Wood Frogs Sing in Spring

by Kevin Strauss

With all of the snow melting in the area, ephemeral (springtime) ponds form all over the northwoods. Area amphibians (animals that live both in the water an on land) quickly take advantage of these short-lived water sources for breeding and laying their eggs. Some of our most common amphibians in this area are the frogs. While much of the year, frogs keep a low profile, during the spring, frogs fill the air with their songs. These songs are one of my favorite signs of warming spring weather.

Most of us hear frogs singing in the spring, but almost never see them and find it hard to identify a particular frog just by its sound. But one species has such a distinctive call, they they should be easy to identify.

With our warming temperatures, wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) are thawing out and moving to temporary ponds. These 2-3 inch gray-colored frogs can lighten or darken their skin to help them blend in. They also have a distinctive "robbers mask" around their eyes.

At this time of year, frogs have only one thing on their minds: reproduction. They only have a small window to reproduce, so they don't waste any time. Traveling the forest looking for a mate would take too long, so male wood frogs move to temporary ponds and begin singing to attract a mate. Wood frog songs sound like a quacking duck. But the sound is enough to attract at least some females. The pair mates and lays a fist-sized jelly mass of eggs at one end of the pool.

These eggs quickly hatch and the tadpoles swim around eating plants or insects. By late spring, the tadpoles have sprouted four legs and lost their tails. By the time that the spring pools have evaporated, the new wood frogs are on their own. But after the mating season, don't expect to find many of them. The few that survive adulthood (avoiding the snakes, herons and giant water bugs) are masters of disguise.

I have only come across one wood frog in the wild, and that was by accident. When I stepped toward it, it dove into cover of a bush and then froze. It took me a while to find it again. If I hadn't been watching carefully when the frog jumped, it would have seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
This frog's camouflage is the difference between life and death. If these small (apparently tasty) frogs can't hide, they become dinner.

So this spring, as the sun sets, stick your head outside and listen to the songs of the frogs.

The Ely Timberjay