I'm sure everyone remembers that lovely day when we stopped by that pond with the two chickens. An overcast day with a brisk chill in the air and rain that couldn't wait to fall. We struggled to find things but we did hear a little friend calling but could not find him. He was actually somewhere in a patch of thorns that I wasn't exactly crazy about digging around in.
The western chorus frog, or Pseudacris triseriata as he is known on the street, escaped our sight but not our ears. He was calling faintly from the surrounding water saturated land instead of joining all of us wading through the pond.
As you can see from the supplementary photo I pulled from Google he is truly a majestic beast.
Western chorus frogs are often found in open habitats like meadows, marshes, and swales but may also be found in old agricultural fields, wooded swamps, and damp forest. They are between 3/4 and 1 1/2 inches long with a characteristic white line along the upper lip. They also have 3 distinctive lines along the back that may appear broken or as spots on some animals. The skin often appears moist and bumpy and they have slightly extended toe pads.
Breeding will occur from Mid-March through April and the frogs seldom venture far from their breeding areas throughout the year. They eat small invertebrates and may live for about 5 years once passing the critical larval and juvenile stages. Their call is an elongated 'creek' sound that can be characterized as "Cree-ee-ee-ee-eek"
Wish we caught one of the little guys, but no such luck.
(Shaun Delph)
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