Forget matching shoes and purses.

Those accessories pale in comparison to custom-made belts worn by eight Oregon spotted frogs that have been moved from Wickiup Dam to ponds about two miles away from the structure.

Made of ribbon about a half-inch wide, the belts contain radio transceivers. Biologists sewed the belts by hand around the narrow part of the body, where a waist would be if frogs had waists and hips.

In truth, the belts are about function, not fashion, said Sandra Ackley, a biologist working for the U.S. Geological Survey.

The transceivers put out radio signals that Ackley followed all fall as she tracked the frogs.

Monitoring the frogs’ movement where they hunkered down during the day, where they traveled, whether they were in the water or the grassy marsh dominated most of Ackley’s fall field work, she said.

The eight belted frogs were part of a group of about 30 that were taken from a ditch at the Wickiup Dam, which is east of La Pine, to a wet meadow filled with seven ponds.

Government officials created the ponds by blasting away grasses that had grown over the wetlands using dynamite.

With rapidly declining populations, the Oregon spotted frogs, Rana pretiosa, could be listed on the Endangered Species List.

That listing would bring with it a series of protections that could restrict how people use land where the frogs are found.

Officials decided to move the frogs because of planned work on the Wickiup Dam. That reconstruction will fill in the frogs’ habitat and decimate their home, which would wipe out the population.

Rather than risk that, officials moved the frogs in May when biologists scooped nine egg pods, each containing anywhere from 500 to 1,200 eggs, from the ditch and moved them to the ponds.

Next, they trapped adult frogs and carried the majority in buckets to the ponds.

Eight others landed in a laboratory, where biologists sewed the belts on. The belts were not sewn to the frogs’ skin, Ackley said.

A two-person job, sewing the belts required someone to hold the frog still and another to sew, Ackley said.

”That’s when you get up close and personal with the frogs,” she said. ”These frogs are all individuals.”

Each frog had distinct back markings that Ackley photographed for future reference.

Female frogs carried a heavier burden, wearing larger transmitters that also indicated water temperature. Males wore a smaller transmitter that only gave off radio signals.

”The telemetry frogs had to have some heft,” she said, adding that only adults wore telemetry belts.

Females outweigh the males and are significantly bigger, Ackley said. A full-grown male is about 2.25 inches long. A female is about 3 inches.

Throughout the fall, Ackley wandered through the marsh and ponds carrying a metal antennae, a receiver and ear phones. Each frog had an assigned radio frequency, and she charted their location using global positioning equipment.

All of the data collected will help biologists understand the frogs’ homing habits, preferences for where they like to live colder water or warmer, in the sun or the shade and more, she said.

Most importantly, Ackley said that by tracking the frogs, biologists saw that the critters stayed at the ponds after they were released, rather than returning to their home at the dam.

”The beginning was a crucial time, because we needed to know if the frogs were going to bolt,” Ackley said.

When they didn’t, biologists cheered the success.

This summer and fall, Ackley also tracked the development of the eggs hatching into tadpoles, which matured into juvenile frogs.

Ackley won’t say how many tadpoles survived into froghood that information is contained in data currently being peer reviewed, she said.

However, the survival rate was ”very good,” she said.

As the seasons continued, and fall gradually turned to winter, biologists watched the amphibians preparing for winter.

The frogs bulked up, eating more of their invertebrate and insect diet.

Frogs don’t exactly hibernate. Instead, their metabolism slows down significantly and they stay very still under water during the cold winter months.

However, they can move if they run out of oxygen, Ackley said. In true hibernation, they wouldn’t move.

How the frogs weather the winter will be yet another milestone in the success of the transplant, she said. The winter conditions in their ponds are much more variable than that of their old ditch.

The ditch’s water held a consistent temperature, and the frogs had adapted to that. Now, the pond temperatures vary at different heights.

So far, the frogs seem happily hunkered down, Ackley said. About a week ago, the last transceiver battery gave out, so now Ackley won’t be able to listen for frogs until new transceivers are applied this spring.

As soon as the snow begins to melt, Ackley will set traps for the frogs.

She hopes to catch the ones wearing the telemetry belts and cut them off, she said.

”We don’t think it will get in the way of their breeding, but we want to take the belts off just in case,” she said.

When frogs breed, the male climbs on the female’s back and grips with his front toes around her neck or shoulders. The male will hang on for days, even weeks, until the female releases her eggs and the male fertilizes them.

The telemetry belt could possibly act as a make-shift chastity belt if it prevents the male from hanging on.

Ackley will continue to monitor the frogs for another two years. After that, the funds will run dry. Currently, $75,000 over three years has been allocated toward frog transplantation and monitoring.

Originally, with 30 frogs transplanted, that meant $2,500 per frog. However, with transportation costs, and with the hatching of tadpoles, the cost per frog is dropping considerably.

The relocation program resulted from plans to repair Wickiup Dam over the next three years. Specifically, officials are strengthening the dam’s base and building up the berm in order to make it more resistant to earthquakes.

The frogs’ original habitat was filled in and destroyed when the repair job began.

Oregon spotted frogs live in Oregon, Washington and Northern California.

Rachel Odell can be reached by calling 541-617-7811 or by sending an email to Rachel Odell.