Frogs in the Road

Frogs in the Road
Who ARE those guys?

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Soggy = Froggy !

When it rains, frogs are on the move...

You've probably seen them in your headlights on warm rainy nights... hippity-plopping across the wet road, challenging your dodge-'em skill. I decided to do some neighborhood research to find out who they are. I know about the one-night migration of wood frogs in March (Salamander Night) going from the woods to the pond... but WHO would be crossing the road every which way, on any old rainy summer night?

It's too hard to photograph a hopping frog in the dark, so I captured them and brought them home for portraits the next day (then released into suitable nearby places).

I was surprised to discover that the most numerous nighttime road warriors on this particular night (July 23, 2009) were TOADS, who are not one of my pond species. Here's a group shot of the four I picked up. (Don't ask how I got them to pose... hysterical is an understatement – even worse than "herding cats". Too bad no one was around to video the mayhem!)

Two of the road-hoppers were wood frogs – one light one and one dark one.
I haven't seen wood frogs since their March "march" across the road to the pond on salamander night.

Two were green frogs...
One was this pretty young princess, the other was a full-sized adult who escaped into the darkness.

And one was a bright green gray treefrog (one frog, four poses here).

Gray treefrogs (obviously not always gray!) are easy photographic subjects – they are very tame, and seem quite content to climb around
on your skin with their sticky feet, and just hang out.

I hope this little adventure puts a face on those tire-dodging hippity-hoppers who risk the rainy roads of summer!

Send a ribbit!
ribbitme@frog-shots.com