COUNTING ON FROGS TO BRING IN SPRING

I know that spring is here when I hear the frogs singing after rain storms.

It does not matter to me if leaves are on the trees or if any birds have migrated back through. When I hear spring peepers and chorus frogs singing to beat the band I know it is spring! I will bet that I am not alone. Many of you pay attention to the spring sonnets provided by frogs. If you do you will be glad to know that you can help scientists learn more about frogs by simply listening for frogs and identifying who they are.

This program is called the Breeding Frog and Toad Survey and it is sponsored by the Conservation Department. Volunteers like you and I can commit to visiting five to ten wet areas and listening for frogs. This is normally done during evening rainstorms. Most folks do the survey from their car. Believe it or not it is actually fun!

Once you visit a site, you listen for frogs calling. The first thing to do is identify who is calling. This is easier than you think. In Southeast Missouri there are only 15 frog species to listen for. Fortunately they do not all call at one time of the year. For example, if you listen in late winter/early spring, you will hear chorus frogs, spring peepers and southern leopard frogs. In late spring to early summer you hear toads and grey treefrogs. In mid summer you may be treated to the sounds of spadefoot toads, green frogs, bullfrogs or even green treefrogs. For this reason surveyors are asked to run survey routes three times a year to catch all of the frog species in action.

Don't worry about the identifying part. A cassette tape, made by MDC makes it really easy. Often times troublesome calls can be picked out by playing the tape in a dash board cassette deck. When you hear a match you mark it down. With a little practice you will only use the tape when a frog seems to have an accent!

After determining who is out there hollering for a mate, you then give a ballpark estimate of how many of each species is out there. This is the part scientists are interested in. Information on population trends is valuable to understand how healthy the environment is. Frogs are very sensitive to water quality and habitat destruction. If you hear a lot of frogs consistently over the years that is a good sign.

Globally scientists have been observing that a lot of amphibian species are going extinct or becoming scarce. Because frogs are like canary in the mine shaft it is a good thing to know if they are doing fine or poorly.

If you are like me you already are listening to the frogs. You pay attention to them because you enjoy them. Why not take a few evenings to help scientists to learn more about frogs and how well they are doing? Your effort may help ensure that generations to come have the opportunity to hear the frogs. They too will know it is spring.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the Breeding Frog and Toad Survey should contact the MDC regional office at 290-5730 and ask for A. J. or Janeen.

A.J. Hendershott is an education consultant with the Missouri Department of Conservation.