Thousands of Western Toads Emerge from Wetland Pond at NW Trek
THOUSANDS OF WESTERN TOADS EMERGE FROM WETLAND POND AT NORTHWEST TREK WILDLIFE PARK AS PROGRAM CONTINUES TO AID THIS ‘SPECIES OF CONCERN’
EATONVILLE, Wash. –Thousands of fragile Western toads – each smaller than a pinkie fingernail – are hopping out of a wetland pond at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park and making their way into the forest to begin new lives.
The annual mass migration is both mesmerizing and gratifying for Northwest Trek staff members and volunteers who work hard to restore wetlands and wildlife habitat in the zoological park, said conservation program coordinator Jessica Moore.
Their reproductive capability is nothing short of amazing.
“Anywhere from a dozen to four dozen adult toads come out of the forest and into the pond to breed in late March or early April,” Moore said.
One female can lay thousands of eggs. Once they’re fertilized and hatched, there are literally tens of thousands of new lives.
The tadpoles eventually metamorphose into tiny toads, or toadlets, and begin their migration onto land.
Over the past few weeks, they’ve been huddled at the edge of the pond, piled on top of each other and swarming over logs and rocks as they prepared for their big move.
They won’t all survive. The Western toads face predators and perils as they make their way into a world of ever shrinking habitat for what is “a species of concern in Washington,” Moore said.
The Northwest Trek pond – which is not on public view – is one of a very few Western toad breeding sites in Pierce County.
Northwest Trek acquired the wetland when it expanded its boundaries eight years ago. Since then, extensive restoration and a 4-plus acre wetlands mitigation project enhanced and expanded breeding areas for the toads, Moore said.
Since the creation of new wetlands a year ago, toads have begun breeding in two locations on the property.
“Providing the habitat that enables these tiny toads to breed and grow fits in well with our conservation mission,” Moore said.