Penny For Your Thoughts
By: Nancy Whitaker
I do believe that spring is finally getting close. First of all, the days are getting longer and soon we will be turning those clocks ahead.
Now I haven’t personally, seen any robins yet, but several people have .
Some days, some of that warm sun will come out and a light breeze will be lifting our spirits and help us get rid of those winter doldrums.
The laughter of children as they play and ride their bicycles is a sure sign that spring in all its glory will be landing here in Northwest Ohio every living creature comes out of hibernation as they awake from a long winter’s nap.
They say in the spring time that “love is in the air,”which holds true for the birds, and many other creatures.
This holds true for many kinds of animals. One such animal is the amorous toads who migrate to Upper Roxborough, located just outside of Philadelphia. In fact the city street department has issued a permit to close two different streets for the neighborhood’s annual toad migration; whenever the toads get around to making it, that is.
The migration is a mating ritual in which the toads leave the woods around the Schuylkill Center and head for the Roxborough Reservoir in Pennsylvania, to find a toad of the opposite sex.
Rainy weather and warm days are the signal the toads need to prompt their journey and aids them in their conquest to find a mate. They have spent the winter dormant, so they burrow their way out, kick up their heels and with a hop, skip and a jump, they are on their way to find “true love”
There are groups of volunteer toad-spotters who prowl the roads at twilight and when they spot the toads arriving, temporary detour signs are put up. This is due to a drive driven by animal activist, Lisa Levinson, to keep the brown and green toads from being squashed by oncoming traffic.
Levinson noted, “For the past three years during the mating ritual, the toad population has steadily declined due to traffic fatalities. Witnesses report that approximately fifty percent fewer toads are migrating each year. Levinson said. “On the main migration night in 2008, 100 dead toads were counted on the road, while only 25 were observed crossing the road over a two-hour period. Levinson said that she observes the toads trying to get across the road and has stood in the roadway and asked drivers to stop while groups of at least 200 toads cross the street. (it is too bad the toads don’t have a look out guy!)
When Levinson was observed trying to stop traffic, regarding the toads, the police were called and they all wondered what she was trying to do. The next year she attempted to get the authorities involved and she said, “They told me to call 9-1-1. So I did. Law enforcement was very understanding and helpful and this system was formed.”
First, if toad-spotters sight the amphibians, then a phone free text message and e-mail is sent and brings out about 50 volunteers to help with temporary road-detour signs. It is usually in April that the toads begin their mating ritual.
Now, would you stop and let a group of toads cross the road? I guess that toads need to find a partner too.
Another sign spring is here is last year’s Christmas lights are being taken down, people are wearing flip flops, allergy season is back, income taxes are due, Valentine’s Day candy is on clearance, goodbye Net Flix and hello people, baseball spring training will be started, you can’t see your breath anymore when you go outside and we can take those warm booties off of Rover.
Other ways to know that spring has arrived is that guys “rev” up their motorcycles, outside concert line ups are announced, the root beer stands are going to open, you go on a diet to look good in your bikini, and you see groups picking up branches. We will say goodbye to: warm drinks, hot soup, cough medicine and hot toddys. We can safely take off our long johns and put our coats, scarfs and gloves away. We can see our pussy willows, asparagus and rhubarb peeking out and those pesky dandelions are peeping through.
Yep, this is what we are waiting for. Longer days, lots of sunshine and warm temperatures just makes us feel renewed.
What do you think are the signs of spring? Have you ever watched as 200 toads migrate across the road? Don’t you just love spring? Let me know and I’ll give you a Penny for Your Thoughts.
