Discover Vernal Pools

What in the world is a vernal pool?

A vernal pool is where salamanders, frogs, and funny critters that swim on their sides, called fairy shrimp, go to lay their eggs. These pools are so special, even endangered animals like to go. In a vernal pool, you can find yellow spotted salamanders, blue spotted salamanders, wood frogs, turtles, snakes, and many other curious critters that need water to live. These animals have to be quick, though, because the pool is only open for a short time. Vernal pools fill up in the spring with water from melted snow and April showers. As summer comes and dries up the pools, baby frogs, little salamanders, turtles, and all their new friends are ready to crawl onto nearby dry land to their fall and winter homes.

Why do we need vernal pools? Can’t all those animals just lay their eggs in a pond or lake?

Vernal pools are the forests’ food source! It works like this: Small bugs eat the fallen leaves, frogs and salamanders eat the bugs, turtles and snakes eat the frogs, birds eat the snakes, foxes eat the birds, eagles eat the foxes, and so on!  Without vernal pools, we would have forests full of old leaves and many animals would not find food to eat.  Vernal pools help keep Maine’s forests healthy. 

Ponds and lakes do have many of the best parts of a vernal pool (water, food, twigs to attach their eggs to) but they also have something that vernal pool do not:FISH.  You see, a fish’s favorite snack is eggs. When they see a big clump of salamander eggs they can’t help themselves but to eat them all. Well, our vernal pool friends don’t like to become snacks, so they must live in very special places where fish can’t go. Since vernal pools usually lose their water in the summer, fish can’t live there, making vernal pools a safe place for the wiggliest, jiggliest, silliest, slimiest creatures in the forest to raise their babies.