Maine Perspective Front Page
Amphibians and Reptiles
Canaries of the Environment
In the 18th century, the famous biologist Carl Linnaeus left little doubt how he regarded amphibians and reptiles.
"These foul and loathsome animals are abhorrent because of their cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom; and so their Creator has not exerted his powers to make many of them," he wrote.
How much has changed in 200 years? asks UMaine wildlife biologist Malcolm Hunter. "Despite the popularity of dinosaurs, Kermit the Frog and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, most people harbor little affection for these creatures and even less knowledge."
Frogs, toads, salamanders and snakes have fascinating biology and ecology that are often overlooked and misunderstood, says Hunter. "It's important for people to know that these species are both fascinating in their own right but also have a larger ecological role than most of us appreciate. Among the vertebrae animals in Maine, including birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, the two most abundant are the redback salamander and the spring peeper. Yet we still know relatively little about their biology."
This month, just in time for spring, the University of Maine Press has published Maine Amphibians and Reptiles, a comprehensive, 250-page volume dedicated to introducing readers to 38 species that make their home in the state. Editors Hunter, UMaine wetland ecologist Aram Calhoun, and Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife biologist Mark McCollough have compiled the latest research and fieldwork findings of more than 300 contributors. The result is the most extensive resource to date concerning Maine's cold-blooded creatures that creep, crawl and croak.
Maine Amphibians and Reptiles also appears at a time of growing concern and warning signs that something is going terribly wrong in the natural landscape. Throughout Maine, there are reports of frogs born eyeless or with too many or too few legs, and a species of turtle close to disappearing in one corner of the state. In beginning to fill the information void about amphibians and reptiles, the book also raises awareness about the health of the ecosystem that we and these animals call home.
Royalties from the sale of the book will be earmarked for amphibian and reptile conservation in Maine.
"A lot of attention has been focused recently on the deformities showing up in frogs. As is often the case, these species may be barometers for problems in the environment that ultimately affect people," Hunter says. "In the '60s, eagle and osprey deaths related to DDT led us to realize that we faced a widespread problem that could affect human welfare. It's just as possible that deformities that we're seeing in frogs could signal other environmental problems of direct consequence to humans.
"This book definitely is part of a tool chest for action."
For Hunter, this is the second major publication in seven years on Maine amphibians and reptiles. In 1992, "The Amphibians and Reptiles of Maine" was published as a 188-page bulletin of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station. The bulletin culminated a five-year effort, the Maine Amphibian and Reptile Atlas Project, in which more than 250 volunteers and five organizations (Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine Audubon Society, UMaine, The Nature Conservancy and Maine Natural Heritage Program) gathered systematic distribution information on Maine's amphibians and reptiles. The scientific Station bulletin was not designed in format to appeal to nonspecialist readers, yet the response to the first edition was much greater than expected. The 2,500 copies of the bulletin sold out within two years and the demand for copies continued.
"The greatest surprise has been the public interest in reptiles and amphibians," says McCollough, whose pen and ink drawings appeared in the bulletin and now are in the new book. "I'm anxious to see what the new book will bring."
Maine Amphibians and Reptiles is a 7- by 10-inch paperback that includes new sections beyond those offered in the Station bulletin on such topics as amphibian eggs and the environmental implications of deteriorations in amphibian health. Accounts by the more than 300 contributors have been updated to reflect the latest research. More than 100 distribution maps for species show ranges in North American, the region and in Maine, where almost all reptiles achieve their northern-most distribution. In addition to the almost 60 detailed illustrations, the volume also includes 36 color photographs and an expanded bibliography.
Adding to the excitement about the volume is a CD of frog and toad calls. Narrated and produced by well-known naturalist Lang Elliott of Ithaca, N.Y., the CD features a reference guide to the individual calls of 10 species. Then the CD offers mixed choruses of field recordings of frog and toad calls in early, mid and late seasons. And finally, to test one's ability to identify species, there are more than 40 minutes of mixed-species choruses, both narrated and unnarrated.
The latter choruses have been described by the editors as "easy-listening frog music" or 20 minutes of uninterrupted "dinner music."
Next year, Maine Amphibians and Reptiles will be complemented by a children's field guide by Portland artist and author Andrea Sulzer, to be published by the University of Maine Press.
"Like a lot of Maine kids, I used to gather up polliwogs and watch them turn into frogs," says Michael Alpert, director of the University of Maine Press who designed Maine Amphibians and Reptiles. "That's not something I recommend now. Frogs and toads were really part of my growing up and learning about my environment. I still think they're great critters. Their behavior is very elemental. On a philosophical level, studying these animals means coming in contact with what it means to be alive."
Even McCollough, leader of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's Endangered Species Group, knew little about the most pervasive animals in the Maine woods until he illustrated "The Amphibians and Reptiles of Maine" in the early 1990s. A talented wildlife artist, McCollough had never even drawn an amphibian to that point.
"To illustrate them, I had to get to know these animals, understand their life history and habitat," McCollough says. "At the time, Inland Fisheries was working with endangered species but little was being done with reptiles and amphibians.
"The public tends to forget that amphibians and reptiles also are wildlife, McCollough says. "Somehow reptiles and amphibians are considered lesser lifeforms, but the fact is they have out-survived other vertebrates on our planet. The prevailing public opinion has been that these animals live largely at night in slimy environments. They were looked down on in the ecosystem. As we've studied these animals, the reality is that they have extreme importance in the environment in Maine."