Oregon spotted Frog
One of the species that is missing from the county is an amphibian known as the Oregon Spotted Frog. Its status is listed as threatened by Oregon Fish and Wildlife. They are found in areas with perennial water that has shallow areas and aquatic plants. There has never been a record in this county, but I believe there may be one out there, or that the habitat will be created through restoration eventually.
Link to more info on this rare species
https://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/articles.cfm?id=149489458
Comments
Are there records of previous observations? Areas where, with concentrated efforts, specimens may be found?
@insectology no. It has never been recorded in this county that I can find. But it is supposed to be in Multnomah county, and I feel like the proper habitat for it exists in this county. It will probably require people to curry comb every year round wetlands. I don’t ever expect it to be found, but if jt did it would be amazing.
It would be an excellent finding!
Yes. One day perhaps. Currently im more interested in personally finding signs of foxes. I know they are here, but have not gotten definitive evidence yet
I've seen foxes (not in Washington County) driving along lesser used logging roads the most, probably a good place to look for scat as well.
The Oregon Spotted frog has been hit especially hard by habitat loss and bullfrogs. But, there is a glimmer of hope out there that they aren't completely gone from the Willamette Valley. This paper summarizes what the effort has been to survey in the Willamette Valley, as is common with herps in Oregon it comes down to just a few people doing some research, so a new find or range extension wouldn't be unheard of; http://www.oregonwildlife.org/publication/view/status-of-and-potential-recovery-options-for-oregon-spotted-frogs-in-the-willamette-valley-oregon
It has been a long time since anyone has seen one, so the supporting habitat would probably be hard to get to little detached area.
There is hope that a recovery can be made, Washington is giving forth some effort; https://www.goskagit.com/news/local_news/work-being-done-to-restore-habitat-for-the-oregon-spotted-frog/article_05741e3b-cc22-5dc6-93bf-f50754cd102c.html
That habitat isn't too unlike that of western Washinton County, so there's slight chance of Oregon Spotted frogs, fingers crossed!
I haven't looked into if there's historical records for these but nonetheless the following herps would be noteworthy finds and nice to see in the county;
Western Pond Turtles (are around but rarer to find from the other turtles in area)
Clouded Salamander
Sharptail snake
Gopher snake
Ringneck snake
western terrestrial garter ssp elegans
Fence lizard
Western skink
Thanks, @mattyd112 for the interesting read and info.
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