Calling

I have really been listening for those male toads to start calling. Every time it rains, I have my fingers crossed. Well, I got word yesterday, during the day, that the males were really loud at Wade Park. I was so excited! I headed out there yesterday afternoon to check things out.
Well, they were calling, but... The males were hiding in the grasses and calling (along with a bullfrog and a few others) but there was no other sign of them. There were no females moving toward the ponds (SIGH!) and the males were just singing, not swimming around looking for females.
Keep your fingers crossed. I will go out again this afternoon to see if the females are heading for the ponds. If they are, I will go out to collect eggs tomorrow.

A Toad Slideshow

Amphibians in the Classroom Has Begun!

Fourteen teachers, 11 classrooms and over 250 students in New Hanover County are to helping raise thousands of Southern toads. For the third year, the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher offered “Amphibians in the Classroom” to foster a sense of environmental stewardship among students, while creating a better understanding of amphibians and the environment we share.

Select classrooms at Carolina Beach Elementary, Rachel Freeman Elementary, Mary C. Williams Elementary, and Cape Fear Center for Inquiry eagerly watch and actively participate in the care needed to morph Southern toads from toad eggs to adults. Toad eggs will be delivered to the classrooms in late March or early April and will soon hatch into tadpoles. With their teacher’s assistance and an extensive 40-page binder from the aquarium; students learn more about amphibians and their growth.

In May, students will release their Southern toads in ponds around New Hanover County, back into the habitat from which the toad eggs were collected. Funding for this program was generously supported by the Cherbec Foundation.