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Amphibians Two Closely Related Spring Peeper Spring Peeper - Pseudacris crucifer  Our smallest frog species, adult Spring Peepers measure ¾” – 1 3/8”. They vary in color – tan, gray, brown – and have a more or less clear wide “x” on the back which is the source of the species’ designation ‘crucifer’ or cross. Their preferred habitat for breeding is wooded areas near permanent or temporarily flooded ponds and swamps where they congregate in large numbers and sing all night, a chorus that many people associate with the change of season from early to late Spring. A single peeper has a high-pitched ascending whistle which various males sing on different pitches and at different levels of volume. As numbers of frogs build to hundreds at even a tiny vernal pool, the night chorus produced by Spring Peepers sounds like jingling bells with dissonant tones and pulsing synchrony as they sing in and out of phase. Males augment their sound by inflating their throat skin and produce sound that is remarkably loud for the size of the animal. Males sing from trees and shrubs that are in standing water or close to water. Peepers have enlarged discs on the toes that act like suction cups and allow them to climb. Females are attracted to the vigor of the male’s song – its volume and frequency. It is estimated that the energy that a frog expends singing all night is about ten times the level of energy expended at rest or about the same as a human running. (So when you lie awake at night listening to the grand chorus, remember that the frogs are doing the equivalent of long distance running.) After mating, females lay eggs singly or in short strings attached to vegetation well below the surface of the water. Tadpoles mature and metamorphose into adults in July and leave the pools and disperse throughout moist woodlands, marshy wet woods, second growth woodlots, sphagnum bogs and non-wooded lowlands near ponds and swamps. Peepers are seldom seen because of their cryptic color and small size. It is interesting to note that in the north Spring Peepers breed from March to June when warm rains arrive, but in the south Spring Peepers breed from November – March when cool rains arrive. It just happens that the temperature of Spring rains in the north corresponds to Fall rains in the south. Gray Treefrog - Hyla versicolor  Gray Treefrogs grow to 1 ¼” – 2 3/8” and are camouflage-colored to match their environment – greenish to brownish gray with dark blotches on the back. Usually visible is a dark outlined white patch below the eye. Often not seen unless the frog moves is a bright yellow wash on the inner thigh. Gray Treefrogs breed where there are trees and shrubs in or near permanent water.Males give a slow pulsing trill in late Spring and are often heard in the same setting as a chorus of Spring Peepers. Their large toe pads are characteristic of all Treefrogs. Females lay eggs in packets of 10 – 40 loosely attached to vegetation on the surface of shallow water. Gray Treefrogs can be heard giving single notes throughout the summer months on humid days and just before thunderstorms. Tadpoles mature in September. Gray Treefrogs are occasionally seen at the edge of ponds during the breeding season. When they are in trees they are very difficult to spot because of their perfect coloring that matches their environment. One summer day at Bear Paw Pond, what appeared to be a bit of lichen-colored rock took the shape of a frog, moved a few steps and stopped. The lichen-covered rock was indeed a Gray Treefrog. Both Spring Peepers and Gray Treefrogs have the winter survival strategy of being able to gradually lower their metabolic rates and slowly freeze solid in the same manner as the Wood Frog. (See Wood Frog page.) - Deborah Benjamin This page was last updated on February 15, 2006 |
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