[G-natrix]

Of course the sad thing is that pumpkins are a pretty mild insult to the landscape out there -- in fact, they probably keep the pumpkin-driven economy of Half Moon Bay afloat & therefore may help to keep farmers going & thus stave off development (which WOULD be bad for the frog & the snake). That part of the coast is already pretty pumpkin-y & yet it would be hard to imagine the red-legged frogs existing at a higher density than they already are out there. As it stands they're in virtually every pond or ditch & the few bigger reservoirs that have bullfrogs share them with red-legged frogs (some kind of uneasy peace I assume). The Ano Nuevo pond supports a good population of T.s. tetrataenia & is one of the few spots on that stretch of coast that has a healthy population of bullfrogs, so I don't really see the threat there. Between State Parks and Peninsula Land Trust and the Coast Dairy/Cloverdale preserve and Mid-Peninsula Open Space District the coast is pretty tightly sewn up preservation-wise. Finally, I would think the best way to stave off poachers would be for the government to embark on a massive captive breeding program and flood the market with tets -- in fact, they should give them away for free. That would suck for people who like tets because they're rare, but that's THEIR problem. It would be great for all of us who like tets because they're pretty.