Frogs

Shortly after moving to Hope Valley, we built a water garden in the back yard. Ponds surely attract wildlife, and this one is no exception. Birds love to get a drink from it and one time a pair of ducks were swimming in the water. Frogs also found their way to the pond. We have some bullfrogs and the population grows every year. What starts out as thousands of tadpoles is whittled down to what is now a population of half a dozen bullfrogs and an unknown number of spring peepers. While it is pretty easy to find bullfrogs, spring peepers are difficult to locate. They are nocturnal and hide well due to their camoflage skin. Spring peepers are small, about the size of a quarter. I will often be surprised to find them under a leafy canopy in the garden. Spring peepers are known for the LOUD mating call. In spring they start pepping loudly. So loudly, in fact, that we have to run a fan in our bedroom to drown out the noise. Sometimes the mating calls get so loud that I will yell out the back door "Get a room and do it already!"