Hyla cinerea

We had a beautiful warm (69 degress F) night with scattered rain storms. I went outside at about 12:30 am and found about 15 fowlers toads in our drive way and I could hear males calling in the distance. The toads are so common that it is not very exciting to see them, but it was neat to so many all at one time. I found one Green Tree Frog (Hyla cinerea) on our deck probably trying to get an easy meal by the light. I did not hear any males calling, but I read that they usually call just before dark. These frogs are so interesting looking, I love the elongated toes and large toepads. These frogs are found in the Southeastern United States, from Maryland down, and from the Atlantic coast to Texas. When the Green Tree frogs begin to mate the males will call from around a fresh water source and the females will migrate toward the calls. The females will lay packets of eggs, while in amplexus, on the waters surface that attach to floating vegetation and the males will fertilize them. There are about 40 eggs per packet, and the female can produce around 800 total eggs per season. It takes a few days for the fertilized eggs to hatch and then 2 months for the tadpoles to develop into frogs. I have never seen a mass breeding of green tree frogs but I think it would be really
awesome to see... maybe this year.
Jena Fay, TN