June 2023 - 40

The author spent time in Teton County
capturing boreal toads for research.
(Photo by Jessica Grant/WGFD)
D
ark caverns and
tight spaces. It's
enough to send
a shiver down one's spine.
Other than spelunkers and
the gutsiest of climbers,
most people easily avoid
these kinds of spaces.
Yet for Wyoming's wildlife, the mounds of
loam and humus, rich clay and glistening mud
present opportunity - home. Of the more
than 800 animal species in Wyoming, only a
fraction reside underground. From lovingly dug
dens, utilitarian burrows and humble hibernacula,
being underground presents a multitude
of advantages in Wyoming.
With insulation from the cold and elements,
rich nutrients, diverse foods, oxygen, moisture
and a convenient escape from predators, soil is
a diverse ecosystem supporting and carrying
layers of life. Critters can cache goodies in
soil, use burrows to peer out and survey their
surroundings, hide from predators and lay
eggs in the ground. Subterranean experts may
hibernate or overwinter in prolonged naps
before emerging refreshed or in the case of
insects, transformed into adults. Holding billions
of species from bacteria a micron long
to the roots of the great redwood tree, soil is
a big deal, and the wildlife that depends on
living underground for solace are tired of being
dragged through the dirt.
TOTALLY COOL
I won't forget my first meeting with Dr. Erin
Muths of the U.S. Geological Survey Science
Center in Fort Collins, Colorado.
" Have you ever caught a toad before? No
matter, it's like catching a slow moving potato.
You'll be fine, " she said.
A spunky, enthusiastic researcher, Muths was
full of personality beaming out of her fourfoot-seven-inch
frame. Eager to learn and
find a position to cover my graduate expenses
before my own fieldwork that summer, I was
a " toad girl. "
40 | June 2023

June 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2023

June 2023 - 1
June 2023 - 2
June 2023 - 3
June 2023 - 4
June 2023 - 5
June 2023 - 6
June 2023 - 7
June 2023 - 8
June 2023 - 9
June 2023 - 10
June 2023 - 11
June 2023 - 12
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June 2023 - 14
June 2023 - 15
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June 2023 - 17
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June 2023 - 19
June 2023 - 20
June 2023 - 21
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June 2023 - 25
June 2023 - 26
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June 2023 - 47
June 2023 - 48
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