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Rana sylvatica
Identifying Features
- 2 to 2.5 inches long; dark mask through its eye and a white stripe on the upper lip.
- Fairly common in wooded habitats.
- Adults are rarely found in water except during breeding.
- Will migrate across open areas to reach suitable breeding ponds, but otherwise remain under tree canopy.
- Hibernate on land beneath loose soil, leaf litter, or decaying logs. Survive periods of sub-freezing temperatures by producing large amounts of glucose, causing ice to form in the extra-cellular spaces rather than within the body cells.
- Tadpoles approaching metamorphosis develop poison glands to repel aquatic insect predators, although biggest threat to tadpoles is ponds drying before transformation is complete.
- Adults have toxic skin secretions, which repel shrews, but not snakes, other amphibians or birds.
Call
- Squawking, duck-like call.
Breeding
- Vernal ponds, floodings, wooded swamps, and backwaters are used for breeding.
- Breeding season is usually only 1-2 weeks long, in mid to late March or early April.
- Females deposit from 500 to over 3000 eggs in one or many gelatinous masses, usually attached to plant stems, or twigs near the surface.
- Communal egg laying is common to aid in maintaining moisture and temperatures and reducing predation.
Development
- Egg incubation period is temperature dependent, ranging from four days to four weeks. Transformation occurs in 6-15 weeks.
- Large numbers of froglets disperse into surrounding woods from late May through early July.
- Males reach sexual maturity in 1-2 years, females in 2-3 years.
Habitat Type
- Permanent wetlands.
- Forests.
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