Spring Peepers 2016

 
Spring peepers live primarily in forests and regenerating woodlands near ephemeral or semipermanent wetlands. This amphibious species requires marshes, ponds, or swamp regions to support the aquatic environment the eggs and tadpoles need.

In the northern reaches of their range, spring peepers must frequently endure occasional periods of subfreezing temperatures during the breeding season. They can tolerate the freezing of some of its body fluids, and undergoes hibernation under logs or behind loose bark on trees.  They are capable of surviving the freezing of their internal body fluids to temperatures as low as -8 °C. This species frequently occurs in breeding aggregations of several hundred individuals, and commonly breeds in many small wetlands, including swamps and temporary vernal pools and disturbed habitats, such as farm ponds and borrow pits.
As their common name implies, the spring peeper has a high-pitched call similar to that of a young chicken, only much louder and rising slightly in tone. They are among the first frogs in the regions to call in the spring. As a chorus, they resemble the sounds of sleigh bells. They are heard early in spring not long after the ice melts on the wetlands. The males usually call from the edges of the bodies of water in which they breed, hidden near the bases of shrubs or grasses. Even when calling, they may be difficult to locate, and are most easily seen when in amplexus in the shallows. As in other frogs, an aggressive call is made when densities are high. This call is a rising trill closely resembling the breeding call of the southern chorus frog (Pseudacris nigrita nigrita).

In this short video, Wolfmaan listens to the Spring Peepers which have arrived over a month early in 2016.

REFERENCES:

LeClere, Jeff. “Spring Peeper – Pseudacris crucifer”. HerpNet. Retrieved 2009-11-15.

“Spring Peeper”. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-11-15.

“Pseudacris crucifer”. Maryland Department of Natural Resources9.