave hope of some much needed rain.  When just a few miles away, the line of rain formed a gap that neatly slid over Blue Jay Barrens.  I could see the rain clouds to the north and south of us, but not a drop fell here. 

By June 8 the water depth was down to about two inches.  Forecast was for dry and windy conditions.  Fortunately, the bulk of the toad tadpoles had morphed into tiny toadlets by the end of May.  The pool had served its intended purpose well.

An interesting pattern was left behind by the tadpoles.  While feeding, each tadpole would work its way down into the mud as it searched out algae and other tiny food items.  The tadpole’s head would remain stationary and the body would rotate around that fixed point.  The result was a depression in the mud.  This pattern of dimples covered the bottom of the pool.

My photos of the depressions turned out to be good examples of the Dimple and Bump Optical Illusion.  Depending on how it is viewed, the pattern may appear to be a series of indentations or a series of raised bumps.  I can manage to switch back-and-forth between seeing dimples and bumps.  My wife sees only bumps, but she has taught High School English for 35 years so …

A mixed bag of mammals and birds have been visiting the pool for water and to take advantage of any food morsels left vulnerable by the shrinking pool.  Rain storms began moving through the area yesterday.  Flash flooding has occurred just a few miles from our location, but we have only managed to get rains just slightly stronger than a drizzle.  I hope this doesn’t continue as a summer long pattern.

Toad Pool Success - Part 2

Blue Jay Barrens is experiencing an influx of thousands of young Eastern American Toads emerging from the still under construction Toad Pool 2. This little guy has fully absorbed his tail and, looking every bit like the adult version of his species, is moving away from the pool towards the open fields.

The pool experienced no shortage of water this spring. Frequent rains provided above average rainfall totals causing the water to regularly be at a level higher than intended.

Toad eggs appeared in the pond on March 29 and began hatching on April 2. By April 5 the eggs had completed hatching, but the tadpoles were not yet mobile and their pattern on the bottom of the pool continued to match the strings of eggs that had been laid out a week before.

After exiting the egg membrane, the tadpoles remain stationary for several days as they absorb their yolk sacs and mature into a more traditional tadpole form. Their first food will be the algae seen growing on the empty jelly strings and pool bottom.

Once they become mobile, with tadpoles migrate upslope to shallower water where the generally warmer temperatures will aid in their growth and development. Their initial efforts cause them to congregate atop the slightly higher mounds on the pool bottom.

A few days later their improved swimming ability allows them to reach the shallow water at the edge of the pool.

The unfinished condition of the toad pool caused an unintended broad expanse of shallow water to become available to the tadpoles.

The shallow area, which had been left smooth when construction was halted last fall, had become pocked with depressions caused by deer visiting the pool.

As water levels receded during uncharacteristic hot periods between rainfalls, the depressions became isolated pockets that rapidly dried after their connection to the main body of water was severed. Tadpoles caught in these depressions quickly perished.

Fortunately, I still retained the mud puddle engineering skills that I had honed as a child and was able to make periodic adjustments in the way of dams and channels to ameliorate the desiccation threat to the tadpoles. If weather conditions allow me to complete my construction activities is fall, the hazard should not exist next year.

Transformation from tadpole to terrestrial toad form began a week ago and is now proceeding at a rapid pace.

Once all four legs appear, the tail quickly shrinks and the young toad pushes himself free of the water.

It spends a day or two near the water’s edge before heading off to begin a terrestrial lifestyle.

The little toads are so numerous in the vicinity of the pool but I can’t walk in that area without stepping on a few, so I’m waiting until they’ve had a chance to disperse before checking the pool again. I’m looking forward to encountering these little guys through the summer. It will be two or three years before this year’s hatch is mature enough to return here to breed. By that time Toad Pool 2 will be completed and, with any luck, there should also be a Toad Pool 3.

Toad Pool Success

Keeping the toad pools full of water has not been a problem this year.  Two or three rainfalls per week has kept them filled to the brim. 

This is the fourth spring for Toad Pool 1.  Vegetation was quick to fill in here, but amphibians were slow to arrive.

This is the second spring that water has been present in Toad Pool 2.  Last year the pool was still under construction and only had a depth of a few inches.  This year’s pool has a center portion with a depth of about one foot, and the soil was compacted during construction to minimize leakage. 

The pools were constructed with the primary goal of creating Toad breeding habitat.  This is the first year that toads have actually visited the pools.  During warmer nights, males move into the pools to call for mates.  I counted nine males ringing the shoreline of Toad Pool 2 on March 25.

It took a few nights before a female made it to the pool.  This couple, with female in front, is ready to begin the process of depositing and fertilizing eggs.

On the morning of March 29, I finally found strings of toad eggs in the pool.  The depressions in the bottom of the pool were made by deer hooves.  Whitetail Deer treat these pools as their private playgrounds.  I’m hoping that doesn’t cause a problem for developing tadpoles.

Eggs began to hatch on April 2.  By the next day, hatching was proceeding at a rapid pace.

This collection of egg strands is in deeper water and wasn’t noticeable until hatching began.  Everything seems to be going well.  Hopefully, the end result will be a mass of small toads leaving the pool.

There was one thing different about the toad pools this spring that may have contributed to the toad visitations.  Both pools were surrounded by a mass of Spring Peepers creating a loud chorus.  I’m wondering if the Peeper song alerted the toads to the fact that a suitable breeding pool was available.  The newly hatched Peeper tadpoles shown above are just two of dozens hanging in the algae around the edge of the pools.  This toad pool venture may just turn out to be a success.

Toad Pool 2

In November, I managed to get some more work done on Toad Pool 2, my second attempt to create more toad breeding areas at Blue Jay Barrens.  Frequent rains during the first part of summer kept the soil too wet to work.  Weather conditions went to the other extreme during the last half of summer, causing the soil to be too dry to compact.  Finally, a perfect balance was reached on November 17, so I continued with my construction activities.

My construction techniques are fairly simple.  I use a tiller to pulverize the soil to be excavated.  The loose soil is scooped out and deposited to form a dam on the downhill side of the proposed pool.  The soil is built up in successive layers of an inch or less of soil.  Each layer of loose soil is fully compacted before the next layer is added.  The idea is to end up with a tightly compacted barrier to keep water from leaking out of the filled pool.

The soil on this site has no shortage of rocks.  Plowing activities that occurred several decades ago moved rocks to a higher position in the soil profile.  On this location, the plows must have been dragging very near the top of the bedrock layer.  During my excavation, I have encountered a couple of bedrock areas that were pulverized by the ancient meteor impact to a condition nearing small gravel.  This makes me wonder if the site will be capable of maintaining water for the period necessary for a batch of toads to be successfully raised.

I decided to finish this year with a pool that is smaller than planned.  I’ll see how well it holds water next spring and then decide if it is worth the effort to enlarge the pool area.  If it doesn’t hold water, I’ll then consider the option of installing a pond liner.

On November 30, a half inch rain put the first bit of water into the pool.

Another half inch of rain a week later brought the pool to within a few inches of being full.  There are three seasonal springs that feed into this area through the winter and spring.  With luck, they will produce enough water to offset any leakage in the pool.

On December 17, a 2.5 inch rain filled the pool.  Now it’s just a matter of waiting to see what happens.

Toad pool 1, about a quarter the size of the new addition, has proven able to maintain water long enough to raise a crop of spring breeding amphibians.  Unfortunately, the first pool is now four years old and I’m still waiting for the toads to discover this gem of a breeding area.