Gray Frog Hiding Under the Propane Tank Dome

Gray Tree Frog   Hyla versicolor

I rarely check my propane tank.

I suppose I should keep an eye on the gauge, but I am a "keep fill" customer of Schaul's Gas and I've gotten accustomed to their automatic deliveries.  One less thing to think about - until the bill comes.

But I am in the process of moving west - to the Red River Valley of the North and today's the day I decided to check out what I have to do to shut off the utilities.  The friendly woman at Schaul's gave me a formula for determining the value of the gas in my tank:  % of a full tank x 5 x price of gas at my last delivery.

I went out to look at the gauge under the little mint-colored dome.  That's when I noticed a rusty handful of steel wool.  Maybe the delivery guy put it there to keep creatures from hiding under the dome?

The Surprise under the Dome

The steel wool didn't do the job.  Maybe it was the rust, or the recent wind, or maybe it's all about the frog - the pudgy, little, well-camouflaged, gray frog hunkered down behind the fill-gauge.   What a nice surprise!

I could not resist the temptation to pick it up.  It rewarded me by urinating on my hand - a defense mechanism.  I couldn't believe how much urine that little frog released.

Gray Tree Frog Urinating on my Hand

I also was amazed by the "feel" of its feet, clinging to my hand.  I snapped a few photos, checked the gauge and headed back into the house to find its name:  Gray Tree Frog.

These frogs have a special mucus they secrete from their toes that helps them cling to tree bark and smooth surfaces - like the propane tank.   They are larger and have more toad-like (as in bumpy) skin than their "look-alike" cousins - the Cope's Gray Tree Frog and they have a very different song.  Both have a bright yellow patches on the insides of their hind legs.  And both can change color (like a chameleon - but the frogs need a little more time to make it happen) from green to gray.

What was she doing there?  Hunting for insects.  And by the size of her - looks like she's been doing well.  

Gray Tree Frog Camouflaged on my Propane Tank

Wood Frogs in a Breeding Frenzy

Wood Frog Air Sacs 

After the big thunderstorms last night, I hoped the rain would hold off today so I could check out the vernal ponds on the Chippewa River State Trail - where I spotted Wood Frogs in amplexus last March.   When I left the house around 11am, the sky was overcast and threatening, and the temperature had climbed up into the 60s.

Would the Wood Frogs be a quackin' today?

I parked the Prius on County M and walked up-river to the trail marker at Mile 26.

I've read that you can hear some frog calls from a mile away, but not today.  I was about 100 yards from the ponds before I heard the springtime noise made by boys:  a chorus of loud raspy quacks (Wood Frogs) interspersed with a few peep-peep-peeps (Spring Peepers) and an occasional trill (Western Chorus Frogs).

The pool was full of hundreds of Wood Frogs.  I scanned the water but I couldn't see them - at first.   The light was harsh and every time a cyclist rode by, the pond went silent.  I waited and waited.  Then they started up again.  Floating on the surface of the pools, Wood Frogs are relatively easy to spot.  So I focused on them.

Wood Frog in Duckweed

Wood Frog Inflating Air Sacs

It was mesmerizing.  Frogs chasing each other in a shallow vernal pond.  Splashing, sinking, swimming and quacking.

After sitting for an hour or so, I walked further down the trail, hoping to spot a Chorus Frog or a Spring Peeper.  I could hear them, loud and clear... but I still couldn't see them.

Then a frothing ball of Wood Frogs caught my attention.   It looked like they were all hanging on to one frog, who seemed to be drowning or dead.  I tossed a pebble at them, but they did not disburse.  What is going on here?

Five Wood Frogs in a Ball

When I got home, I "googled" Wood Frogs.  "Breeding can be stressful for females; plagued with the weight of multiple competing males, some females drown."  That's seriously stressful.

Another interesting fact:  Females lay only one egg mass.  Count the number of egg masses in a vernal pool and you get a good estimate of female numbers.

On the way back to my Prius... I spotted three "first-of-the-year" birds and one wildflower: Rusty Blackbird, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Field Sparrow and Bloodroot.

Rusty Blackbird

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Bloodroot

Wood Frogs in Amplexus

I went out to the Chippewa River State Trail in Durand today looking to photograph the flowers of the hazelnut.  I've had my eye on one of these shrubs and the buds are just starting to pop.  With the temperature in the 70's this week, it's just a matter of time.

As I walked down the trail, I started hearing a call that sounds like a chuckling duck.  Click here to listen.

When I walked closer to where the sound was coming from - the shallow water in the ditch along the trail, the quacking stopped abruptly.   I stood and waited.

Then one-by-one, little reddish-brown, masked frogs surfaced, floated around and started calling again.  That's when I got my first good look:  Wood Frogs!   

Rana sylvatica

I've seen the adult masked frogs before, but I didn't know much about them.  

The most widely distributed frogs in North America, they've been found as far north as the Arctic.   These diurnal frogs are one of the first to breed in the spring (it happened at 2pm today).   They are known for the explosive timing of their breeding (they get it done in a day or two) and speedy metamorphosis (eggs hatch in three weeks, tadpoles morph into frogs in 6-9 weeks).

Adult wood frogs are able to survive the winter hibernating in forest debris.  Despite the fact that their body freezes (they've become know as "frog-sicles"), when they thaw, they're ready to hop.  

When the weather warms up in early spring, they head to water en masse, call for mates, pair-up, deposit their black eggs in gelatinous masses, then disappear back to the woods.

Today was my lucky day.

I watched wood frogs en masse - in amplexus, their copulatory embrace.  

It was an incredible frenzy of quacking frogs putting the squeeze on each other.