Color the Vernal Pools

In the spring and early summer months, vernal pools are noisy, busy places! Which species can you draw in your vernal pool? Can you find that animal in a vernal pool near your house?

Here are two animals that you can find in vernal pools:

Wood Frogs

• Grow to be 3 to 6 inches long.
• Have bodies that are tan to dark brown, with distinctive dark mask-like markings around the eyes. They have two ridges that run down the back and brown stripes on both the legs and back. Their bellies are white.
• Produce 300 to 1500 eggs, each with a baby tadpole in the center. Wood frogs lay many egg masses in one night; all near each other.
• Make a “quack” noise that can easily be mistaken for a duck’s quack!

Spotted Salamanders

• Are generally 6-9 inches long.
• Have bodies that are blueish black. They have irregularly shaped yellow or light blue spots on their backs that run from head to tail. *
• Lay one or more egg masses of 30 to 600 eggs. Egg masses can be clear or opaque white and are surrounded with a jelly-like protective layer. Each egg contains a black/brown or gold baby salamander.
• Can live to be 20 years old!