It is time to survey the "herps" of Adams County. "Herps" is the informal term referring collectively to amphibians and reptiles, which include frogs, lizards, salamanders, snakes, toads, and turtles. These creatures live in every county in Pennsylvania;
however, less data exists on them in comparison to other studied species.
Therefore, a project began in 2013: the Pennsylvania Amphibian and Reptile Survey (PARS). It is sponsored by the PA Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) and the Mid-Atlantic Center for Herpetology and Conservation (MACHAC) with the goal of the collecting the distribution and status of these creatures by recording their presence in every
10-square mile block of a grid imposed on a map of Pennsylvania. To organize this effort, the state has been divided into six regions, then into the counties in each of them. Each region and county has its own coordinator. Finally, this project's end date is December 31, 2022.
In order to continue this task locally, residents of Adams County are needed to report sightings of amphibians and reptiles. It is not necessary to spend hours or vast amounts of time searching for them in distant places; it is as simple as recording observations in the backyard or encounters along trails, fields, and bodies of water.
First, potential volunteers need to visit the website for the survey at https://paherpsurvey.org and complete the release form by clicking on the orange button labeled "Signup" at the top right of the home page. Next, an account is created by setting up
a username and password, followed by entering contact information.
To report a sighting, registered users first log in and then click the green button entitled 'Add Record.' On the next page, pertinent information is entered in the sections for 'Animal,' 'Time and Weather,' 'Location,' 'Search Time and Observers,' and 'Public Notes' or 'Private Notes.' Finally, a picture in .jpg or .png format and/or
an audio file is uploaded.
If an individual who is not a registered volunteer finds an unknown animal and wishes to have it identified or wants to share a find, he/she can use the link entitled 'E-mail a Sighting". On the subsequent form, a full name
and e-mail must be provided, but a telephone number is optional. Then, the data about the observation must be entered, including the species, date, county, and specific location where found. Also, notes providing additional details and a picture or audio file can be added. In order to be included in the survey, a clear photograph, audio file or video must be attached. If
additional information is needed, the contributor will be contacted.
The project is designed for the general public to contribute photos via the PARS website for expert confirmation or identification. Once this survey concludes, analysis will be performed by scientific professionals to determine broad patterns and trends.
In the meantime, this site is also educational, because the information can be used by students and interested individuals. To see the current number of reported observations, visit the PARS website and click on the word "Species." On the following page, clicking the Latin name reveals entries with a map and more details. Furthermore,
clicking on the Latin name on this page provides details about a specific sighting. Finally, clicking on the name of the county at the end of the line shows a list of verified species and pictures for that county.
The Search button on the homepage for PARS allows for viewing records or searching them. Specifically, clicking on 'Herp ID' and selecting one species from the drop down list connects to www.paherps.com. The following page lists the members of the chosen
species that live in Pennsylvania. After selecting one of the animals, the next page contains basic facts and pictures, while the sidebar on the right hand side provides books for further study, recent posts and a list of scientific societies.
In addition to documenting species and their numbers on a map, the collective information gathered by the PARS survey can provide details about the health of the environment, particularly water quality and temperature. For example, since amphibians have permeable skin, which absorbs oxygen and water, and they spend their juvenile state
in water, they are easily affected by pollution. Bad water quality could cause deformities in developing young, desertion of the area, or death of the population.
Also, the survey can show alterations in temperature. Many reptiles are extremely sensitive to temperature changes, because their internal biological sources of heat are small and have minimal importance for regulating their body temperature. Therefore, they depend on external warmth to maintain critical biological processes. Overall,
the lack or presence of certain species reveals environmental details about an area, especially when compared with previous findings.
Good news has derived from this survey, which has documented the first sighting of a marbled salamander, Ambystoma opacum, in Adams County. It is even more remarkable since this creature is a mole salamander, spending most of the year living in underground tunnels in the forests near vernal pools and only emerging in the spring
to breed. Unfortunately, six years into the project, the eastern portion of the county has not been much documented, while the western side has been better explored due to the fact that it contains Micheaux State Forest.
For questions about participating in the survey in Adams County, please contact Sue Muller, the county co-ordinator for PARS, at adams@paherpsurvey.org. She will help people to identify the species in their photographs, which can be recent or from
2013 forward. Both of which can be added to the database. Also, she is particularly seeking the help of homeowners and outdoors people in the eastern side of the county to better document this geographic area. So, let's start "herping!"
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