Greg Dodge Journal » Green Treefrogs

Water Snake Makes Brief Appearance

Greg Dodge — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:31:54 +0000

Green Treefrogs are still being seen in the vegetation along the north side for the Wetlands, and have now been spotted along the path going up towards Catch the Wind (between the Lemur House and Catch the Wind).

Finally, after approximately 8 weeks, a Northern Water Snake made an appearance in the Wetlands on both the 14th and 20th of August. The snake seen on those days was probably the same individual, a large female. At this time last year there had been frequent sightings of many individuals, as well as several juvenile water snakes in the Wetlands. Where are all of the water snakes?

An Eastern Garter Snake slid across the path of the Dinosaur Trail on 14 August, pausing briefly midway across, much to the delight of one family (the kids) on their way to see the Troodons.

Treefrogs yes, but No Snakes

Greg Dodge — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:15:52 +0000

More and more young Green Treefrogs are being seen each day in the tall grass on the north side of the Wetlands. Look for them resting on the long, wide blades of grass on the Wetalnds side of the path. The grass is quite tall (3-5 feet) so you don’t have to bend down to search for them, although they are not so easy to find as they’re perfectly camouflaged for the job at hand: resting, feeding, and growing, unseen in the grass.

A young Gray Treefrog, the first that I’d seen this season, was spotted by a sharp-eyed Into the Wild Summer Camper on the 29th on July. This little frog was well away from the water on the main path leading to Catch the Wind.

Even though recently metamorphosed treefrogs are being seen with more frequency, the adults are still breeding as evidenced by clusters of eggs floating in the U-shaped pond at Flap the Wings in Catch the Wind on July 18th following rain showers the night before.

Conspicuously absent for the seventh week running are Northern Water Snakes. If anyone sees, or has seen, a water snake in the Wetlands, please let me know.

Treefrogs Emerge From the Wetlands

Greg Dodge — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:29:15 +0000

I noticed a few newly morphed treefrogs on the vegetation surrounding the Wetlands. Both Green Treefrogs and Gray Treefrogs are emerging from the water as adult frogs and taking up positions in the vegetation surrounding the Wetlands. The two frogs pictured below are about 1/2 to 3/4 inches in length, still quite small considering that they’ll grow to about 2 inches. You may also notice that the Gray Treefrog is rather green, especially on the dorsal surface (back). They can vary in color according to their surroundings. All of the young Gray Treefrogs that I’ve seen have been greenish. Of course, most of those have been sitting on green leaves which may have something to do with the observed color at the time that they were seen.