ON Press: Variety of frog species killed on Laird Road

[Herp News]

GUELPH MERCURY (Ontario) 25 September 09 Variety of frog species killed on Laird Road
Guelph: A variety of frogs were killed Monday night during a mass migration across a small portion of Laird Road.
Melanie Sohm, a masters student and teaching assistant at the University of Guelph and member of the environmental activist group Land is More Important Than Sprawl (LIMITS) sifted through 217 amphibian carcasses collected by conservationists Monday.
Green frogs, leopard frogs, wood frogs, grey tree frogs, spring peepers, American toads and a garter snake were among the dead conservationist Norah Chaloner brought to Sohm.
“I was only asked to record the species; we did not record the number of individuals for each species,” Sohm wrote in an email to the Mercury. “I can tell you that the majority were leopard frogs, followed by green frogs and American toads.”
A species of frog not identified, however, was the western chorus frog, a species many say is at risk on the site of the proposed Hanlon Creek Business Park.
“The western chorus frogs could have just as easily been spring peepers. The distinctive markings were not discernible as the bodies were very badly damaged,” Sohm wrote. “I just (want) to clarify that due to the status and possible controversy surrounding the western chorus frog.”
The City of Guelph elected to close the portion of Laird Road that bisects the HCBP lands between 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. each night as frogs make their way from the land in which they eat to the wetlands where they will hibernate for the winter.
A small group of locals have been on the road each night helping frogs safely cross. Next year, the city plans to build a culvert and use silt fencing in order to allow the frogs to cross under the road rather than over it.
“It's great that the city is keeping the road closed for now . . . it would be better if people actually obeyed the signs,” said Dave Sills, who has twice been out to help the frogs cross.
“The best permanent solution is to close Laird Road where it crosses the wetland as soon as possible.”
Sills estimates that 350 frogs had been killed through Wednesday night.
GuelphMercury.com - News - Variety of frog species killed on Laird Road