In the Midwest, frog season begins by early March and lasts into the fall. Spring peepers and chorus frogs are the first to emerge, often calling from icy waters as winter and spring dance through the month. By the end of March, they are joined by leopard and cricket frogs; the trills of American toads mellow the chorus by mid April but, ironically, the larger green and bullfrogs are often quiet until May.
Regardless of the species, frogs tend to favor seasonal ponds and shallow wetlands, where their abundant eggs will not be consumed by fish. After the breeding season, they lounge about, feasting on the numerous insects and other invertebrates that inhabit our swamps and marshlands; bullfrogs are known to consume a wide variety creatures, including small birds and mice. The frogs and their tadpoles are, in turn, the quarry of snakes, snapping turtles, raccoons, mink, wading birds and humans.
By mid autumn, most of these amphibians have settled into their winter retreats, buried in mud or leaf litter. But it is in late winter, when the calls of the early tree frogs echo across our wetlands, that we most appreciate these water-loving neighbors. Theirs is the voice of spring.
