Pollywogging as part of a job description? Probably not for most jobs. But for a Nongame Aquatic Biologist? Definitely ‘yes’, because it’s a must.

Pollywogging is a made-up term among malacologists (individuals who study mussels) referring to a sampling technique. Pollywogging requires the person to stoop down on their hands and knees and feel around in the bottom of a lake or stream to search for freshwater mussels. The term was likely coined because the technique might loosely resemble how a pollywog, or tadpole, might move in water.

Pollywogging isn’t the only method used by malacologists to survey for freshwater mussels. Depending on the clarity and depth of the water, there are many different ways to survey including diving, snorkeling, and visually searching. A view bucket (a bucket with a clear bottom), or toe-picking, which consists of running a shoed foot through a substrate until a mussel is felt may also be used. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, many of the larger rivers and medium-size streams in central Indiana were surveyed for freshwater mussels. Many smaller streams and locations where water clarity or access was an issue remained unvisited, and were not documented.

Over the last three decades, biologists have worked to survey areas lacking information on freshwater mussel distribution and abundance. When completing a mussel survey, state biologists identify and count all live mussels encountered before returning them to the body of water. Mussels leave their shells behind after they die, which provides evidence for the areas they inhabited in the past. The shells are also collected to categorize them as “fresh dead” or “weathered dead.” Fresh dead shells are cleaner, with some tissue still remaining in the shell, whereas weathered shells are older and deteriorating due to remaining on the stream bottom for decades. Each survey yields a snapshot of current mussel area population information, while also providing a look into the past.

To date, more than 2,000 individual sites in Indiana have been sampled for freshwater mussels. The surveys allow biologists to better understand the current and historical distribution of nearly 80 species of Indiana’s native freshwater mussels, which helps determine which species should be listed as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). There are nearly 30 species of freshwater mussels in Indiana listed as SGCN, and the surveys provide crucial information to guide restoration efforts.

Freshwater mussels play a vital role in our aquatic ecosystems. They are natural filters, converting large quantities of suspended material into food for organisms, such as fish, muskrats, and river otters. They also help stabilize the substrate they are buried in; and as they burrow, they increase oxygen and nutrient exchange between the substrate and water. Even the shell material left behind after they die provides a colonization surface and habitat for a variety of other aquatic organisms. Restoring mussel populations helps improve water quality and aquatic habitat.

Don’t be surprised if you find some freshwater mussels in the river, stream, ditch or pond on your property. There are very few bodies of water lacking live mussel populations or historical evidence of their presence. If you notice thriving freshwater mussel populations in an area you think the DNR may have not sampled, please email the location to fishid@dnr.IN.gov.

It takes a village...to raise least tern chicks

Southern Indiana is home to the interior least tern, a state-endangered migratory waterbird. The least tern is the smallest species of the terns, but their 20-inch wingspan is strong enough to propel their migration from South America back to Indiana each year through late spring and early summer.

Due to habitat loss and degradation, least terns are endangered in Indiana. To conserve the species, the Indiana DNR partners with agencies and companies to protect their historic nesting areas. Some conservation efforts include researchers setting up least tern decoys in protected areas to attract live least terns to the location. Then, they place shelters in the spaces, which protect chicks from summer heat and provide coverage to hide from avian predators, like hawks. The technique, combined with electric fences to keep land predators away from the nests, increases the survival rate for chicks hatching on protected sites.

As an extra precaution, staff, contractors, and volunteers unite to monitor the tern colonies on a regular basis. Conservation truly takes a village. Without such a dedicated community of conservationists, least terns would not regularly nest in Indiana.

Leopard frog survey

After five years of sampling across western Indiana, DNR herpetologists are concluding surveys for state-endangered plains leopard frogs. Plains leopard frogs are one of three leopard frog species in the state and are, by far, the rarest and most difficult to locate. Because the species is of the Great Plains, Indiana is on the eastern edge of its range. Historically, they were known to be from five locations in Eastern Indiana, but from 1979-2007, there were no verifiable records of them in the state. In 2008, the species was rediscovered along the Wabash River near Terre Haute.

In 2019, the DNR began conducting field surveys involving a combination of sampling techniques. The techniques include biologists using automated recording units to “capture” the frogs’ mating calls during the spring season, as well as conducting visual searches during the dry seasons of late summer and fall. The surveys identified plains leopard frogs at more than 20 localities in eight Indiana counties, mostly along the Wabash River and a few smaller tributaries in west-central Indiana.

The information collected during the surveys help biologists understand the location and habitats of plains leopard frogs, which is an important first step in managing and recovering their populations. Further analysis will reveal where the frogs occur and what habitats they are using and help determine the next steps for plains leopard frog conservation work in Indiana.

The DNR’s five-year survey project has been funded by donations to the Nongame Wildlife Fund with match dollars provided by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Without the funding, we would know far less about this elusive species.

Body of Shelbyville man recovered

Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating after the body of a Shelbyville man was recovered from Raccoon Lake on Aug. 27.

Around 4 p.m., Parke County 911 received a call reporting a man had dived into the water from a boat and was pulled unconscious from the water by other boaters on the north end of Raccoon Lake.

Members of the Bellmore Fire Department and Parke County Emergency Medical Service arrived and began life-saving efforts on Dennis Kitsko, 64, of Shelbyville, who was later pronounced dead by the Parke County coroner.

The incident is still under investigation and a cause of death is pending autopsy results. Indiana Conservation Officers were also assisted by the Parke County Sheriff’s Department.

Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication, or e-mail to jackspaulding@hughes.net.

Spaulding’s books, “The Best of Spaulding Outdoors,” and his latest, “The Coon Hunter And The Kid,” are available from Amazon.com in paperback or as a Kindle download.