i'm in need of some help here. i'm just getting my feet wet in regards to amphibians. i believe these are salamander eggs, but the situation is odd to me. location is central wisconsin.

the logs the eggs are on.



closer look. the dark blobs are masses.



the next two are closer shots





this is another log next to the first



here is a shot of the distance from the water's edge. about thirty feet behind starts the upland hardwood habitat.



i found three adult blue-spots along the edge of the woods. a week ago, we had warm weather along with torrential downpours sunday evening. tornadoes, the works. in fact, we were chasing a rain-wrapped tornado and we got hit by a roof. bad thing for my friends truck, but super exciting. no pics, sorry. couldn't see it with the rain.

anyhow, blue-spots? frog? non-amphib? seems like a stupid place to lay eggs. exposed and all. could the storms have confused them? there is no way they were under water when laid. we didn't get that much rain, and there is no way it would have soaked in that fast. there are no creeks in or out. i'm at a loss here.

-ben

Looks like frog eggs. No amphibian would naturally lay eggs like that. What looks like what happened was a frog was predated by a raccoon and the eggs were removed (or were squeezed out) before the body was consumed.

holy crap do you think outside the box. not a bad theory. seems like a lot of eggs for one frog. unless it was more than one. maybe the culprit liked those logs for it's dinner table, and went back for seconds.

you are a smart cookie. the thought never crossed my mind. you must live in the land of OZ???

thanks

that is a grotesque mental image. thanks :p

Weird find.

Frog produce far more eggs than salamanders. Average would be 500-5,000 depending on the size, age, and species.

That theory holds water. This spring, while observing Spotted Salamanders breeding, I and withalligators found quite a few wood frog masses and salamander masses just laying on logs. Usually with a dead frog or salamander next to or near the site. Birds/racoons/cats seem to enjoy making a feast of the breeding events.

Echoing what others said, I would have gone with the predation theory too. I have seen wood frogs ripped apart on logs before with eggs strewn about. If it rains or if the log is wet the eggs absorb water as they would in the pools and expand to their normal size. Usually part of the frog is left behind. I'm no authority on Wisconsin amphibians but if I found those in the northeast I would call them wood or leopard frog eggs based on the embryo/jelly ratio and the habitat. It looks like perfect leopard frog habitat.

I've also seen dead female frogs at the bottom of vernals with their stomachs torn open and fertilized eggs developing out of the wound. Kind of morbid, life goes on I guess, lol.