“Big Night” is often used to describe the annual ritual of certain frogs and salamanders when they migrate from their upland overwintering habitat towards a vernal pool. Vernal pools look like small ponds or wetlands which dry up in the summer months and do not support fish populations. Generally, it happens on the first few rainy nights in March when the night temperature is above 40 degrees.
Big Night is bitter-sweet to many nature enthusiasts. It is fun to see the amphibians on the move, however, in a landscape bisected by a network of roads, it often means that these small creatures risk their own life crossing onto pavement each year. The best we can hope for is that Big Night happens late at night, when most cars are off the roads.
What you can do:
- Stay indoors and not drive on rainy nights. It is nearly impossible to see black salamanders and tiny frogs on a dark wet road!
- Find a Vernal Pool Near You! You can do some mapping research (or call the conservation office at 781-259-2612) to find a road near you that abuts vernal pools or wetlands.
- If you have a vernal pool or wetland near you, and end up walking your road on a rainy night, let the conservation office know what you see by filling out this simple google form here. (Be sure to wear lots of lights and reflective clothing!)
- Learn More
- Check out this 6 minute Vernal Pool Video created by MA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation
- Mass Audubon has some great educational materials, most of which are geared towards kids. Click here.
"Thousands of minuscule lives go on the march, called by wetlands that will soon be cloudy with gelatinous egg masses. In some places the emergence occurs over weeks; in others, in a bacchanal known as the Big Night. And a salamander on a Big Night will cross any road in her path—come hell, high water, or Honda." - Ben Goldfarb, author of Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet.
