Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Singing froggies

So, the other night I caught some treefrogs just for fun, and thought I'd share the cuteness.

One of my favorite summer hobbies is tree frog hunting during their mating season. I go out once it gets completely dark, and hunt for them only by sound. Once I get one within a few feet (deafening noise), I turn on a flashlight, and capture the guy with my hands (I let them all go after a few minutes). The mating season is just starting, so I only found three around my pond. I don't think they're too stressed, as they continue to chirp and call the entire time! Let me tell you, it really confused the cats.
And here's a movie of some of their calls:


They are all gray treefrogs, Hyla versicolor. I've sometimes kept these as pets. One was named Splat, she lived with me for a few years. Was really tame and always ate from my hand. One was Lucifer, though he wasn't really a pet, because he lived outside. However, he lived underneath the same board leaning against the shed every summer for three years. I would check on him every day, and sometimes bring him grasshoppers to eat or have him sit on my shoulder as I walked around the yard. Finally, last summer, he failed to appear under the board.

And then, there was Harold. I caught him when he was bright green, 1cm long, and just emerged from the pond. He was just a little hopping speck in the grass - I had to sweep my net in grasses and shrubs every day to catch him tiny leaf hoppers and things to eat. He grew and grew and finally matured into a fat happy adult male treefrog. When I left for college he went to a family friend, where he was pampered and lived another year before passing away. He was a fantastic frog.

4 comments:

littlebird said...

Aawww they look cute and i like the sounds they make.
We don't have those over here, but collecting frog spawn in the spring and watch it mature into tadpoles and then frogs before releasing them back in to the water was a real favourite of mine when i was little : )

PAC said...

Hi weirdbuglady! I've never seen tree frogs before and they are kind of cute!

Unknown said...

I had no idea that that sound was a tree frog!

A Keeper's Jackpot said...

Cool! Thanks for sharing the video