So today when I was leaving my home I locked the door behind myself and left behind a barking pekingese. My pekingese has a very high pitched bark and it almost sounds like a screech. Apparently a very close by neighbor heard him as well and was convinced his territory was being invaded by another male. I identified my neighbor by his call as a barking tree frog or Hyla gratiosa. I got a pretty good laugh at this because their "barks" were eerily similar. I believe this little frog may have been a little more on edge over its territory due to breeding season being from March to August and it now being April. The pond behind my little townhouse helps with the laying of eggs for all my little tree frog neighbors as well as many others. My front yard is great for amphibians too, I have a gutter that drains right into it and it is always moist. Prime real estate for them! I often find many different genus and species of frogs and skinks there, even when I am not looking for them. Of course as hard as I looked around my front yard I could not find the one that was calling that morning.
The Barking Tree Frog is one of the larger tree frogs in the Hylidae family averaging in size between 2-2 5/8 inches. The Barking Tree Frog can also be identified by all of its many spots. I'm not sure I would have been able to find this guy no matter how long I searched since they can climb trees or houses and burrow beneath roots in the soil. The Barking Tree frog is one that has complete metamorphosis. The stages include the egg, which has to remain in water, the tadpole, and then to an adult. They are ready to reproduce around 4 years of age.
1 comment:
What a case of mistaken identity, for both dog and frog!
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