Wood Frogs

The Night of Frogs

The title of today’s blog post brings to mind a movie that I recently watched, “Frogs” which is a 1972 horror film that was shown on Svengoolie. Like nearly all of Svengoolie’s movies, this one was certainly not scary but then, I promise you, this post will not be scary either unless you are totally creeped out by my friends, the frogs.

The weather last night lived up to predictions with lots of high winds and eventually, rain. After climbing into bed I thought I heard a, “Clack, clack!” The sound of Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus). They’re charming little frogs with a bandit like masks. Their coloring varies from brown, red, green, or gray. That seems to be something that often happens with frogs. Look for their color pattern but not necessarily their exact color. Sure enough as the wind died down a bit and the rain started, I heard that, “Clack, clack!” more and more. Frogs seem to love getting rained on. On through the night. All night long. Into the daylight hours they sang their song.

Thus the start of mating season for Wood Frogs. Males seek out vernal pools with the hope that those pools will retain their water until their tadpoles can mature, till the end of June, which explains their early mating season. Their clacking is an invitation to females to come to mate. Out from beneath the leaf litter where both males and females have spent the coldest of the winter. Soon I’ll be seeing Wood Frog egg masses in my little pond.

First Wood Frogs of Spring

As the evening was coming to a close last night I was so pleased to hear a sound I’ve grown fond of. “Clack, clack, clack!” An odd sound not heard since LAST spring. Today my pond has been REALLY active.

The sound of Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus). They’ve left their winter hibernating spots. Perhaps under a rock, beneath a log, or snug under leaf litter, they come out in search of a pool of water to join others for breeding. They’ll breed in lakes and slow flowing streams, but more often seek out vernal pools which won’t have predators that would eat their eggs or tadpoles.

During the day into the evening males call to attract females making quite a hullabaloo.

Within just a couple days there will be MANY eggs in the pond. The eggs laid in the water, as a male clasps a female, releasing sperm into the water to fertilize the eggs. Often those eggs are hatched within a week. And by late June or early July there will be more Wood Frogs here in the woods.

I’m on the watch for the Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) to arrive at my little manmade pond. During the cold of winter Wood Frogs hibernate in the soil under leaf litter where their bodies go through freeze and thaw cycles depending on weather conditions.

In mid February they awaken from their hibernation and search for vernal pools for breeding, often returning to the same pool year to year. They sometimes begin their breeding even before ice is totally gone from the pond.

While actively hunting for mates they’re quite the noise makers, sounding a “clack, clack, clack” particularly during and after rain.

Their egg masses are impressive to see, and can contain one thousand to three thousand eggs. The eggs hatch in nine and thirty days, depending on the temperature of the water.

The tadpoles undergo metamorphosis at about two months and crawl out of the vernal pool as tiny frogs. At this point, I’ve got to watch that I don’t step on any of the cute little things.

A fully grown Wood Frog varies in size from one and a half to three inches, and they generally live no longer than three years.

I’m looking forward to hearing that, “clack, clack, clack” sound!