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May 9, 2009
Gray Tree Frog
Wendy told me she was hearing something odd in the woods. Not that this is unusual. She lives up in the mountains and her daughter couldn't tell a crowing rooster from a mountain lion, or a pollywog from mosquito larvae. So, when she says she hears something outside, I say I'll tell her what it is and as soon as I hear it, I tell her she has a tree frog.
But it does surprise me a bit. I really didn't think they could survive the winters up here, but apparently the gray tree frog has glycerol in his body which acts as an antifreeze. This site says "Sexually mature gray tree frogs can survive for several days at temperatures as low as -20°F."
So I went outside and after a few minutes, I informed her that he was living in a pile of bricks out back, which probably is a good radiant heat source for him at night. Jennifer and Sidney pulled bricks off the pile until Jennifer found him and she and Wendy started squealing that I should catch him. I don't know why this surprised me, but it did surprise me that they couldn't reach down and pick him up. So I collected him in my hands and we put him in a little goldfish bowl, with rocks and water in the bottom.
He was fairly small...probably about an inch and a half long, I'd say. I could tell by his toes that he as "a" tree frog. I just wasn't sure he was "the" tree frog making the noise. But we were eating dinner when he started croaking. I immediately knew what the noise was, and everyone else slowly caught on as well. We'd captured the same tree frog that we'd heard croaking outside. A fun way to spend the evening.
Hopefully, they'll let him go tomorrow so he can find a mate.
Posted by Rob Kiser on May 9, 2009 at 9:46 PM
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