What’s that sound? Wood frogs!

A chorus of wood frogs

Wood frogs are one of the first species of frog to mate in the spring. They can begin mating in early March, even before the ice is off of their mating ponds.

Male wood frogs call out with a quacking sound, hoping to attract a female. Listen to their sounds in this video. When they find a female, they latch on, check to make sure it’s a female (they can tell by the size), and then mate.

The female lays an egg mass of hundreds of eggs, each surrounded by a gelatinous covering. About a week after the mass is deposited, it floats to the surface.

The eggs hatch after 3-5 days, and the tadpoles live in the water of a vernal pool or pond until they mature into frogs about 40 days later.