March 7, 2010 - Woodland Quacks

Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

That odd quacking issuing from a wooded area might sound like a flock of ducks, but comes from a different animal altogether. These are wood frogs. In early spring wood frogs gather at a temporary pond to breed. These cold-tolerant frogs seem to shrug off freezing temperatures. Males expand a pair of vocal sacks on either side of their body to make the calls in an attempt to attract a female. When a number of males are calling at the same time it turns into a real quack-up. Any movement or sound near the breeding pool results in instant silence for a time before the males call again. After mating, females lay a blob of 1,000 to 3,000 eggs that will hatch in about three weeks depending on the temperature.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.