Weekend Amphibian Adventures

Wondering what to do on your days off? I say create your own amphibian adventure to help celebrate Year of the Frog! Last weekend, Andy Avrum (a naturalist by trade) took some friends out and about Lake County in search of marbled salamanders. It was great. It seemed that every log he rolled had a salamander under it. The day was mostly just for fun, but while having our fun, we did help with an ongoing research project being conducted by Cleveland Metroparks and Mount Union College.

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Pets Respect Amphibians and Wildlife

Cairn terriers Wylee (left) and Koko (right) and their owners visited Medina County's Summer Celebration on July 26th, and made a personal pledge to “Leap into Action” and always be kind to amphibians. They learned that it is important for dogs (and cats) to respect amphibians and other wildlife in order to keep both wildlife and pets safe and healthy! They also learned that respecting amphibians includes not trying to eat them…

Thanks Wylee and Koko! Think about what you can do to be a responsible pet owner when it comes to wildlife!

Photo submitted by: Kathy Edelen from Cincinnati, Ohio

Two Hundred Celebrate 'Year of the Frog'

On Sunday, August 3, 2008, over 200 people came out to the F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm at Summit County to celebrate “The Year of the Frog.” We had games, crafts, a lecture, and a hike to our vernal pool to keep people busy. Families had a blast as they looked at some of our native frogs and salamanders. The kids got really excited as they met Vern the Wood Frog. Some of the children worked hard on their mosaic salamanders crafts. Many of the families ended up purchasing passports from Cleveland Metroparks Zoo after they became inspired to support "The Year of the Frog" project. Great time!

Blog and photo submitted by: Meghan Doran from Akron, Ohio

Amphibians Spotted in North Carolina Excursion

Over the 4th of July weekend, my husband Tim (North Chagrin Nature  Center Naturalist) and I went down to North Carolina for a relaxing trip of hiking, movie watching, and of course "herping." We researched the amphibians of the area and found that it would be possible to find a total of 95 species of amphibians in NC (see North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for a complete list)!

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Nature Club Students Travel to West Creek Reservation

Incarnate Word Academy Nature Club students were fortunate enough to learn about "The Year of the Frog" efforts first hand on their May 2008 field trip to West Creek Reservation. Tim Krynak, a Metroparks naturalist, taught these eager students about the importance of the health of the amphibian population to our environment. The Nature Club students helped Tim as he was able to successfully catch several frogs in the wetlands of West Creek Reservation. Tim demonstrated to the students how to carefully swab the frog's skin and place it in a vial that would be sent to a lab to be tested for Chytrid disease. This field trip enabled the students to take an active role in helping locally with this global project.

Blog and photo submitted by: Incarnate Word Academy from Parma Heights, Ohio

New Found Friend

Well I was sure that I could that I had no way to make a difference in my own backyard. But thanks to Kathy (Amphibian keeper) at the Cleveland Zoo, I made a few upgrades to my back yard and I will have new friends living in it.

Here is just one of the many new friends.

Blog and photo submitted by: Jenni from Parma Heights, Ohio

National Geographic Searches for Amphibians in Ecuador

As president of Las Gralarias Foundation Inc. (a Leap into Action partner) I wanted to share some really exciting news from my last visit to Ecuador. My wife Kathy (LGF secretary), and Las Gralarais Foundation Inc. volunteeer Hannah went down to Reserva Las Gralarias (RLG) to continue our amphibian monitoring program we established a couple of years ago. Every trip we seem to find additional species to record for the reserve and we are now up to at least three new species discovered!

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Grants Obtained for the Vernal Pool Habitat Project!

We are happy to announce the receipt of several grants that have been obtained to support Leap into Action's vernal pool habitat project. We received $1,500 from the Aquarium and Zoo Facilities Association (AZFA) Clark Waldram Conservation Fund, $750 from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Cans for Conservation Fund and $500 from the Amphibian Taxon Advisory Group. And of course, all of these grants have been matched dollar for dollar by Cleveland Zoological Society, for a grand total of $5,500!

Along with sales of passports and other donations, we are well on our way to meeting our $10,000 fundraising goal for the project. What can you do today to help amphibians thrive in Northeast Ohio?

Science is Fun!

On Saturday, May 3, 2008, Case Western Reserve and The Jason Project presented "Science is Fun." Whatever your science interest, it could be found there.

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Student Run Amphibian Conservation Education Project

Fifth Graders at Dodge intermediate School in Twinsburg are participating in an amphibian conservation education project. They will be making an "Amphibians of Ohio" poster with the help of Treefrog Educational. These posters will be located around Twinsburg to highlight the need to protect amphibian habitat and to reduce pollutants. The fifth-graders are raising funds to pay for the professionally produced posters by selling t-shirts. The slogan and images are student-created. The sale continues until May 16th. Buy a t-shirt and help educate Northeast Ohio about amphibians.

Students in the picture: Hunter Spittler (left), creator of slogan and Lexie Dungan (right), artist