Squish. That’s the sound that dozens of volunteers who are working to protect New Jersey’s salamanders, frogs and toads do not like to hear. For the last three years at this time in late winter, dozens of people from around the Garden State have been gathering to prevent carnage to the state’s amphibian population. When the conditions are right, in a process that occurs over just a few hours as if an unseen director has just yelled “Action!,” many types of salamanders, toads and frogs come out of the woods or down from the hills and migrate en masse to ponds where they will then mate. “It’s one of the most amazing things you’ve ever seen, if you find migrating amphibians amazing,” said Mike Anderson of the New Jersey Audubon Society, who clearly does. The problem is that in the most densely populated state in the country amphibian migration often involves crossing roads and streets where a slow salamander can end up as roadkill. So volunteers, organized by the Department of Environmental Protection in cooperation with environmental groups such as New Jersey Audubon, organize to help the little critters find love and fresh water. The locations where volunteers gather are mostly in northwestern New Jersey, specifically Warren and Sussex counties, although migrations do happen in other areas of the state. Conditions have to be perfect for the migration to occur conditions, that is, that slimy creatures with a fondness for moist places would consider perfect. It must be raining, the ground must be thawed out, the temperature must be between 35 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit and the sun must be down, said Anderson. At some sites, volunteers serve as crossing guards and physically pick up the amphibians and carry them to the other side of the road so they can continue their journey. At other sites, volunteers count how many of the amphibians make it to the other side of the road and how many don’t. At some locations, traffic during this mass migration is redirected during the time the amphibians are on the road. Other volunteers go out to look for sites where frogs, toads and salamanders may be crossing so the site can be monitored the following year. “Going out there at night and seeing these things run over, it’s heartbreaking to witness,” said Melissa Craddock, a biologist with the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey. “I like all wildlife. It’s neat when you see a heavy-bodied salamander crossing the road .. and just knowing that you’re helping it to survive.” Craddock, who helped start the Amphibian Crossing Survey, said the goal is to use the data collected to eventually figure out where it might be best to close roads or build culverts underneath so the amphibians can cross safely.