This weekend Salamander Savers 4-H Club talked to over 300 people about salamanders. The kids collected 91 signatures to address a law that they felt should be changed, specifically pertaining to using salamanders as bait. The kids advocated that using salamanders could actually be hurting the environment, as many of our local salamanders could carry chytrid (the disease that wiped out the amphibian populations in South America.) Removing them from an environment and introducing them into another (if they get off the hook, or are ingested by a fish that is not caught-) could spread the disease further. Salamanders are also notoriously loyal to their vernal pools. Taking them during the breeding season could potentially wipe out a species, considering that about 1-2% of the eggs laid actually make it to reproductive maturity. The kids also objected to the section of law that pertains to shooting bullfrogs. The DGIF website states : "Bullfrogs may also be taken by gigging or bow and arrow and from private waters by firearms no larger than .22 caliber rimfire." The children thought it was unnecessary to discharge a firearm to kill a bullfrog and it seemed cruel. I am proud of the kids because they gave a voice to animals who cannot speak for themselves.