This is known among naturalists as an 'ephemeral' pond - a wet weather pond that comes and goes with rain. It is the desired habitat for many organisms and animal population that rely on the absence of a frequent pond inhabitant - fish.

Hungry fish eat everything - including young frogs.

Several species of frogs live in and around this pond, and one of them is quite rare.

There used to be 29 known populations of the Carolina Gopher Frog, Rana capito, now there are 13 and two of them are in the Holly Shelter Gamelands.

Earlier this spring, several volunteers and professionals waded into this pond and gathered some egg masses of this tiny frog and took them back to a safe place to be raised from eggs through tadpole into mature, young adults.

Later in the spring as different groups of these hand-raised frogs reached maturity, these same groups gathered back at the pond site to distribute the frogs around their habitat.

During one release, the pond still had water in it, and the frogs were released back into the pond water.

During another, only a few weeks later, the pond had "ephemeralized" - disappeared once again.

Gopher frogs are primarily terrestrial, that is, live on dry land most of the time, but migrate to nearby ponds to reproduce.

Gopher frogs take their name from the fact that they usually live in gopher tortoise burrows. The gopher tortoise itself is endangered. Once a popular food source, particularly during the (last) depression when it was known as "Hoover chicken", it has some protection now and it is illegal to take them.

The Holly Shelter populations choose stump holes, where the stump and roots have either burned away or decayed, and during one release, the frogs were released into holes previously located and flagged.

(NOTE: over the years I have wandered happily over the wetlands and ridges that are unique habitat for a variety of marsh and bog plants, some rare.

Often in sneakers or boat shoes, I trekked widely over the grasslands - the open wiregrass savanna pockmarked by stump holes that I was oblivious to. Wasn't looking for them, didn't see them.

Stump holes are the favorite habitat not only of the frog, but also pygmy rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius, and the monster canebrake rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus, up to six feet in length.

Not any more - now that I see the holes, I realize just how many I have walked over while wading through the wiregrass, so it's snakeboots or stay on the road.)

Amazingly, the frogs can live up to 2 km away from their breeding site.

Next spring, during the egg gathering, I hope to bring some gopher frog eggs home to raise a few, to make a video over the metamorphosis stages from egg to adult, and then take them (my babies) back over to the pond for release.