Hannah Chin

Okay.

So first things first, to start this nature quest, I needed to know what specific frogs and lizards Shabnam was seeing in her yard.

Naturally.

There are around 180 reptiles and amphibians native to Georgia, so I kind of needed to narrow it down.

So I asked her to send me some pictures.

Emily, I'm sending them to you right now.

Okay.

Do you want to describe these little creatures for our listeners?

So this is Daniel Sollenberger, and he's a herpetologist and senior wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Basically everywhere.

Okay, so these are not invasive lizards and frogs.

It appears not.

No, they're just super common.

Things like not mowing your grasses often or planting more native plants, maybe putting in a water feature like a fountain or a pond.

Oh, duh.

Right, because amphibians love water.

Right.

And other local experts told me this, too, like Mara Dudley.

She's a biology professor at Oglethorpe University, and she's also the urban ecologist for the Amphibian Foundation in Atlanta.

Daniel and Myra told me there's two different ways to kind of go about it.