NATIVE WILDLIFE  VERNAL POOLS (VPs)

RARE SPECIES

Frequently Asked Questions

Have You Seen Us?

Vernal Pool Critters

Blanding's Turtle

How to Certify a VP (video)

Wood Turtle

When to Look for VPs

Box Turtle

Foxborough VPs (not all) Map

Marbled Salamander

VP Assoc. Certification Info

Blue Spotted Salamander

VP Certification Guidelines

Other Rare Species

On-Line Certification

NHESP Priority Habitat Maps

Certification Form (MS Word)

GIS Data - Rare Species, VPs

VP Buffers Protected by WPA

WILDLIFE FAQs / I.D.s / GUIDES

Regulatory Protection of VP

- Audubon Quick Guides

Certifying When Dry

- MASS DFW Guides

Vernal Pools Article

- Moving Wildlife is Harmful

VERNAL POOL EXPERTS

MAMMALS

MA Natural Heritage (NHESP) 

- Mammal Tracks

Vernal Pool Association

COYOTES, ALL ABOUT

- Maine Vernal Pools (great info)

 - Advice for Adults

 Cape Ann Vernal Pond Team

Living with Coyotes

WILDLIFE EXPERTS

BEAVERS, FAQs

MA Div. of Fisheries & WIldlife

- Citizen's Guide to Conflicts

US Fish and Wildlife Service

- The Beaver Institute

AMPHIBIAN ID / GUIDES


- Fun Video of Beaver Activity

Amphibian Guide, MAS

BIRD ID

Field ID, U ME (large file)

- Nest, Egg and Young Photos

Migration Distances

- Birds (MAS)

MA Herp Atlas Maps

Bird Songs

FROGS

 
- Hummingbird Migration

Frog ID, MAS

REPTILES

- Frog Calls
 
TURTLES OF MA
 
SALAMANDERS

Turtles (MAS)

Mass Salamanders (MAS)

- Turtle Rescue League FAQs

INSECTS

SNAKE I.D.

Insects and Arachnids (MAS)

- Snakes (Audubon Guide)

Bug Guide

Snakes of MA

BUTTERFLIES & MOTHS

JUST FOR FUN

Butterfly Guide (MAS)

Delaney WMA Wildlife Camera

- Monarch Butterfly Migration

Wildlife Camera, Quonquont Farm

- Monarch Watch.Org

- Xerces Society, Monarchs

INSECT PESTS (link)
 
DRAGONFLIES / DAMSELFLIES

- Mosquitos - Did you know?
 

- Invasive Insects

WHAT'S NEW?

THE BEAVERS ARE COMING, THE BEAVERS ARE COMING!

The flooding that beavers often cause is becoming more and more of a problem in Massachusetts and other parts of the U.S. Now that beavers have discovered Foxborough, information about these beneficial but misunderstood critters has been added to this website. The Mass Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and The Beaver Institute (links, above) are the best resources we've found about beavers. If you find evidence of beavers anywhere in town, please notify the Conservation Manager, since she is keeping tabs on their activities in an attempt to proactively manage them and prevent flooding issues in town.

The Beaver Institute was recently formed to provide technical and financial assistance to public and private landowners experiencing beaver conflicts, support scientific research, train mitigation professionals, and increase public appreciation of the beaver's critical role in creating wetland ecosystems. Their website explains:

"Beaver populations are gradually recovering from their near extinction 200 years ago and are returning to their native habitats. This is good news because the dams and ponds that beavers build create entire ecosystems that increase biodiversity, store water, improve water quality, combat climate change, and restore rivers and streams. Many of our threatened and endangered species require beaver ponds for their recovery and survival. For these reasons biologists classify beavers as a Keystone species, critical to the health of a myriad of species. Beavers are natural wetland restoration agents. So the return of beavers across North America is resulting in healthier watersheds, more water when it is needed, and improved habitats for many animal, plant and other species.

Unfortunately though, beavers are widely misunderstood and often killed when their natural dam making abilities interferes with human land-use interests. To support coexistence with beavers and the many other species that rely on them for survival, the Beaver Institute aims to educate and train both the layperson and professionals about the benefits and best management of beavers on our landscape."

