Sprig Peeper tads?

[Kurt]

Being a very small species in stature, I am willing to bet since you found fish there, you won't find tadpoles. Find some vernal pools and see what you can scoop out of them. Last year I managed to scoop out a spotted salamander larva, that I raised up. The damn thing is huge now!

[Bill B]

Being a very small species in stature, I am willing to bet since you found fish there, you won't find tadpoles. Find some vernal pools and see what you can scoop out of them. Last year I managed to scoop out a spotted salamander larva, that I raised up. The damn thing is huge now!

That was one wetland - in a forest. The fish were probably Gambusia. I understand that they are there probably to reduce mosquito populations.

In the other two wetlands I saw now fish. They are one the outskirts of forests.

[Bill B]

BTW, I finally caught what I am pretty sure are Spring Peeper tads. Found a pond where I heard quite a bit of peeping. Since I had already did som sweeps near the edges of ponds like that, I figured they must be near the center or deepest part. And, since the water level receeded quite a bit since then, they must be concentrated. And there was little vegetations to get in the way of my flimsy butterfly net - just what appeared to be 'grass' growing from the bottom of the pond. And, since I didn't see them, I figured they must be right at or just under the loose leaves at the bottom. So I some deep swoops with a butterly net. Success at last! Yay! I think I'll try to raise them to sexaul activity size. Seems if I didn't get some mud from the bottom, I didn't get them. 7 tads, about 1.5 - 2 ".

[John]

It's very late for Spring Peeper tadpoles - they're almost certainly all on land now.

[Bill B]

It's very late for Spring Peeper tadpoles - they're almost certainly all on land now.

Not here in Michigan. Spring Peepers have a broad range from south to north. They were maturing, though, with I think only 1 or 2 without any hindlegs

[Bill B]

Oh, and they just stopped peeping about 2-3 weeks ago.

[Bill B]

It's very late for Spring Peeper tadpoles - they're almost certainly all on land now.

Plus, Gray Treefrogs are right in the middle of breeding - no tads of them. Green Frogs are about done, so they haven't hatched. American Toads have bred, but their tads are are smaller and darker in color. Wood Frogs are done, but their tads are smaller and different color. I suppose they MIGHT be N. Leopard Frog tads, but I don't kmow what their tad look like, and I never heard them in that pond..... O.K., I just looked at pics on the web, and N. Leopard Frog eggs appear to be nearly all light brownish-gray, with specks of dark in them. I believe those are the only anurans that breed in that area.

[Bill B]

Being a very small species in stature, I am willing to bet since you found fish there, you won't find tadpoles. Find some vernal pools and see what you can scoop out of them. Last year I managed to scoop out a spotted salamander larva, that I raised up. The damn thing is huge now!

But Spring Peeper tads are large! Very large for the size of the frog. I don't see why they would be "persecuted" all that much by Gambusia. American Toads definintely breed in that wetland, and almost every year, when I walk through a certain area, I see them leaving it en masse (and sadly, I step on them cuz' they are so close together). My point being that if those small toad tads can make it, then Gambusia probably wouldn't have a whole lot of effect on Spring Peeper tads.

I have a couple formal journal articles on Gambusia and frogs. I'll have to read them.

[Bill B]

Hate to hog up this thread, but is is possble they might be Gray Treefrog eggs? Do any anuran species in the Grand Rapids and Muskegon areas of Michigan take more than one season to mature other than Green Frogs and American Bullfrogs?

[Bill B]

Being a very small species in stature, I am willing to bet since you found fish there, you won't find tadpoles. Find some vernal pools and see what you can scoop out of them. Last year I managed to scoop out a spotted salamander larva, that I raised up. The damn thing is huge now!

Well, in the wetland where I found Gambusia (mosquitofish), I found a number of peepers about to emerge or just emerging.