Turtles aren’t the only species endangered by cars when spring arrives , as noted in this earlier post. Frogs and salamanders face automotive peril, as well.
For years, the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock has run Salamander Crossing Bridges, in which volunteers head out to sites where the amphibians are known to cross roads in spring, looking for wet places to lay their eggs. On wet nights when the temperature is above about 40 degrees, they monitor the sites and help amphibians make it across the pavement being behind run over by any traffic.
This year, the Center reported, nearly 400 people volunteered with our Salamander Crossing Brigades in 2025, providing safe passage over the course of a few weeks for 11,650 amphibians at 41 crossing sites in 23 towns across southwest New Hampshire. This figure includes 7,307 spring peepers, 2,119 wood frogs, 813 spotted salamanders, 446 gray tree frogs, and 325 American toads.
To learn more, check harriscenter.org/programs-and-education/citizen-science/salamander-crossing-brigades/field-reports-2025
Return to the Concord Monitor