Life, Death, and the Tadpole Express

 Every Spring, with the melt, we get a big pond that forms in the pasture.  It is a haven for the spring peepers -- alive with frogsong.  It is a fun place to school the horses through water obstacles. One year, we had an enterprising Beaver who considered turning it into a condominium. The problem is, it dries up.

This year, it seems to be drying up faster than usual. And that is a disaster for the bazillions of tadpoles and toadpoles that are currently in residence, turning the edges of the pond into a seething black mass of frog-wannabees.




Now, we understand that there is a Cycle of Life going on here.  We understand that there is a very high mortality rate for frogs and toads -- which is why they lay so very many eggs in the first place.  We 'get' that other species will benefit from the demise of these cute little 'poles.  Including a Swallowtail butterfly who came in while I was taking the photos to land on a dried up bit of pond, that is a mass of deceased tadpoles.  

We understand that Nature is not kinder, or gentler.   But... we couldn't bear the concept of 100% mortality in that little pond, which is what was happening. The pond was drying up much faster than the tadpoles could grow and morph into frogs who could hop away to safer ground.   If you are a tadpole in that puddle, you are done. No chance. No hope.  

So we got a bucket and seive, and we began Operation Tadpole Express.  I have been, for several days now, scooping up tadpoles and relocating them into the pond by the hangar, which never dries up, and which provides excellent habitat and cover for tadpoles. And little fish...  Some of whom will no doubt eat some of the tadpoles, but at least it is a Chance...

Here's a look at the Tadpole Express, the muddy water seething with little wriggly tadpoles, on its way to freedom in the pond.

We are down to one section of puddle in the field now, and I have been ferrying water down to that in the mornings, trying to top it up and slow down the dry-out, to buy the little guys a bit more time.  Rain would help. In the garden and the woods as well as in the pasture puddle...

We have no way of knowing how many of the transplanted tadpoles will grow up to be frogs. But we do know that those that stay in the pond won't.  In the greater universe of frog tadpoles, bailing out a few buckets full of them from a drying pond can't possibly make a difference.  But, it will make a difference to those in the buckets...

So, while we can't save them all, we try to save what we can.