Piles of creatures lying dead in the mud, once vibrant water now still.
For Dave Dahline of Springfield Township, the sight seemed familiar.
“There was a fish kill last year ? now a year later, my frogs are dead,” said Dahline, whose pond is adjacent to Lake Waumegah.
Melting ice revealed masses of dead frogs, tadpoles, and snails near the bank around the entire pond, just to the north of the lake.
For Dahline and Jeffrey Holler, environmental consultant with J.D. Holler Associates, the dead amphibians seem linked to last year’s Lake Waumegah fish kill.
In what the state Department of Natural Resources ultimately deemed an “act of God,” thousands of fish died at about the same time in March 2009.
“This is so unusual ? everything should be being born,” Holler said about Dahline’s pond. “My theory is this is the lingering effects of repeated chemical treatment from past years ? it’s all the same water.”
The Lake Improvement Board for Waumegah Lake will look into it, said Mike Trout, board member.
“I spoke to Mr. Dahline this afternoon and I have forwarded the information to our biologist, Gary Crawford,” Trout said. “I have no idea what may have caused this, but will continue to look into it.”
“This is a concern for everybody,” said Board member Mark Petterson, who lives on the Independence Township side of the lake. “There are a lot of issues, the chemicals and augmentation well. We’ll check into it.”
Dahline spoke by phone with a DNR fisheries official, who said it may have been a winter kill, unrelated to the lake. But raising bullfrogs for almost 20 years, this hasn’t happened before, he said.
“I love the sound of bullfrogs, and they help keep down mosquitos,” he said. “I don’t use any pesticides in my pond. We swim in the pond and eat fish caught in pond. I like to keep it as natural as possible.”
A neighbor’s pond is also filled with dead frogs and tadpoles, except for one corner.
“This is the way it should be ? it should be teeming with life,” said Holler, pointing to a swimming mass of tadpoles. “But past a certain point, all the frogs are dead.”
A quick inspection of Lake Waumegah revealed no frogs, dead or alive.
“It’s quiet ? nothing is there,” Holler said. “There’s nothing left to kill.”
The Waumegah Lake Association meets at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 25, at Springfield Township Fire Station #2, 10280 Rattalee Lake Road. The Lake Improvement Board for Waumegah Lake meets 7 p.m., Monday, March 29, at the station.
Dahline doesn’t live next to the lake, but plans to attend.
“It’s affecting me now,” he said. “I’ll be there.”