Spring peepers?

[LunaDay]

Is this the proper place to discuss them? I am not really sure if this frog is a peeper...but it breeds in a ditch behind my home in West Virginia. I am trying to figure out what it is and how to care for it and thinking of getting some of the tadpoles this year.

...I am still reading. This could very well be a Mountain Chorus Frog.

Is it even "okay" to get tadpoles from the wild and keep them?

[UncleChester]

The closest category here for a Spring Peeper would be under the "Tree Frog" section, they belong to the Hylidae family and used to even be called Hyla crucifer.

I'm not very familiar with the Mountain Chorus Frog, but they often have a light coloured triangular blotch under their eye that a Peeper lacks, don't always have the characteristic cross on the back like a Peeper, and spend more time away from water. Their call is also quite different. Here's a couple of species accounts that include tadpole descriptions:

Mountain Chorus Frog « PA HERP IDENTIFICATION
Northern Spring Peeper « PA HERP IDENTIFICATION

Here are two more species accounts that include recordings of their calls:

Mountain Chorus Frog
Northern Spring Peeper

Check with your local fish and wildlife department about the legality of collecting tadpoles or wild frogs. Peepers are pretty common in their range so are often ok to collect but local laws may vary. Mountain chorus frogs are described as 'special concern' or 'in decline' in some of the descriptions I was just looking at, so it's also possible they would be protected where you are but Peepers aren't.

It sounds like you are in possession of a frog now? Photographs might help people ID it for you. Include a picture of the side of the face and back if possible.

[LunaDay]

The closest category here for a Spring Peeper would be under the "Tree Frog" section, they belong to the Hylidae family and used to even be called Hyla crucifer.

I'm not very familiar with the Mountain Chorus Frog, but they often have a light coloured triangular blotch under their eye that a Peeper lacks, don't always have the characteristic cross on the back like a Peeper, and spend more time away from water. Their call is also quite different. Here's a couple of species accounts that include tadpole descriptions:

Mountain Chorus Frog « PA HERP IDENTIFICATION
Northern Spring Peeper « PA HERP IDENTIFICATION

Here are two more species accounts that include recordings of their calls:

Mountain Chorus Frog
Northern Spring Peeper

Check with your local fish and wildlife department about the legality of collecting tadpoles or wild frogs. Peepers are pretty common in their range so are often ok to collect but local laws may vary. Mountain chorus frogs are described as 'special concern' or 'in decline' in some of the descriptions I was just looking at, so it's also possible they would be protected where you are but Peepers aren't.

It sounds like you are in possession of a frog now? Photographs might help people ID it for you. Include a picture of the side of the face and back if possible.

Thanks so much! No...I do not have one yet. I wanted to research first. They come every year and lay eggs in a ditch that I like to call my temporary pond . However, with the way the seasons change so differently lately, many times the tadpoles are left behind in a puddle and it dries up too fast for them to hatch. If there is concern for the Mountain Chorus Frog then that probably isn't the one because the taddies number in what seems to be the 1000s every year in my little temporary pond alone. This was actually a spur of the moment idea this a.m. when I made the post...saving them if it happens again and raising/releasing them when they are bigger. I just walked outside and there are a few eggs in there now but not many. It is actually snowing flurries here right now. I figured I might be able to scoop them up in their algae ditch water and save them... I need to do more research though. The little guys run like crazy when they hear footsteps....but I think they are peepers. I could certainly be wrong since there are already eggs there...I have to get a look at one of the little buggers to find out! In the meantime, I will go read in the tree frog section! Thanks again.

[UncleChester]

Starting around dusk you should be able to hear them calling if it's warm and humid enough for them to start breeding, and apparently you've been lucky enough to have a few nights like this so far. The sound of the call should be enough for an ID for a Peeper and you can quite often get very close to them. My usual approach at night:

1) walk towards calling peepers and stop moving when they stop calling
2) stand still and wait for calling to resume, then go back to step 1) until you are close enough to see one (a flashlight is handy)

This usually works and if you ever have the notion to try to keep a Peeper permanently you should do this so you can witness first hand just how loud a male can be before bringing it into your home. They are shockingly loud for their size. Not a problem if you're just raising and releasing though.

