Spring Peepers: Heard, but not seen

They are one of the first harbingers of spring – the ongoing chorus of loud, high pitched peeps coming from our wooded areas and grassy wetlands.  Although they sound like sleigh bells, they are the mating calls of tiny male frogs called Spring Peepers (Pseudacris Crucifer).

Heard more often than they are seen, this frog is tan or light brown, but its most identifiable characteristic is the darker “X” across its back.

It is very small, an adult Spring Peeper measures only between one and 1.5” long, the size of a paperclip.

Spring Peepers overwinter in fallen leaves, under logs and behind loose tree bark.

They survive by allowing much of their bodies to freeze during the cold months, emerging from hibernation early in the spring to breed.

During the breeding season, the frogs congregate in temporary pools of shallow water left by melting snow and spring run off.   

The louder and faster a male sings, the more likely he is to attract a mate. Like most frogs, the Peeper’s vocal sac expands and deflates like a balloon to create their call, but their sac is huge and expandable to almost the size of their entire body.

The resulting chorus of peeps begins to fill the air at dusk and lasts throughout the evening, all through the spring.

Females will lay between 800 and 1,000 eggs that are attached to vegetation, just under the water’s surface. Tadpoles hatch within a couple of weeks and complete their metamorphosis into frogs in about three months. In the summer, the Peepers move into forested and shrubby habitats where they stay close to the ground despite their toe pads for climbing. The average lifespan of a Spring Peeper is three years.

The Spring Peeper is a nocturnal carnivore that feeds mostly on small beetles, ants, flies and spiders. Their natural predators include larval beetles, snakes, skunks and other frogs.  Possibly the biggest threat to this species, however, is the destruction of their wetland habitat through urbanization or agricultural development.

Enjoy the songs of these small frogs for they promise that warmer days are on their way.