About a month and a half ago, while I was playing disc golf,
a frog jumped on my disc. I didn’t know what species it was at the time but
with further research, I determined that it was an adult southern leopard frog
or lithobates sphenocephalus. Of
course, no one in my disc golf class understood why I was so excited to see one
but it was pretty cool to observe it in its natural environment. It was about
three inches long with a mid-sized body. It was light brown with darker round
spots on its skin. It also had a slightly pointed snout. I did not get a chance
to tell if it was a male or female, as it quickly hopped away when I tried to
pick it up. We were in a woodsy damp environment at the time of discovery.
The southern leopard frog is found throughout the Southeast
of the United States. They are generally green and brown. The one I saw was all
brown but there are some that have a light green dorsum. All have brown round
markings on the backs, limbs, and sides. They tend to breed in shallow
freshwater where eggs and larvae will develop. Southern leopard frogs breed in
the winter and spring which probably explains why I found one in a damp
environment in late January.
Finding this frog while out in James Island made me really excited for the field trips we were going to do in this class. It made me realize that I needed to start learning the names and distinguishing characteristics of the local species, so that the next time I observed one, I would know exactly what it was. I had never seen this species of frog before, so it was really exciting to unexpectedly come across one in its own habitat.
Finding this frog while out in James Island made me really excited for the field trips we were going to do in this class. It made me realize that I needed to start learning the names and distinguishing characteristics of the local species, so that the next time I observed one, I would know exactly what it was. I had never seen this species of frog before, so it was really exciting to unexpectedly come across one in its own habitat.
3 comments:
This is pretty cool! I have never come across frogs in their natural environment and have wondered if I would ever be as comfortable (and composed) if one ever crossed my path. Did it make any distinct sound when it landed on your disc golf? I know you mentioned it being potential mating season around that time, so perhaps there were others nearby as well? I find it interesting that it decided to get very close to you!
I like that "I find it interesting that it decided to get very close to you" lol, which reminds me of my ornithology field trip today to the center of bird of prey learning that some hatchings picked up by human (when they are actually doing what they are supposed to do and not needing our help) then become imprinted and mistake humans for potential mate...
I wonder why some of the southern leopard frogs don't have the transition of different colors. I've been using a book that details all the herpts in the Carolinas and Virginia, and the picture it had for the Southern leopard frog has three colors on it, really pretty. So that has been my impression for what it'd look like, but I've encountered 2 in the wild since, but none of them had that coloration. They were all uniformly brown, even the spots are hard to see because of the darkness of that brown. --Diana
Cool! What was the habitat like at the site where this frog paid you a visit?
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