Most people do not have an opportunity to commune with frogs and their allies, but leave it to children to find frogs and play with them.
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I would guess if frogs didn’t hop, revealing their presence, most children would never find them. But they do hop, their primary method to escape both playful children and serious predators, such as raccoons, fox, weasels, mink, otters, and owls.
Frogs are designed for an aquatic environment; most are strong swimmers with muscular back legs and webbed feet, impervious skin, and their body’s ability to change chemically when the ambient temperature falls below freezing.
Largest of our residents are bullfrogs, Rana catesbeiana, and I would also guess almost everyone at sometime has heard the loud basso profundo mating call of the male sounding from a quiet pond at dusk. The males are easily distinguished from females by the exceptionally large tympanic membrane covering their ears.
Bullfrogs are ferocious feeders; cannibalistic, they may eat small mammals, birds, snakes, turtles, fish, field mice, frogs of competing species, and even smaller bullfrogs.
Of all frog species, I may be attracted to the green frog, Rana clamitans melanota, because of its vocalization, similar to a banjo “twang” or “plunk.” Green frogs are commonly found in wet grass or shallow ponds.
The Northern leopard frog, Rana pipiens, has green to brown skin, identified by large dark circular spots bordered by a light ring.
The mink frog, Rana septentrionalis, is generally greenish-brown, identified by its bright green lips. The mink frog’s call reminds me of a hammer repeatedly striking wood.
The wood frog, Rana sylvatica, is always not far from water and recognized by its mask. It is the first frog to breed in spring and its call reminds me of ducks quacking.
The Northern pickerel frog, Rana palustris, has smooth tan skin and is recognized by its yellow belly and the yellow inside its legs; it is also distinguished by parallel rows of roundish spots down its back.
The gray tree frog, Hyla versicolor, is the sibling species of Cope’s gray tree frog, Hyla chrysoscelis. These two species are indistinguishable.
As for the American toad, Bufo americanus Americanus, it is fascinating to watch the eggs of the American toad being laid in two strings. The eggs can hatch in 2–14 days. When hatched, the tadpoles are recognizable by their skinny tails in relation to the size of their black bodies. When metamorphosis is completed, the toadlets may stay in the water for a short period of time before they become mostly land-based. Often, entire groups of tadpoles reach the toadlet stage at once and a mass migration to higher ground takes place usually to shaded areas of mid-range and upland forests bordering the marshes. I once had an Elderhostel group on Sunday River, where we discovered such an event.
Reader observations, comments, and suggestions are welcome. Write: Nature Notes, 35 Schooner St. #103, Damariscotta, ME 04543; or email cgray025@gmail.com or phone 563-3578.
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