At least mice come out to play when it's dry!

78 degrees today and dry as a bone--needless to say not the ideal weather for amphibians.  But we managed to get one southern toad and one green frog leaving the bay and one very late marbled salamander entering the bay.  A fun find was this adorable Peromyscus in one of the buckets--must admit I have a soft spot for mice.  It was very nervous, but quite healthy and happy to be released back into the woods.  We don't get these very often in the buckets, get a few shrews here and there, but not that many mice.  We get a mix of Peromyscus on site with most being white-footed mouse, cotton mouse, or oldfield mouse. 

At least the mice are active in this drought.  To give a feel for just how dry it is--Brian went to Ellenton bay the other day and went to the water gauge in the deepest part of the "wetland."  He dug down to -40 inches and still hadn't reached water.  Doesn't bode well.  Really hoping to get more Gopher frog samples this spring but will need water for that!