Juvenile Northern Crawfish Frog emerging from a burrow. John MacGregor photo

West Kentucky WMA staff recently completed a project to benefit area users, as well as non-game wildlife on the WMA.

Public Lands Biologist Tim Kreher and Wildlife Management Foreman Jodie Swain have worked with herpetologist John MacGregor for several years documenting the presence of Northern Crawfish Frogs (Rana areolata) on the WKWMA.

Northern Crawfish Frogs spend most of their time underground in crayfish burrows and travel to breeding ponds during heavy spring rains.

These frogs depend on shallow wetlands with emergent vegetation for their breeding cycle, and thrive in wetlands that periodically dry. When breeding ponds hold water year-round, predatory fish populations become established and pose a threat to the successful growth and metamorphosis of crawfish frog tadpoles.

The Lincoln Trail and Central Kentucky Retriever Clubs each host retriever events annually at the WKWMA, and expressed a desire to cooperate with KDFWR on mutually beneficial projects on the area, so sites were investigated where a seasonal pond could be constructed that would benefit retriever enthusiasts as well as provide crawfish frog habitat.

A site was selected where erosion had created a gully at the edge of an open field on the WMA, making an area that was hazardous to dogs and handlers, but could not be managed or improved with KDFWR equipment located on the WMA.

John Shely of the McCracken County NRCS office assisted Tim and Jodie with preliminary surveying, and determined that the soil and watershed at the site made a seasonal pond physically feasible.

The retriever clubs rented a John Deere 700J bulldozer for WKWMA staff to use to smooth the erosion gully and build a levee for the pond this spring. Construction took approximately three days from start to finish, including the time KDFWR staff spent fertilizing, seeding, and mulching the new levee.

A rainfall event two days after completion of the levee filled the pond approximately half full, demonstrating that the surveying of the watershed and drainage had been accurate. Within four days, frogs, great blue herons and resident Juvenile Northern Crawfish Frog emerging from a burrow. Canada geese were already present at the new pond.

Future plans include the purchase and installation of a water control, allowing a late summer dewatering of the pond to allow vegetation growth and to eliminate fish populations from the site. The pond will contain water in the spring and summer each year, making it available for retriever training and competitions on the WKWMA.