Field Notes

What’s that sound? Wood frogs!

1 min read / April 10, 2020

Wood frogs: Spring comes to Vermont

One of the first joys of spring after long Vermont winter is the sound of frogs calling for mates. Their chorus often reaches a crescendo in the early evening. One of the first frogs you will hear is the wood frog – an amphibian with the northernmost range in North America. Learn how to identify their sound with our video.

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.