MARSHLAND, Wis. — This is a David and Goliath story. Goliath is CenturyLink, the third largest landline telephone company in the United States. David is the exceedingly rare Blanchard’s cricket frog — a tiny half-inch creature that is barely hanging on to it existence in the Trempealeau River slough along the Buffalo-Trempealeau county line just east of Marshland. In Wisconsin the frog is protected as an endangered species. CenturyLink wants to bury fiber optic cable for one mile through the slough in a dip along the busy Highway 35 thoroughfare linking LaCrosse and Winona. CenturyLink plans to use vibratory plowing and directional boring machines and a backhoe to install copper pedestals across two branches of the Trempealeau River. In all, the company says that only 12/100ths of an acre will be disturbed and only temporarily. But that 12/100th acre is a whole planet in the life of Blanchard’s cricket frogs, which live only a year on average. As required by law with endangered species, Century Link has asked permission from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to proceed because there would be what’s called “incidental taking” of the frogs. The agency says it’s inclined to license the project, but, as required by law, it has solicited public comment to Stacy Rowe (Stacy.Rowe@wisconsin.gov), a DNR endangered species agent, by May 13.
Reptilian profile
Blanchard’s cricket frog is a small, dark colored frog whose population of the frogt is decreasing, It lives in slow-moving or stagnant water and sometimes near row crops. The frog has warty skin, usually brown, gray, tan or olive green, with darker bands of color on the legs. Some have a dark, triangular mark between the eyes. The skin is also heavily vascularized, which may allow substances to get into their bodies quickly, increasing their susceptibility to diseases. They hibernate from October to April. Breeding occurs mid-May to mid-July. Breeding males have a metallic clicking call distinctive to the species. Females lay small clusters or single eggs. Tadpoles emerge in late summer. Only a few survive until the second breeding season.
Blanchard’s cricket frog. An endangered species that bears the name of American herpetologist Frank Blanchard (1888-1937).