March 6, 2010, was a beautiful day to take a walk through the wetland. The weather was so warm that you didn't need to wear more than a hooded sweatshirt in order to be comfortable. Lots of people seemed to be taking advantage of the nice weather in order to do just that.
I met a grandmother along the trail who was taking her grandson for a walk through the bog and teaching him about the native plants that grow there and some of the many things Native Americans used them for. This woman had a wealth of knowledge and it made me happy to listen to her pass it on to a younger generation.
A father was pulling his daughter down the boardwalk in a wagon. I met them while I was busy photographing amphibian eggs in a root pool. They were curious about what I was doing and, when I told them and showed them some of the photographs, the little girl exclaimed that her Grandma had eggs just like those growing in her pond. She and I had a really fun discussion about tadpoles and frogs and salamanders, then she and her dad continued on their way to Marlake in search of more eggs.
The indian plums were full of cascading white blossoms and some of the bright magenta salmonberry buds were beginning to open. They look like tiny fairy skirts. The bold yellow hoods of skunk cabbage were starting to open. Skunk cabbage is one of my favorite plants. They're not delicate plants, but have a boldness about them that makes them stand up and shout. Many people say they also have an aroma about them that does the same, but I can't seem to smell them. It's been described to me as a putrid, skunk-like, reek, but I can't smell anything at all.
Trilliums are starting to poke up through the undergrowth. Folk lore has it that the triple-leaves of the trillium represent the Trinity (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and that the whiteness represents purity. I think they're absolutely stunning and look forward to their appearance every spring.
Stinging nettles are also popping up and quickly growing tall. These plants will eventually grow to be more than five feet tall. They grow everywhere in the wetland, especially along the edges of the boardwalk. They're impossible to control. The more you pull them out, the faster and thicker they seem to grow. And, yes, they do sting! Their leaves are covered with tiny, hair-like, barbs, that break on contact, injecting acid into your skin, which is what causes the burning sensation. Depending upon your sensitivity, this burning sensation can last anywhere from several hours to several days. Please avoid touching them if you can.
So, what's inside of all of these amphibian eggs, you may ask? Frogs and salamanders!
Amphibians are some of the most fascinating creatures you'll ever run across. They're full participants in the great circle of life in every way imaginable. Mammals have fur, birds have feathers, fish have scales, snails have shells, but amphibians have nothing but skin. Their skin isn't very thick either, nor is it hard and leathery. It's really quite fragile. That's why amphibians like to hide in dark, damp places like a bog.
Frogs begin life in the water as eggs, but unlike chicken eggs, amphibian eggs have no shell. Instead, they're encased in a jelly-like substance held together by surface tension. Several weeks after they're deposited in the water, tadpoles hatch out of the eggs and begin swimming around. Aquatic tadpoles have gills and breathe in the water like fish. Most tadpoles are vegetarians, but they won't remain so as adults. In time, tadpoles begin to change. Their tails will be absorbed by their bodies and they'll begin to develop legs and feet. When this metamorphosis is complete, the baby frogs crawl out onto land. Their gills have disappeared by then and they've become air-breathing creatures. About this time is when they stop being vegetarians. Most frogs have long-sticky tongues with which to grab their food and will eat anything they can fit into their mouths, including other frogs. Yes, frogs are cannibals! Frogs don't run around chasing down their food like lions and wolves. That expends too much energy. Frogs prefer to find a nice cozy place to sit and wait for their food to come to them, then, when an unwary insect strays too close, that long sticky tongue zaps out like a flash, sticks to the insect, and drags it into the mouth of the frog. One less insect. One happy frog.
Some frogs, like the red-legged frog, like to live next to a pond or small body of water. Others, like the Pacific tree frog, prefer to live in, on, or around trees in the bog.
When it gets cold, frogs like to dig deep within the mud or under brush and sleep for the winter. All of their body process slow way down, just like a bear. In spring, the frogs wake up and breeding begins.
Most of the very loud frog songs you hear around here in the spring are being generated by the Pacific tree frog. The males have a bladder beneath their chins that they can blow up like a big echo chamber. Once again, the frogs return to the water to lay their eggs and the great circle of life begins all over again.
Remember how I said that frogs will eat nearly anything they can fit into their mouths? Well, frogs not only eat insects, like mosquitoes, that might bother us, but are also a vital source of food for many of the other creatures who live in the bog, such as great blue herons, snakes, and owls.
Because frogs have no shells, fur, or scales, and spend a lot of their lives in, or near, water, they're extremely sensitive to chemicals that wash into our rivers, streams, and lakes. If we want to have frogs around for other generations to enjoy, then we must be mindful of what we allow to enter our water. If we don't take care, frogs could be lost forever.
Frogs aren't the only amphibians living in the park. We also have salamanders. Remember how I said that amphibians lay their eggs in the water, the eggs hatch into tadpoles, the tadpoles grow legs, lose their tails, and crawl out on the ground, living near the water, or in trees, until it's time to reproduce, when they return to the water to lay the eggs that will grow into the next generation? Well, even though salamanders are amphibians and this cycle of life is the definition of an amphibian, there are always exceptions to every rule. Some of the salamanders that live in the Pacific Northwest are actually completely terrestrial, meaning they lay their eggs in burrows beneath the ground, rather than in water.
Frogs aren't the only amphibians who are lazy. Salamanders are a bit lazy, too. Those who burrow prefer not to waste all of the time and effort it would require to dig their own burrows. Instead, they prefer to take over a burrow that's already been dug by some other creature. The ensatina salamander is one of these.
