Go on over to read great posts on our herp friends.
We have a man-made pool on the ledge above the creek specifically to provide a breeding pool for frogs. We know that Southern Leopard (Rana sphenocephala) and Southeastern - formerly Upland Chorus (Pseudacris feriarum) frogs - and Cope’s Gray (Hyla chrysoscelis) treefrogs have been happy(?) customers. I see the eggs and I see the tadpoles. After that I don’t see much – or only rarely. The chorus frogs and the treefrogs leave for parts unknown.
The Southern Leopard frogs stay around but they are very shy. As soon as I walk into the clearing around the pool, I see frogs hop off in all directions: into the undergrowth if they are mature frogs or back into the water – if they’re in the process of losing their tails. Even if I try and sneak into the clearing, they hop off before I get into camera-with-zoom range.
Rarely, very rarely, one makes a mistake. I sneaked into the clearing a week or so ago but, as soon as I got within about 10 feet of a frog, it would hop into the underbrush or back into the pool. I would see them frog-kick their way into the deeper water out of sight. Sigh. On this occasion, a dozen or more desperately hopped back into the water simultaneously.
One poor little fellow, already in the water, was confused by all of this furious activity, felt a need to go in the opposite direction from where it was, and hopped out of the water to land almost at my feet. Always an opportunist, I took complete and shameless advantage of it and got some photographs.
At my feet, right in the middle of the photograph.
A closer view.
A close up. It’s a ranid and although there are two spotted ranids – the Southern Leopard and the Pickerel (Rana palustris) – our consensus is that it is a Southern Leopard frog. It didn’t seem fazed to be out of the water and didn’t panic when I finally persuaded it to head back into the water.Click on an image to view a larger image
Identification resources:
Knapp. Frogs and Toads of Georgia
- Southern Leopard Frog (Rana sphenocephala)
- Pickerel Frog (Rana palustris)
Related post:
- Frogs at the Pool
Great photos! I hardly ever get a photo at this stage of development so I think I am jealous ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks. I've been trying to get these for three years and only got this one because the little guy was confused.
ReplyDeleteBTW. I'm envious of all the creatures you see/photograph on a daily basis.
I love to find frogs in this stage. How wonderful that you could get so close to an elusive species. That's an impressive tail.
ReplyDeleteHi Liz. I was excited - I've been trying to get a photo of these for a couple of years. They're effectively invisible at a distance and they'd hop off before I got anywhere near close. Had this little guy not been confused and hopped out of the water, I'd still be hunting :-)
ReplyDelete