This Little Frog’s Mating Call Is the Soundtrack of Spring in New York
Do you remember the song by Frank Sinatra where he sang "jeepers creepers where'd you get those peepers?" It's a great song but it's not about that kind of peepers. This story is about the amphibious kind of peepers.
We are in the middle of some wacky winter weather with sleet and snow and all kinds of other fun stuff. Remember earlier this week when we had a taste of spring when the temperatures were in the 50s. Yes, I was putting my convertible top down.
That weather was making me think about spring and it also got me thinking about frogs. When the weather is warmer in our area, I see frogs everywhere. It's no surprise with the Chenango River, Susquehanna River, and all the other lakes and ponds.
Spring Peepers In New York and Pennsylvania
When it's warmer out, I love to sit on my porch and just listen to the frogs and the crickets. I enjoy hearing the sounds of the spring peepers. Spring peepers are little tree frogs that can be found in New York and Pennsylvania.
In the winter, the spring peepers hibernate but when the weather starts to warm up they come out and hide under leaves and sometimes on trees. They sing what a lot of people call the "soundtrack of spring in New York."
Spring peepers look like tree bark and they can even make themselves lighter or darker depending on their location so they're better camouflaged. The sound the spring peeper makes is its mating song which sounds like a really high-pitched whistling sound that gets repeated about 20 times in 60 seconds. That's a lot of peeping!
Here's another interesting thing about the sound they make, if they sing really fast and really loud, they have a better chance of attracting a mate. I like to use my vuvuzela (soccer horn) for that but that's another story for another day.
It won't be long until you can hear the sound of the spring peeper in person but until then, here is a video to help remind you the spring peepers will be out soon and that means springtime!