Nightly Serenade!

Late in the evening the chirping starts! At first there is just one little tree frog giving his best call..queenk..quen..quen..queenk but within minutes hundreds of his green friends join the chorus. All of these are in competition of wooing the lady frogs and the guys are determined to put on the best show in town! Just about dark, I slipped out the back door and made my way to the little frog pond. I had to pass through the wisteria arbor to reach the pond where I knew the frogs should be gathered. Once under the arbor, I was greeted with a maddening trill of the chirps! Faster and faster..louder and louder! It was almost deafening! Then..as quickly as it began..it stopped. Now the silence seemed equally as deafening!

I stared at the arbor and at the small bush that overhangs the pond. At first, I did not see anything out of the norm but then I spied a slight movement! A frog! An American GreenTree Frog to be exact! This frog inhabits our area year round. The mild winter obviously did not take a toll on the frogs as this is the most I have ever seen around here. They were literally perched everywhere! Such happy little green Kermits! I counted over thirty of them and know there were hundreds more that I could not see. They blend so well with their environment!

The ones doing all of the calling are the males that are in search of a lady frog. They will call and call until a female is attracted to them and then the mating takes place. The eggs will be deposited in the water so the tadpoles can survive. Within a few weeks hundred more of the little froggies will crawl out of the pond. They will hang close to the protective waters for a few days but are on their own as soon as they hatch. Frogs are NOT good parents! The American Tree Frog that I have crawling all over the arbor, the side of the house and the bushes near the pond are the same as the ones that some folks keep as pets. I cannot imagine having one chirping inside the house as they are extremely loud! A funny thing happened the other night after I had taken a shower. I heard chirping coming from the bathtub drain! At first, I thought the frog was near a window somewhere but then I realized that the noise was indeed coming up from the drain...I told you..they are everywhere!

I am happy to have these frogs even in the masses that have appeared this year. They eat bugs! The same mild winter that was so nice to the frogs also left us with hoards of bugs of all sorts. Hopefully the onslaught of frogs will diminish a few of the insects on hand. As you can see, I went out today to check on the frogs. Yep..still there! I took a few more pictures and then left them be! Nice froggies! You can sing to me all night..and you can make good use of my pond!