Frog population explodes in region of Vermont

SALISBURY, Vt. -- A wet spring has caused one frog population to explode in an area of Vermont where throngs of the amphibians have been hopping through fields and lawns, darting across roads and getting flattened by vehicles and tractors. University of Vermont herpetology lecturer James Andrews estimated the population of the northern leopard frog has leaped a hundredfold in a region near the Otter Creek in Addison County.

"People who have been here you know 30 years or more say they have never seen this many frogs," said Andrews, who is also coordinator of The Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas and lives in the town of Salisbury, where a mass of frogs has emerged. "And it's a result, I think, of not only the perfect storm of conditions this year but also as a result of climate change, the amount of extra moisture that we're getting in this area in general."