Take Cover!
For this Salamander Saturday, we thought we’d share a little video of one of our new residents, Tweeg, making his way under his hiding rock. Hellbender’s bodies are very flat and streamlined, which allows them to slide easily underneath large rocks sitting on a stream-bed. While under their rock of choice, hellbenders will wait patiently for prey to come near and will snatch them up for a quick meal. Currently, Oneka and Tweeg have some fish they share space with and occasionally snack on whilst under their...
Read MoreThe Hellbender Search Continues
Sunshine is abundant, streams are low, clear and warm, and traps are smelly and baited…wait, what was that last part?! As the summer season is slated to officially begin this Monday, the field season is already underway and our hellbender search within Chautauqua County has begun once again. As you may recall, last fall we worked with Robin Foster, PhD candidate at the University of Buffalo, to take eDNA samples from a number of potentially suitable sites to be tested. In case you aren’t familiar, eDNA is short for environmental DNA and is a reliable method in detecting even...
Read MoreCCWA Gala
In case you missed the competition for the 2015 Pennsylvania River of the Year, Conewango Creek was the big winner, and the Conewango Creek Watershed Association has been doing a number of great programs to promote the winning waterway. To conclude their events, on October 22nd they will be hosting their River of the Year Gala and will have none other than Robin Foster, University of Buffalo PhD candidate and our favorite stream partner, speaking about the Eastern Hellbender, an elusive resident to the region’s rivers and tributaries. This will not be an event to miss! For more details...
Read MoreChasing Hellbenders
It’s a beautiful sunny morning when I join biologists, students and techs from the University of Buffalo and NYS DEC to evaluate a stream for a particularly unique species of amphibian. We dawn our waders and lug our equipment to the water’s edge. The water is still relatively cool and is rolling over the rocky bottom of the river in which we enter. With nets in hand and special poles used to lift large rocks, we begin to evaluate the stream bottom for suitable places a secretive salamander might live. As we find a massive rock along the river floor, we surround it as it is...
Read MoreNEPARC Annual Meeting
Last week I got the opportunity to attend my first NEPARC (Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation) annual meeting held at Allegany State Park in Salamanca, New York. For those that aren’t familiar with the not for profit, NEPARC is a regional subset of PARC or Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. This organization forms inclusive partnerships with like-minded professionals and citizens that are dedicated to the conservation of amphibians, reptiles and their respective habitats throughout each region of the United States and beyond. PARC interacts with...
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