To the Editor:

Jane Moosbruker’s Letter to the Editor regarding the elimination of Frog Jumping contests was timely and critically important for us, the children of the future, and the fate of amphibians.

Why? Frogs and toads breathe through gills as tadpoles and as adults, they develop lungs. They are our ‘canaries in the coal mine’ demonstrating by their increasing absence how polluted our waters, air, and earth have become. Dangerous for amphibians, and by extension, for every human being on the earth. The only difference between the two is that it takes longer to kill a human.

I have lived in these parts for almost forty years and have raised both frogs and toads every single spring including this one. I began this practice after I first learned in the early 80s from an academic text that frogs and toads in Maine were disappearing rapidly. “Amphibians are the most endangered species on earth”, the book stated. Reminiscent of biologist Rachel Carson’s dire warnings in Silent Spring, published sixty years ago.

For the very first time this spring, the frog eggs I raised did not hatch. Neither did those of the American toad. The message was obvious, chilling, and inescapable. Amphibians are facing extinction.

Under the circumstances, it is irresponsible to continue to have frog jumping contests as part of any festival, even if there were enough frogs to torment.

What we do to nature we do to ourselves.

Humans are the one species that believes they can continue to do whatever they choose to do without taking the consequences. As our planet heats up and crisis becomes personal, we are beginning to learn that nature will retaliate in ways we once could never have imagined.

Sara Wright Ph.D.

Woodstock