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Reptiles & Amphibians

Frog question

ToughCheeseSmallPaws

12 years ago

Hello! I signed up with this forum because of this post, and I plan on staying since I've been working up my gardens. :3

Today I was cleaning out some planters I had sitting on my porch that I left out a few nights ago and it rained. I'm a slacker and I'm just now getting around to cleaning them up and I pick up one planter and am surprised by a Copes Grey Tree Frog who is just as startled as I am. He's the most adorable little chap I've seen. That's not the point. I picked up another pot and there was another, and again, another pot and there was a third... about 6 pots later I have found a total of 5 tree frogs chilling on my back porch.

I know they are becoming more rare in Ohio (especially my neck of the woods) from habitat loss and people spraying their yards (we do not, I refuse to add chemicals to the earth). I want to keep these little guys safe (right now they are safely in a bucket outside that has a partial cover on it and some water in it so they stay moist and they can leave whenever they want). I cannot leave my flower pots laying around like that and not look like a total redneck, but I want to provide them a safe place to return to in the morning hours where they won't be eaten or bothered (or poisoned).

Any suggestions for a tree frog house/sanctuary? I love wildlife and I will go out of my way to protect them in any means possible (which is why we don't spray any chemicals in our yard and we compost the heck out of stuff).

(here's a picture of the first little guy I startled... he looks just as surprised as I did. Although I was relieved it wasn't another giant wolf spider).

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/600486_10151709597533561_395744127_n.jpg

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Comment (1)

User
12 years ago
There are actually two Gray Treefrogs that occur in Ohio. Cope's Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) is restricted to the southern third of the state and is endangered while the Eastern Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) is in better shape and more widespread in the state, I believe.

The problem is that you can not tell them apart by looking at them. They are physically identical. So you might have either species. They do have slightly different calls which you can learn to distinguish, but beyond that they are just "Gray" Treefrogs. H. versicolor's call is slightly longer/slower and more "bird-like" while chrysoscelis call is more buzzy or insect-like. But they are very similar when you are just learning to tell them apart.
You can hear a chrysoscelis call here -
http://frogcalls.blogspot.com/2012/06/copes-gray-treefrog-hyla-chrysoscelis.html
and a versicolor call here -
http://frogcalls.blogspot.com/2012/10/gray-treefrog-hyla-versicolor.html

If you want to move them, wait until a rainy night or early evening and move them over to a hardwood patch. If you disturb them when it is wet/raining and approaching dark they will have a better chance of getting safely to a new home.

They generally spend their days under bark, sitting still on trees (where they are very hard to see), or under surface structures on the ground.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cope's Gray Treefrog calls
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In my area, the leopard frogs are still calling, the toads started recently, and the peepers are still calling. The calls are the best way to know the local population in my opinion. As far as your bullfrog and leopard go, they may still be around. Frogs move away from the water quite often, particularly when it is wet out. The toads are only visiting to "hook-up" a date, then they will move back out. It is possible that your small pond got a bit too close for comfort with all the activity, and the increased competition for food. This might have caused the frogs to temporarily go hunting, but beware, when the frogs come out, all the preditors do too. I have seen three garter snakes while I have been working around the pond during the past week. They usually take what they need and leave no sign of a visit. I hope your frogs are well. Even if they have unfortunatly met with a coon, cat, or snake, there will be more to replace them. Be patient. A good rain does wonders as the frogs all move around. I am up to 12+ frogs in my pond after 2 days of rain this week, where just a week ago 4 was max. In my wife's little preform in the front yard, she has no frogs until late May or early June, then she'll have 4-8 after a rain! (Tell her they hitch a ride on the geese from down south, but she won't buy it!) Best of Luck....Enjoy the Changes! -TT
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