New Hampshire Nature Notes
by Eric Orff

Yet another fish and frog kill on the Suncook River in Epsom, and the frog drought has ended.

Thursday 04/21/2005

When I looked out my window yesterday the spectacle of yet another fish and frog kill on the Suncook River was evident. For the umpteenth time in a row the mismanagement of the dams on the Suncook River was draining the life out of the river. On my way to Durham more of the evidence was available as the Little Suncook River along Route 4 was totally dry. No doubt the dam boards were put in to the day the day before, severing the artery of life giving water. It is time to refill Northwood Lake for the summer human residence, the aquatic life in the Little Suncook and Suncook River itself be damned.

Later in the day I had a chance to call one of the engineers at the Department of Environmental Resources and asked "I see the dam boards have been put in Northwood Lake, have they been put in at the Buck Street dam in Pembroke to stabilize the water level? I knew the answer...no. Engineers being engineers, and has been done for decades, no thought had been given about the abrupt loss of water in the Suncook River causing the water level to fall three or four feet in 24 hours.

There are great folks working in the Dam Bureau, but despite me asking them to start down stream on the Suncook River and put the stop logs in the dams by working up river so that the water level would not drop, it didn't happen again this year.

I stopped mid afternoon on my way back through to check the Northwood Lake dam. It was completely blocked leaving the stream practically dry. Down river, at the Buck Street dam, the gates were open and the boards were still out.

By dropping the water level so drastically this time of year nearly all the yellow perch and pickerel eggs that were deposited in the last few weeks in the shallow coves were left high and dry in a matter of hours. Again this year nearly all the production of juvenile fish has been wiped out! Plus all the peepers that have laid eggs along the shore line the last week have been killed as well. It was 87 degrees by mid afternoon with a hot breeze quickly drying the exsposed areas out.

The Suncook River has a very poor population of fish in this stretch of river because the young, as well as the forage fish, are killed off every spring by the mismanagement of the dams.

By simply reversing the order in which the stop logs are replaced into the dams each spring would solve this problem. Despite my several year pleas to the Dam Bureau folks, this has not happened. So another slaughter of fish and frogs has taken place for 2005. It seems hopeless! Without a doubt every other river in the state is (mis)-managed the same way. State government kill more fish each year than anyone else. Go figure!

On a much better note, last night was a major amphibian night in New Hampshire. We had been in "frog drought" because it has not rained since the night of April 7th. So much for April showers this year. Here in Epsom, thankfully, the rains arrived about 9:00 PM after the major commuting time. I headed out to run my 3-mile survey route from my house at 10:30 in a steady light rain. The roads were covered with toads and frogs and a few yellow spotted salamanders headed back away from their breeding areas. The frogs were going one way and the salamanders the other.

I started trying to keep track of how many frogs were alive versus road kills. Peepers were headed towards the wetlands and wood frogs were headed away as well. Toads hopped, scurried and crawled towards the wetlands. Plus they were trilling for the first time in roadside pools. Luckily most were alive with only a few road kills plus a couple of salamanders squished.

On Swamp Road, the road was literally alive with frogs and toads. Almost too many to count. I zigged and zagged my way through them as I headed out the last half of the 3-mile route. Bad news a big, kind of outback type, pickup was headed the other way just as I neared the 3 mile point. When I turned around I decided to not stop but to drive straight back and count as best as possible all the things that looked like frogs. Another pick up went past just before the "swamp" on Swamp Road. There were lots of not moving, and probably dead, toads and frogs when I passed the swamp. The results of just two vehicles passing.

I tallied 261 frogs, or lumps that were frogs, on my way back between 11:22 and 11:32 PM. I did collect a few live frogs, one or two each of wood frog, peepers, green frog and bull frog to use Saturday morning when I lead a habitat walk for the Rockingham Land Trust in Kensington. It was a very wild night in Epsom last night.

First thing this morning I shot back up to Swamp Road to see what remained of the dozens, probably a hundred, dead frogs. Nothing. A crow was sitting mid road when I made the corner and could see the swamp section. Several bird droppings splattered the road as well. I think many of the bodies are simply ground into nothingness and the rain washes them away. Apparently the birds take many of the rest. The only evidence of the previous night's slaughter here was a few greasy smudges, the remains of a red spotted newt( they are poisonous and even in a piecemeal stage were left by the crows) and a couple of egg masses.