Home » Life Beneath Still Waters » A Vernal Pool Tour » Province Lands, Cape Cod National Seashore

The outer Cape (Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts) is a terminal moraine of the last glaciation and essentially a large pile of sand. Dunes are moved and shaped by the wind. Where vegetation has taken hold, the shifting sand is more stable. Wet areas within the dunes hold water long enough to support spadefoot toads, Fowler's toads, and associated wildlife. The wet areas range from the larger inter-dunal swales holding water for several months to the hundreds of slacks which are quite ephemeral.

Wetland within the Dunes In May, 2005, this inter-dunal wetland has open water.	Inter-dunal Swale This inter-dunal wetland is still moist but without open...	Dunal Wetland In some years, water remains in the pools through July...	Spadefoot Toad The spadefoot toad Scaphiopus holbrookii...	Fowler's Toad The Fowler's toad is abundant within the Province Lands...	Cranberry A common plant of many of the shallow wet areas is...
Spring Peeper A spring peeper Pseudacris crucifer sits on...	Spadefoot Toad Metamorph The spadefoot toad is well adapted to the ephemeral...	Eastern Box Turtle Colonies of the eastern box turtle Terrapene carolina...	Eastern Box Turtle This male eastern box turtle is showing his displeasure...	Spadefoot Toads in the Dunes At night in late spring and early summer, the dunes are...	Fowler's Toad Previously buried up to the eyeballs, this Fowler's toad...
Fowler's Toad and Beetle The Fowler's toad tracks and captures a beetle moving on...	Hognose Snake The toad-eating hognose snake Heterodon...

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