Like frogs, salamanders don't have feathers, fur, or shells, just very thin skin that needs to be kept moist. That's why they like to live under decaying logs, or beneath the undergrowth on the forest floor, where it's dark, cool, and damp.
Salamanders are not without protection though. Some salamanders exude a poisonous goo which may make other predators less likely to eat them. If a predator does threaten them, they may exhibit a very peculiar, stiff-legged, defensive posture, that may serve to make them appear ill or diseased. If that doesn't work, they're able to sacrifice a leg or tail and make a quick getaway while the lost appendage is being consumed by the predator. This does not appear to harm the salamander. They can actually regrow their lost appendages! In a very short period of time, the salamander will grow a new leg or tail and be just as good as new! Many scientists are actively studying salamanders in an attempt to figure out how they perform this magical feat. If they can figure how a salamander does it, who knows - maybe, in a hundred years or so, doctors will be able to encourage human amputees to regrow their missing limbs. Wouldn't that be amazing?
The salamander population is dwindling, as are the frogs, because they're very sensitive to environmental pollutants. They need to live in, or near, water in order to survive, and more and more pollutants are washing off of our streets and lawns and right into the wetland. Amphibians have been found without enough limbs, too many limbs, two heads, no tails, too many tails, deformed limbs, and missing, deformed, or useless sexual organs. Compared to humans, amphibians are very small, but also very important. We consider them sentinel creatures. Chemicals in our water supply affect the amphibians first, because they're small and delicate, but ultimately, what happens to the amphibians will also happen to us. Their water is our water.
On March 13, 2010, I decided to do a "Blast From The Past", which I've decided to republish because it's so much fun. Remember Gary and Heather? They used to be the caretakers that lived at the very end of the road and raised all of the ducks, chickens, geese, and other assorted fowl. Gary used to mow the lawn, saw up dead trees that fell over the boardwalk, nail down loose boards, and replace broken ones. They lived in the same house the Rebecca Gorodyskyi and her family live in now. I do believe that Gary and Heather owned every kind of fowl that ever existed, including several peacocks. Anyone who's ever spent any time at all around peacocks knows that they make great watchdogs....er, watchbirds. When startled, or threatened, they cut loose with a screech that sounds every bit as if a small, female, child is in mortal terror. Many times, while I was quietly trimming the boardwalk, I'd hear the peacocks screaming. It wasn't unusual for this screaming to be followed by the appearance of a wide-eyed park visitor, or sometimes an entire group of visitors, rushing over to report the fact that someone was being murdered in the park and that I needed to call the police. They were always relieved to be told that everything was fine, it was just Gary's peacocks sounding the alarm.
Once, when I stopped by to chat with Gary, he thrust this huge, white goose into my arms, asking me to rub her ears because she had an earache. I'll never forget that moment. I'm an old city girl. I don't know anything about ducks and geese. I couldn't tell you where to find a goose's ears if my life depended on it. Of course they have ears! Everyone knows that! But, where? I had no idea. That was the first time that I'd ever held a goose in my life...and I loved it! Thanks, Gary! I've never forgotten that day!
In March, 2005, Gary started referring to the West Hylebos Wetland as the West Hylebos desert, because the unusually long spell of beautiful weather had dried up the wetland. When it comes to weather and how it affects the wetland, we can have too much of a good thing. What's a wetland without water?
Remember the turtles? We used to have turtles! In March 2005, pond turtles were sunning themselves on the stumps in the middle of Brooklake. They used to pile up, one atop the other, almost as if they were college students and someone had declared a contest to see how many turtles could pile onto the same stump at the same time. For years, you could see turtles out there sunning on that stump any time the sun was shining. And, then they disappeared. I haven't seen any turtles at all in at least four or five years. I wonder where they went? I miss them!
On March 18th, 2010, the fifth grade students from Panther Lake Elementary School made their annual pilgrimage to the wetland to release their salmon fry into the creek. The children raise salmon, from egg to fry, every year, then have a field trip to West Hylebos Park and set them free.
This year they released 150 baby salmon into West Hylebos Creek. Each of the students had given a name to the fry he/or she was about to set free. As the little fish swam away, we cheered them on. The next generation of salmon were on their way! Their journey will be long and filled with peril; but, hopefully, they'll return to us in a few years. After releasing their young salmon into the creek, the students enjoyed a sunny picnic in the orchard and meadow, with plenty of time left over to run around and get a little fresh air. Good work, Panther Lake!
March 18, 2010, was another beautiful day to visit the wetland. False-lily-of-the-valley is starting to pop up through the ground. Native Americans used the leaves and roots of this plant for a purge, to soothe the eyes, and to encourage healing in small cuts. Sometimes the berries were eaten in grease, but only if nothing else could be found to eat. The berries are much prettier to look at than they are to eat. Several months from now, the entire floor of the wetland will be densely carpeted with these plants. Two red-winged blackbirds were sitting in the reeds at Marlake, singing their little hearts out. I love to listen to them sing. I think their song is among the most beautiful in the entire bird kingdom. Red elderberry is beginning to grow it's heads.
For the past two weeks, people have been stopping me and telling me that they'd just seen a garter snake. This is very exciting, because I didn't see any snakes last year. Not seeing any snakes was very unusual for me. I'm used to startling them as they sun themselves on the boardwalk, so always keep a close eye out for them. Unfortunately, for me, I haven't been in the right place, at the right time, to see one of these snakes the others have seen. I will keep looking for them. I know they're there, so it's only a matter of time before I stumble upon one. I can hardly wait!
Teri Lenfest
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