VERNAL POOLS

Vernal pools are unique wildlife habitats best known for the amphibians and invertebrate animals that breed in them. They support rich and diverse invertebrate faunas; Elizabeth Colburn's book "Vernal Pools, Natural History and Conservation" states:

"More than 550 species of multicellular animals have been reported from northeastern vernal pools. If animals that have been identified only to the family or generic level are included, the number exceeds 700."

Vernal pools have variable hydroperiods; that is, many fill with water during the fall and persist throughout the winter, while others remain flooded into the summer and/or do not dry out every year. These periodic dry periods prevent fish from establishing permanent breeding populations. Animals that only breed in vernal pools ("obligate species") have evolved breeding strategies that are intolerant of fish predation. any obligate species, including wood frogs (live 3-5 years) and mole salamanders (live 20+ years), return to the same breeding pool year after year. Vernal pool-breeding frogs and salamanders live in the uplands that surround their breeding pools during the majority of the year. These species only visit their breeding pools for a few weeks during the spring and will often migrate more than six hundred feet away after breeding is completed. Retaining/protecting the non-breeding upland habitat around vernal pools is essential to protecting the species that breed in them.

Locating and certifying vernal pools (through the Mass Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program ["NHESP"]) is only the first step to protecting them. In Foxborough, the Wetlands Protection Bylaw (Chapter 267) safeguards our vernal pools' water quality and inhabitants by protecting the 100 foot upland area around vernal pools as a "no build, no disturb zone" (buffer zone). However, this 100 foot buffer zone should be considered a bare-minimum protection, since it only preserves a small percent of our obligate species' critical upland habitats.

To date, at least 14 of Foxborough's vernal pools have been officially certified, but many more have been documented and are in the process of being certified. According to the NHESP, Foxborough has at least 150 potential vernal pools, but the Conservation Manager (a vernal pool "expert") believes that there are at least double that number of vernal pools in town!

Conservation Commissioners and the Conservation Manager often find and certify vernal pools during their regular course of business. A map of Foxborough's certified and potential vernal pools are identified on Map 4 of the Open Space and Recreation Plan (link above).

Please help us protect Foxborough's vernal pools by learning more about them (info, above) and then getting out to certify the vernal pools in your favorite areas.

HOW TO FIND WHERE VERNAL POOLS MAY BE LOCATED

The NHESP has a link (above) that you can click to view certified and potential vernal pools in Google Earth (that's the stand-alone mapping application from Google). We recommend that you first install Google Earth before trying to click this link. The Certified Vernal Pool "CVP" and Potential Vernal Pool "PVP" data could be useful in identifying potential spots in Massachusetts where you might find vernal pools and their associated "critters."

THEN HOW DO YOU CERTIFY A VERNAL POOL?

The Berkshire Environmental Action Team has created an excellent tutorial video (link above) that they have been kind enough to let us add to our website. Please check it out; if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Foxborough's Conservation Agent, Jane Sears Pierce.

FOXBOROUGH'S STATE LISTED RARE WILDLIFE SPECIES

Reptiles

Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta)

Blanding's Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)

Box Turtle (Terrapine carolina)

Amphibians

Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)

Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale)

Fish

Bridle Shiner (Notropis bifrenatus)

Butterfly/Moth

Hessel's Hairstreak (Callophrys hesseli)

Frosted Elfin (Callophrys irus)

Oak Hairstreak (Satyrium favonius)

Dragonfly/Damselfly

Mocha Emerald (Somatochlora linearis)

VERNAL POOL & RARE SPECIES (VPRS) INFORMATION SYSTEM

The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife recently announced the release of a new data submittal tool-the Vernal Pool & Rare Species Information System which provides data to the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP).

What is VPRS?

The Vernal Pool & Rare Species Information System, or the VPRS System, is an online mapping and data submittal application that provides users with a way to submit rare species observation reports and vernal pool certification forms to NHESP electronically. The system provides users with:

  • the ability to bulk upload data from a spreadsheet
  • a more efficient method for NHESP staff to review and process submitted data
  • a direct communication method between data submitters and NHESP staff
  • more "real-time" updates to the publically available Certified Vernal Pool data and town rare species lists
  • a mobile application

For more information, please visit NHESP's website:

https://www.mass.gov/orgs/masswildlifes-natural-heritage-endangered-species-program

THIS PAGE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS - PLEASE CHECK BACK OFTEN