March in Wisconsin brings heavy winds, the first day of spring, sometimes Easter and certainly, Phenology, the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena in plant and animal life.
Wisconsin, like other states, has a burning need to keep track of the trends in nature from cranes to frogs and when it comes to the amphibians, frog counting can be easy, albeit time-consuming, either monitoring one pond for a month or two, or a more complicated survey that’s a 10 stop route monitored for several months.
Frogs are divided into 3 general groups, the ones who are the earliest to sound off that are located in swamp ponds unattached to other water which usually begin at the end of March when the ice is still sometimes present.
The second group of frogs to start their mating songs is in backwater or in ponds attached to permanent water, like a lake. These guys are more active in April slopping into May.
The next group is the toads. They are active even if there isn’t water anywhere. These are the three-toed-tree -toads that are active starting in May and remain active for a few months and sound like birds calling from one side of the yard to the other.
The final group, the frogs that prefer the lakes and streams that are looking for love on the hot summer nights in July and August, like the bull frogs.
There are over 4800 frogs species in the world and from the first peepers that start to sing to the last bull frog's deep croaks, Wisconsin counts 12 species of frogs and toads, called anurans, which is the Greek word for ‘without a tail’.
The Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey was initiated in 1981 to increase knowledge of anuran abundance and to monitor populations over the long term; monitoring occurring at least biweekly from late March until the first part of August, all done by volunteers unofficially called Froggers.
Volunteers listen to the frog-call CD’s endlessly and everywhere they go. They learn the difference between the peepers and the chorus frogs, even though they sound somewhat similar and call at the same time. The peepers having a two or three note song versus the chorus frog which has a call similar to running a thumbnail slowly down a really long men’s comb.
Froggers also learn the song of the very first frog that begins their mating call, called the Wood Frog that sounds something like a turkey. Not the gobble, gobble, but the sound they make when they’re talking to each other; it’s rather guttural.
You can find volunteers spending their evenings sitting in their cars by swamp ponds or near deep water, recording the wind speed and the air temperature, the sky conditions and even the water temperature, which can be tricky without a digital point and shoot thermometer.
You’ll see them in remote areas writing in their frog log by the light of their overhead car lights starting around 7:30 in the evening and continuing much later in the night as they make their 10 stop route.
They are excellent listeners and detailed persons and absolutely dedicated to their odd task. They even have a Facebook page and a site known only to them where they can take frog quizzes and where they post photos and audio files. They are the citizen-based frog monitors and they take their duties seriously, just ask them.
If you want more information, go to wiatri.net/inventory/frogtoadsurvey/WIfrogs/ or just Google Frog Surveys.
Diane Dryden has been a feature writer for twelve years and is the author of two novels. Order your copy of the Accidental King of Clark Street and Double or Nothing on Foster Avenue today!
Last Update: Mar 28, 2017 7:37 am CDT
