It's All Downhill

VIEW FROM WAYSIDE: The wayside is set in the valley of a rising hill to the left and the view straight ahead shows a few trees scattered in the distance. Directly in front of you is a fence guarding a small pond. Immediately to the left of the wayside is a large, short boulder with a flat top. There are a bunch of scrubby bushes to the right and slightly behind and to the left of where you are standing, is a bench which is a quiet place to observe the wildlife of the pond. Turning to the right is a short, narrow dirt path that leads back to the main boardwalk.

WAYSIDE LAYOUT: The wayside has 2 rows of content featuring images and text. The top row has the main body of text and 1 image. The second row is 2 images, text and a final image on the right.

ROW 1

TEXT: It's all Downhill: Stepping stone ponds for wildlife. Here at Mori point, park scientists and volunteers have used the natural flow of water on the landscape to create a connected network of pond habitats for the threatened California red-legged frog and the endangered San Francisco garter snake. Rainfall from the hillsides feeds the pond in front of you. When the pond is full, water flows under the boardwalk into the pond just to the right of you. This pond then overflows into the freshwater wetlands between here and Sharp Park.

DESCRIPTION IMAGE #1: Located on the top right side. Colored, wide landscape photograph of the boardwalk and where you stand now, looking down the trail in the direction of the parking lot. On the left, the boardwalk can be seen with short trees and houses featured behind it. The right side of the photo shows the pond as described on this wayside with calm water surrounded by tall, green grasses along the edge of the pond.

CAPTION: Nature's Underfoot! This boardwalk serves as a dry path to take in the beauty of Mori Point while protecting the plants and animals living here. Snakes like to sun themselves on t roads and trails where they can easily be trampled. The raised boardwalk is difficult for snakes to reach, but a safe corridor below allows snakes and other animals to move between uplands and wetlands.

ROW 2

DESCRIPTION IMAGE #2: Located on the bottom left side. Colored rectangular photograph of a San Francisco Garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetraenia). The snake is long and skinny, with red, white and black stripes running lengthwise along it's body. The snake appears to slither across brown, dusty looking ground. The snake is surrounded by rocks and dirt clumps. The snake's head is at the bottom right corner and its tail is stretching out of frame at the top left corner of the photograph.

DESCRIPTION IMAGE #3: Located at the center towards the bottom. Colored, mostly square photograph of a California Red-Legged frog. This is a close-up photo of a frog from the side, as it faces to the right. The frog is dark green with black spots scattered across its body. It has small red patches on the sides of its main body. The frog is resting on green and brown grass or reeds that are partially submerged in water

CAPTION: During wet months you may hear male frogs calling to attract mates and defend territories. The California red-legged frog and the Sierra treefrog lay egg clusters on vegetation near the water's surface. If you have binoculars, you just might see them.

TEXT: Food for thought. These ponds provide frog breeding habitat, but the water sometimes dries up before tadpoles become adults. As the ponds recede, tadpoles are concentrated into a small area where they are easy prey for snakes.

DESCRIPTION IMAGE #4: Located on the bottom right side. Colored, mostly square photograph of California red-legged frog eggs. The eggs are submerged in the pond and clustered around brown grass and reeds that are poking out from below the water.

CAPTION: California red-legged frog egg masses are the size of a grapefruit, while Sierra treefrogs lay their eggs in clusters the size of ping-pong balls