Spring Peeper

On March 26, our class visited Rush Run in Somerville, Ohio. It was breezy, around 45 degrees farenheit. We were in a corn stalk field that was submerged in water. It was lightly raining and there were a lot of frog and bird calls going on. I caught a Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) as it hopped from a stalk into the water. I caught it and it happened to be a pair of amplexing spring peepers. The male was much darker than the female who had a very distinct cross on her back. The male was darker and had no visible cross on his back. The male used his large thumbs to grip the female during mating. He did not let go the during the time that we had caught him. The male typically drops sperm onto the eggs as the female lays them.

Spring peepers are very small, some only reaching a size of 0.75 in. They usually have a distinct cross on there backs and range in color from tan to olive green or even gray. Females are lighter than males and larger. Their call is a very distinct peeping noise and only males are able to make this noise. They typically breed between March and June and can lay up to 900 eggs in one cycle. They eat small arachnids and insects and are nocturnal. They are found in marshy, wet areas in ponds with no fish.

Ryan D.