Day 277: When someone from the Pacific Northwe't refers to "spring peepers," they mean Pacific Chorus Frog (Pseudacris regilla), not its eastern cousin, P. crucifer. These little critters are utterly operatic throughout the spring months, but when temperatures begin to rise in late May or early June, their voices are only heard during cool mornings and evenings. The rest of the time, this small frog hides out in damp woodlands and wetlands. We don't see as many of them nowadays as we did when I was a child. I could go into the woods or patrol the margins of a neighbourhood wetland without experiencing any difficulty in finding a froggy for my terrarium. Now I count it a marvel each time I see one and at best, that may be a mere half dozen each year. In part, the decline in their population is due to an increase in non-native bullfrogs, although the invasives are primarily confined to the lowlands at present. Drier, hotter summers take a toll on tadpoles and froglets alike, with fewer and fewer frogs of any species surviving to adulthood. If frogs disappear from the "Round River" (see yesterday's post), what will be next?
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