The first time Lesley Herschlag, of Bryant Pond, went to Gore Road on April 16, frogs and toads blanketed the tarry stretch near the Greenwood Town Office.

But on April 30 just one peeper crossed, though the familiar, high-pitched chorus was deafening — hands-over-your-ears loud.

If the alto bullfrogs were out, their voices were drowned out by the soprano peepers.

“They sound like chickens clucking,” Herschlag said of the bullfrogs.

Herschlag, a Maine guide, was there for a “Big Night,” one of several evenings between March 15 and May 15 when Mainers help amphibians cross roads safely.

According to Big Night literature, amphibians typically move in one direction — toward a vernal pool to mate.

But on Gore Road, with water on both sides, chaos takes over. The amphibians move both ways.

With three others, Herschlag scrambled to guide them across that first night. By the time the group reached the end of its designated 3,000-foot stretch and turned back, the road was covered again with the next wave.

That first night, volunteers rescued 22 peepers, one wood frog, one green frog and two spotted salamanders. They also counted 22 dead peepers and one dead pickerel frog.

On April 30, conditions again seemed good: a wet road and temperatures above 45 degrees, though snow began to fall near the end of the hour.

The peepers were everywhere and the sound was deafening, but Herschlag ended the night with just one rescue — a tiny peeper.

It hadn’t gotten far in its journey to North Pond, but was a definitive rescue, she said with a smile.