Category Archives: Meet the Frogs

06/14/10

Northern Leopard Frog: Hidden in the Grass

Over Memorial Day, my family and I explored Frotenac Provincial Park in southeastern Ontario, Canada. We called this park Frog Heaven because it was full of swamps, marshes, and  frogs ponds.

I saw a few bullfrogs, but my son spotted what I’m pretty sure is a Northern Leopard Frog (any herpetologists out there who would like to confirm this for me?) Below are a few photos: the leopard frog perfectly camouflaged and the same frog close up. The frog did not jump away when it sensed us nearby, but sat frozen in place—the better to hide from a predator. But that gave us the opportunity to take lots of pictures of it.

Frotenac Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. Photo by Mary Jo Rhodes

Northern Leopard Frog, camouflaged. Photo by Mary Jo Rhodes

Northern Leopard Frog close up. Photo by Mary Jo Rhodes

Leopard frogs, sometimes called meadow frogs, are found from southern Canada to northern Mexico. They are usually green or brown with dark spots. Northern Leopard frogs live in permanent ponds, swamps, marshes, and slow-moving streams throughout forest. Because they are especially sensitive to chemical pollutants, their numbers have declined since the 1970s due to acid rain and deforestation. You can read more about them and hear their distinctive snore-like call on eNature.

Please keep your eye out for frogs or other amphibians in your travels this summer. You might want to take pictures of them and submit them to the second annual Frogs Are Green photo contest (details to come later this week)!
09/18/09

A Place in the Choir for the Houston Toad

Maybe it’s because my choir rehearsals begin tonight, but I was intrigued by this story about the Houston Toad—the star soprano in the frog chorus. Here’s some information about the toad from The Dallas Morning News:

In the nightly pondside chorus, the Houston toad sings soprano. Its clear, high cry, lasting as long as 14 seconds, trills above the basso profundo grunts of the less gifted. It’s a remarkable performance. But to hear it, you’ll need to travel as far as Bastrop County.

Unfortunately habitat loss and drought have driven this toad to the brink of extinction. It hasn’t been seen in the Houston area for 50 years, and is now found only in a small area of Bastrop County, Texas. In an effort to increase the numbers of the endangered toad, 5000 baby toads, raised from eggs at a Houston Zoo nursery, were released into the wild. Texas State University, the Houston Zoo, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Environmental Defense Fund, and private landowners are all working together save the Houston Toad.

I found a YouTube video so that I could hear the Houston toad sing. It’s ten minutes long, but I found it so inspiring to see how people are working to save this toad. It ends with a hopeful love scene—you’ll have to watch it to see what I mean!

08/17/09

Harlequin Frogs of Costa Rica

In the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve of Costa Rica, there were once so many harlequin frog species (Atelopus) that it was hard not to step on them when walking alongside streams. But during the 1980s and 1990s, most of these frogs vanished due to deadly infectious diseases brought on by changing water and air temperatures.

Research done in Costa Rica shows that global warming makes clouds form higher above the forests where they cannot bring as much moisture to the ecosystems below. Dry spells are getting longer and in turn, many species are disappearing. Rising temperatures also shrink the cloud forests, which forces species to live closer together, spreading fungal diseases. The harlequin frog is on its way to extinction.

As J. Alan Pounds, research scientist at Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, has said on the Eco Preservation Society site:

Disease is the bullet killing frogs, but climate change is pulling the trigger. Global warming is wreaking havoc on amphibians and will cause staggering losses of biodiversity if we don’t do something fast.

A small population of Harlequin Frogs was discovered about 6 years ago in the Rainmaker Preserve in Costa Rica, one of the last remnants of primary rainforest in the Central Pacific.

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To get some idea of the incredible diversity of wildlife in the Rainmaker Preserve (which can be visited on eco-tours) check out this video :

Here is more information about the cloud forest of Costa Rica from the Monteverde Conservation League.

I am passing along a Care2 petition to urge Costa Rica’s Ambassador Escalante to do everything in his power to save this colorful little frog, along with many other endangered species affected by climate change.

07/17/09

Frogs of Summer: Wood Frog

Sometimes it seems that the charismatic frogs get all the attention (like our mascot, the red-eyed tree frog). But the more ordinary frogs with muted colors have a beauty all their own.

Recently, my husband John and younger son Tim took a trip to New Hampshire where it rained every day. But all this rain brought out—you guessed it—lots of frogs and toads. My husband took this picture of a Wood Frog near Lookout Ledge in Randolph, New Hampshire (in the White Mountains). Unfortunately because he’s my husband, he’s disqualified from entering the Frogs Are Green photo contest!

Wood Frog, photo copyright John Rounds

Wood Frog, photo copyright John Rounds

Despite the rainy vacation, I’m glad my husband was able to get this beautiful photo. He took the picture on a hike on the one slightly sunny afternoon they had, using an ordinary point-and-shoot digital camera and a flash.

Here’s information about Wood Frogs:

Wood Frogs live in Northeastern US and most of Canada. In the winter they hibernate in places where it goes well below freezing—the water in their bodies freezes solid. This ability allows the Wood Frog to live further north than any other reptile or amphibian in North America. It is easily recognized by the dark mask around its eyes and the prominent ridges along its back.

07/7/09

Inmates Help Oregon Spotted Frogs

I was intrigued by this article in The Seattle Times yesterday about a program at the Cedar Creek Corrections Center (Washington state) where inmates are raising Oregon spotted frogs, an endangered species, in the prison. The inmates have stunned researchers because they have been more successful raising these frogs than the local zoos. They are taking care of the frogs under the auspices of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife and nearby Evergreen State College (my nephew’s alma mater).

The inmates started with 80 Oregon spotted frog eggs in early April. As the eggs grew into tadpoles, then into frogs, they have been responsible for the frequent feedings and tank-water changes, and also for taking detailed notes for state researchers. One thousand frogs are estimated to be released into the wild this fall, which will help this struggling species.

Here’s more information about the Oregon Spotted frog from Herpetology Northwest. If you click on the photo below, you can hear the frog’s call.

Oregon Spotted Frog, copyright 1996, by William Leonard, AmphibiaWeb

Oregon Spotted Frog, copyright 1996, by William Leonard, AmphibiaWeb

06/21/09

The Coqui, Pride of Puerto Rico

June is traditionally the month of the Puerto Rican Day parade in New York City, and in other cities around the country, so it’s a good time to celebrate the unofficial symbol of Puerto Rico—the common coqui, a frog species endemic to Puerto Rico. If you click on the video below, you will hear the sound of this frog that makes a ko-kee noise. Imagine a chorus of these frogs.

A friend from Puerto Rico says he remembers being lulled to sleep by the calls of the coqui. After the birds quiet at dusk, the frogs start their night music and sing all night long. A recent exhibit at the Bronx Zoo about the coqui brought a record number of visitors, who no doubt also had memories of being serenaded to sleep by this tiny (one-inch long) tree frog. Only male coquis sing—both to fend off other males and establish their territory and to find a mate. Here’s more info about this beloved island amphibian, whose numbers are declining due to deforestation, among other reasons.