Hi Eddie,
Looks like my day for chiming in.
In answer to your basic question - yes, I think it would be a humane and
compassionate act to move the wood frog eggs to a nearby vernal pool
already used by wood frogs.
The disease transfer issue is way overblown in your case. Wood frogs are
the best possible agents of transferring diseases that affect wood frogs
and, if you pick a vernal pool within a mile or so (and not across a big
highway) from your friend's swimming pool, it is a very safe bet that wood
frogs move back and forth between those pools over short periods of time
(way less than a wood frog generation). Thus, any diseases in the area
will have already been introduced to all the nearby pools.
Moreover, the primary amphibian diseases of concern around here (New
England) - *Ranavirus* infection and chytridiomycosis - are essentially
ubiquitous in our landscape at the moment. Disease concerns are more
relevant when someone is considering moving animals between different
watersheds, between different regions, continents, etc. Disease concerns
are especially important when considering anything that might expose native
wild animals to pathogens borne by related species that come from distant
parts of the US or the world.
Do the egg masses represent "bad" genes? Who knows. Wood frogs often
breed in places that sometimes dry up long before the egg masses hatch.
You would not be introducing any new genes into the local population and
natural and human selection pressures will continue to modify the local
wood frog genetic structure regardless of what you do.
So, my vote is to honor your compassionate instincts and help out those
individual wood frog eggs.
Best Wishes,
Bryan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.