An Odd Frog Call

May 25, 2026

This post started with the discovery of the misidentification of a frog call in my yard, by AI. The sound that AI attempted to identify was perhaps that of a Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) together with the sound of a neighbor’s very distant gunshots. The frog which I believe made the call, a sweet Pickerel Frog (Lithobates palustris), has a rather strange call. I’ve seen it described as a snoring sound. My description would be the growl of a mammal, like a dog or a large wild cat. Not a friendly sound. So much for AI.

I have referred to the Pickerel Frog as “sweet”. That is my feeling about any frog around here. Precious, dear, sweet. But I must warn you, this small North American frog, found throughout my state of Virginia, is the only poisonous frog in the United States. Toxins are secreted from its skin which can cause moderate eye or skin irritation for humans.

But I’m still calling it a sweet frog.

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Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.

2 thoughts on “An Odd Frog Call”

  1. Interesting, Brenda! Now I have to go find a Pickerel Frog call…

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