From Science Daily:
Beavers Helping Frogs And Toads SurviveThe humble beaver, besides claiming a spot of honour on the Canadian nickel, is also helping fellow species survive.
Though considered a pest because of the culvert-clogging dams it builds on streams, the beaver is an ally in conserving valuable wetland habitat for declining amphibian populations, a University of Alberta study shows.
The study, conducted in the boreal forests of west-central Alberta, showed that frog and toad choruses are only present on streams where beaver dams are present.
While surveying the calls of male frogs and toads engaged in acoustic displays for females, researchers recorded approximately 5,000 boreal chorus frogs, wood frogs and western toads at 54 beaver ponds over a two-year period.
Pitfall traps on beaver ponds captured 5.7 times more newly metamorphosed wood frogs, 29 times more western toads and 24 times more boreal chorus frogs than on nearby free-flowing streams.
Toads nead cougars: here.
It seems that many Canadians have never seen beavers, as they, like many mammals, are pretty good at hiding.
When I was in Canada, I was lucky enough to see a beaver swim; and later a muskrat.
Observations of European beavers in The Netherlands: here.
Pacific chorus frogs: here.
Wood frogs in winter: here.
Amphibians in England: here.
VIRGINIA, Minn. Feb 16, 2007 (AP)— A furry, uninvited guest had manly men at an Iron Range tire shop shrieking and hopping on desks. “It was pretty humorous,” said conservation officer Dan Starr, who filed a report on the critter’s break-in. “Here were these big, burly outdoors guys running around screaming.” Taconite Tire employees arrived at work on Monday to find what they thought was a giant rat inside the store.
“I was the first one into work that morning and the first one out,” said Shannon Bergman, an off-road tire salesman. “I walked in, and in the waiting area I saw this big rat, and I took off.”
Mayhem ensued.
After scampering out the front door, Bergman called a buddy and told him to bring a rifle to dispatch the critter.
On edge, employees stalked the “rat,” entering the office where it was hold up.
“We’re looking around in the office and a box falls, and I must have jumped a foot,” said Bob Dethloff, a brawny alignment specialist and stock car racer. “I thought it was going to attack me from behind.”
Dethloff’s son, Ryan, a mechanic at the shop, was armed with a broomstick.
All of a sudden, he spotted the “rat.”
“Ryan comes out of the office screaming, and he says, ‘It’s huge!’” Bergman said. “It was the size of a cat.”
“I guess he jumped on top of a desk and screamed like a girl who had seen a mouse,” Starr said of Ryan Dethloff.
In the end, an employee shot and killed what turned out to be a muskrat.
Information from: Duluth News Tribune, http://www.duluthsuperior.com
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
Comment by Administrator — February 17, 2007 @ 12:40 am
Very nice article!
Comment by Pacific Chorus Frog — November 1, 2008 @ 3:41 pm
Hi, thank you, and all the best with your blog … and with the frogs!
Comment by Administrator — November 1, 2008 @ 3:44 pm