Amphibians & Reptiles:
EFFECTS OF THE SYNTHETIC ESTROGEN ETHINYLESTRADIOL ON EARLY LIFE
STAGES OF MINK FROGS AND GREEN FROGS IN THE WILD AND IN SITU
During the early years of the ELA operation, toads frequently mated and laid their eggs in the shallow water over the sand beach at the southwest corner of Lake 239 (Rawson Lake), adjacent to the field station. Each spring, strings of toad eggs were a common sight on the sand surface in several centimetres of water. Later, this shallow water would be filled with small tadpoles, and thousands of tiny toads (<1.5 cm long) would emerge each summer to disperse throughout the field station. This phenomenon was less common during the 1980's, but there appears to have been some population recovery during the 1990's.
Garter snakes are commonly encountered in the ELA, sometimes while swimming. The eastern garter snake intergrades with the red-sided or red-barred prairie subspecies in this part of northwestern Ontario.