The puddle drying up before they make it to land is kinda sad (as is the snow after eggs have been laid!), but all part of their early breeding gamble and one of the reasons they lay so many eggs in one go. It's nice of you to want to try to save some though.

[MantisMan]

spring peepers make TERRIBLE pets
i've had several, all wild caught
they r EXTREMELY shy, dont seem to eat in captivity, they move around a lot, and r escape artists
i lost one october 2011 and didnt find it until april when my sis found its skeleton in her room (which she first thought was a toadlet but it was too big to be one)
i still havent found the other
i'd go for something like a whites treefrog or a barking treefrog but if u want to try and work with these guys go right ahead, maybe u can make something better out of that then i could

[LunaDay]

I don't plan on keeping them...just keeping them from dying. I just want to raise the tads that get left behind and then release them, hoping to give them a fighting chance.

Thank you Brian! I will stalk them tonight

[exasperatus2002]

Starting around dusk you should be able to hear them calling if it's warm and humid enough for them to start breeding, and apparently you've been lucky enough to have a few nights like this so far. The sound of the call should be enough for an ID for a Peeper and you can quite often get very close to them. My usual approach at night:

1) walk towards calling peepers and stop moving when they stop calling
2) stand still and wait for calling to resume, then go back to step 1) until you are close enough to see one (a flashlight is handy)

This usually works and if you ever have the notion to try to keep a Peeper permanently you should do this so you can witness first hand just how loud a male can be before bringing it into your home. They are shockingly loud for their size. Not a problem if you're just raising and releasing though.

The puddle drying up before they make it to land is kinda sad (as is the snow after eggs have been laid!), but all part of their early breeding gamble and one of the reasons they lay so many eggs in one go. It's nice of you to want to try to save some though.

I've caught them at vernal pools before. They are very well camoflaged & they seem like vantriliquists. I never keep them though.

[Herpguy]

I can say from experience that every time I've kept spring peepers they were delightful pets. They are voracious feeders, and I've never since seen a frog jump so far and so accurately to get food. They could catch crickets from ten inches away, pretty good accounting for their size.

[LunaDay]

I can say from experience that every time I've kept spring peepers they were delightful pets. They are voracious feeders, and I've never since seen a frog jump so far and so accurately to get food. They could catch crickets from ten inches away, pretty good accounting for their size.

Thanks guys! I really appreciate all of the advice...I have an old 10 gallon someone gave me that has horrible stains on the glass I can't get off. I think it will be perfect for saving taddies!

[Psychotic]

I save frog eggs all the time. Hatching out the tadpoles and releasing them is fun. However I wouldn't keep peepers unless I had a sound proof room to keep them in. They are very very loud. I would only keep a female. They are shy and very hard to get accustomed to captive life though.

[graphicgirl]

We used to have tons of tadpoles in our pool cover (before we got a new one that stretches taut and drains so we don't get the tadpoles anymore)... and I used to feel so guilty pumping them into the grass where the birds would go nuts eating them... so one year I rescued them... they already had legs starting... and got them to froghood... my Mom took them from Illinois to Minnesota and let them go... and now she sees them or their offspring all the time... I forget what breed we decided they were... they were a tree frog... with a bandit mask... and my Mom thinks they are NOT indigenous to Minnesota... so I hope she didn't goof up the ecosystem by transplanting them there... I do love the sound of frogs at night... very soothing...

[LunaDay]

Well, these guys finally came out. They are not spring peppers as I thought. I was actually way off I think. It is a "wood frog". I finally got a look at one today, and found a site where they have a recording of the call/croak/whatever it is called. I do still plan on saving the tads though if they get stuck in the puddles

[Gnag the nameless]

Oh, I love wood frogs. They freeze solid during the winter. It's amazing. And they're so small, too.

I'll admit to you I'm jealous; I have to go about 5 kilometers away from my house to find any frogs at all.

[LunaDay]

My 16 year old son got this picture. I tried and failed. He stood way back and zoomed so it is blurry but here is one of my new neighbors I can hear them outside my bedroom window; I am in heaven.

[Psychotic]

That's cool. I have a male and female. They are about the size of the palm of my hand. They are usually shy in captivity. But I happened to get some that are thriving. I think they sound like a bunch of ducks quacking all at once when they call all together.