The Importance of the Creepy Crawlies
By Dave Hurst
© 2014 Hurst Media Works
A Northern Redbelly Cooter was spotted last week out East. In certain circles, that’s a
rather big deal.
The cooter is a threatened species of turtle with a red-accented dark shell that lives in
large lakes, ponds, slow-moving rivers, creeks and marshes. In recent years it’s only been
spotted in a handful of eastern Pennsylvania counties – with one exception: It’s also been
spotted in Mercer County, which borders Ohio on the opposite end of the state.
While you may not have much interest in turtles, doesn’t that strike you as at least a bit
curious? Why would there be confirmed sightings of a relatively rare turtle at the
opposite ends of the state but nowhere in-between?
That question certainly makes herpetologists (scientists who study amphibians and
reptiles) wonder – and at least partially explains why there is a ten-year Pennsylvania
Amphibian & Reptile Survey (PARS) underway.
Launched last year, the survey seeks to document the diversity of frogs, lizards, newts,
salamanders, snakes and turtles across Pennsylvania and to access the status of the state’s
“herp” population. By the end of the survey in 2022, herpetologists hope to have a much
better assessment of the state’s amphibian and reptile populations.
Now I can just imagine what you’re thinking: I could care less about these creepy things!
Time to find something else to read.
Just give me another minute. Maybe I won’t convince you to become a herp lover, but it
is important for you to understand why this survey is important.
“Herps are important indicators of the health of our natural places,” wrote Marlin Corn, a
herpetologist with the Mid-Atlantic Center for Herpetology and Conservation, and the
coordinator for the PARS.
Yet little is known about Pennsylvania’s amphibian and reptile populations, compared to
other animal groups. That’s hardly surprising. Herps have a definite PR problem.
Compared to the thousands of Pennsylvania “citizen scientists” who participated in a
recently completed breeding bird survey, the people participating in the PARS survey
thus far number only in the hundreds.
It’s a safe bet that counting cute little black-capped chickadees is much more appealing to
most folks than recording sightings of timber rattlesnakes. Yet both have their own niches
within our ecosystem, and it tells us something important if either disappears or dwindles
in numbers.
What the Northern Redbelly Cooter tells us is that there aren’t enough people out
participating in the state amphibian and reptile survey. The website,
http://paherpsurvey.org, tells us that as well.
Since the survey was launched last year, only Indiana and Westmoreland counties are
reporting more than 100 herp sightings. The remaining counties within our region have
recorded less than 100 – which isn’t much data upon which to base scientific
observations.
But you don’t have to be some kind of snake hunter to enjoy this survey or get involved.
Right now, amphibians are on the move, breeding and migrating – benign little Jefferson
salamanders, spotted salamanders, four-toed salamanders, spring peepers and wood frogs
among them.
The website provides all of the information you will need to become a “herper.” You’ll
be able to identify and record Northern Spring Peepers (small frogs) in woodlands,
marshy areas and meadows; or Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamanders, which will be
found in woodlands near small streams, springs and seeps.
Use this as a good excuse to get outdoors this spring. Just keep your eyes open as you
walk around and record what you find. You’ll be contributing to a greater understanding
of our natural world – and will feel closer to nature as a result.
Who knows? Perhaps you’ll even spot a Northern Redbelly Cooter and put your county
on the map – which would be great. Those counties out east get too much attention as it
is.