RUSSELLVILLE , Ky. — It's like a real-life version of Frogger, only much deadlier.
The News-Democrat & Leader in Russellville, Kentucky, reported in a Facebook post Thursday that thousands of young frogs are making a dangerous trip across a highway.
But many of them are not making it very far.
"There is a smell now permeating in the area from the dead frogs," the newspaper said. "Kentucky Fish & Wildlife have been contacted about the migration."
Mark Marraccini, spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, told Bowling-Green Daily News that the reason for the mass wave of frogs is the rain.
"It's not really anything we can do," Marraccini said. "Really heavy rains cause frogs to move like that for breeding purposes, and there have been several heavy rains in that area recently, which could be stimulating the movement."
Despite complaints about a smell coming from the frogs that did not make it across the road, herpetologist John MacGregor told Bowling-Green Daily News he doesn't think there are enough frogs to create a noticeable smell.
"I'm really thinking the smell may be something else, maybe a dead deer, but it could be anything," MacGregor said. He added that the heat from the sun would dry out the remains, of the frogs, which he thinks may be spadefoot toads, leaving no smell.
Green River Regional Wildlife biologist Scott Harp said heavy rains could encourage movement from frogs since, as amphibians, they cannot be away from water for too long. This season is also a time when many frog species go through metamorphosis process, leading to many young frogs' migration.
"I have seen frogs so thick on the road, and usually when it happens, it's young ones," MacGregor said. "It sounds like you're driving over popcorn, and once you realize it's not gravel, you're already in the middle of them."
Harp said the metamorphosis process can take anywhere from one month to two years, so this may not be the only time these frogs crowd the highway.