Observations from October, 2022
September is usually a beautiful month in Western Washington with treasured days that feel like summer. I revel in the sunshine, with a hint of crispness in the air. This year, though, it was HOT.
Too hot.
Too dry.
And on September 9th, a fire started near Baring. Smoke blew down into the valley.
The sky was murky.
My lungs hurt.
The world became quiet, like it was under a blanket. My daily routine of making time to be outdoors suffered. The fire burned through October 21st, when the rains finally arrived, and was still considered active at the end of October.
I tried not to let the smoke stop me. Armed with nets, buckets, and curiosity, my students and I found our way to the beaver pond at Lord Hill Park.
I was not disappointed.
As I wandered my way towards the pond’s edge, a hop caught my eye. A tiny brown tree frog, perfectly camouflaged when still, hopped out of my way. This one was about the size of a dollar coin. Since Pacific Tree Frogs create a waxy coating for their skin to help them stay moist, they can often be found surprisingly far from water. It’s always a joy to find one in the woods or perched on my rhubarb plant. The males boast a croak that seems impossibly large for their diminutive size. In the spring, their chorus fills the night, but in the fall, they often give a single kr-r-r-ek, thought to be a territorial call.
Leaving my tiny frog friend behind, I headed for the pond. Risking my safety, or at least my cleanliness, the students and I bravely swooped nets and snatched creatures from the tannin stained water of the pond. We netted several bullfrog tadpoles, each almost as long as my hand. In contrast, another unidentified tadpole was just the size of my fingernail. Some of the bullfrog tadpoles had started their transition to life on land, boasting two or even four legs! Adult bullfrogs croaked and leapt into the water, sounding offended as we walked through the boot-sucking mud. Bullfrogs are considered invasive in Washington because their large size and voracious appetites allow them to not only outcompete native frogs, but also dine on them!
One student brought back a surprise, something I have seen in pictures but never in real life - with frilly gills and delicate legs, this salamander was preparing to spend another winter in water. I’m not experienced enough to say what kind of salamander this was. This salamander may have decided that overwintering in the pond sounded nicer than finding a deliciously damp den on land, and may move from gills to lungs and life of land next year. Or it might be a neotenic adult, living its whole life in water. This ability can serve to protect their populations in the case of disaster, such as when Mount Saint Helens erupted. Some neotenic adults survived, and were able to repopulate the area as the forests regenerated. It’s hard to tell the difference between aquatic adults and juveniles and I’m not yet experienced enough to do so. Either way, it was delightful to meet this little creature.
I like to extol the virtues of “futzing around in nature” and this expedition really showed the value. I haven’t spent this amount of time just wandering and observing at this pond before, and our time there introduced me to another new-to-me species. The giant water bug, also known as a Toe-Biter, was a fascinating find, and something I didn’t even know lived here!
It looked intimidating enough from its size and defensive posture, but it turns out that the bite of this creature is one that will not be easily forgotten! They eat their prey by injecting a venom that causes the insides of the hapless creature to dissolve, then leave the sagging skin shell after they devour it. The adults found here in Washington die in the winter, which might be why we found two living ones on our first visit, and a floating corpse and a dying bug on our second visit. Perhaps the timing is everything when looking for giant water bugs? I hope to never find one with a bare toe!
As we shift into proper autumn with chill nights, cloudy skies, and torrents of rain, I am glad I managed to explore and discover in spite of the smoke. I can’t wait to see how the pond has changed the next time we go exploring with nets, buckets, and curiosity!
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