Scientific Name: Hyla cinerea
Common Name(s): Green Tree Frog, Tree Frog

 

Identification:
The green tree frog is a medium sized frog with long limbs and digits that have sticky toe pads. Their sizes range from 1.25-2.25 inches long. Besides being green, they have a white, yellow, or sometimes iridescent stripe along each side of their body. Males are smaller than females and have wrinkled throats, which indicates a vocal pouch.

Range:
Hyla cinerea is found throughout the southeast but is generally confined to the Coastal Plain.

Ecology:
The green tree frogs are insectivorous, usually eating flies, mosquitoes, and other small insects. These frogs prey on insects that are highly active or happen to be close enough to be caught by the frog’s tongue. Preferring to live in open forested areas with plentiful water near floating vegetation, grasses, and cattails, they are never at a loss for food, but they are subject to more predation than other frogs. They are prey to snakes, birds, and other frogs. Green tree frogs are one of the few species of tree frogs that lays their eggs in waters that have large predatory fish. Green tree frog tadpoles have few mechanisms of defense against large fish, so they are easily caught.

While green tree frogs are usually solitary, they come together during breeding season. Temperature, day length, and precipitation affect the timing of green tree frog breeding, but it usually occurs after a rain event. After mating, females lay up to 400 eggs. The ability for females to produce eggs is related to her size. The larger the female, the more eggs she produces.

Due to their small size and undemanding habitat requirements, these make great pets. Unlike many amphibians, they do not require artificial heating. One thing they do require is a large terrarium. Since they like to climb trees, the terrarium needs to be tall rather than wide. Plenty of branches and other objects need to be placed in the terrarium for the frogs to climb. Another important feature would be substrate that will maintain the humidity in the container, such as commercially shredded bark or coconut husk, and a shallow water dish. Green tree frogs have been found to live up to 6 years in captivity.

Special Notes:
Here in Bella Vista, green tree frogs are found in most of the forested areas, but you might find them in or near your pool. If you cannot see them, you might hear the male green tree frog make a duck like “reeenk, reeenk, reeenk” during the spring or summer before a rain event or during breeding season.

Scientific Name: Apalone spinifera

Common Name(s): Spiny Softshell

Identification:

The spiny softshell is one of the largest freshwater turtle species in North America, with a carapace, or upper shell, length of 7-21 inches. Females are typically larger than males. Spiny softshells are easily distinguished from other turtles by their flat, leathery shell with very flexible edges. Their color ranges from a brown or yellow to olive, with males and hatchlings typically exhibiting a spotted pattern. Since they spend most of their time in the water, they have more webbing on their feet than most turtles, and each webbed foot has three claws. Another remarkable feature of softshell turtles is a snorkel-like nose they use to breathe while remaining submerged and possible buried in mud. A distinguishing characteristic between male and female spiny softshells is the number of spines on the front edge of their shells, behind their head. Adult males have many spines, while females only have a few.

 

Range:

Apalone spinifera has a very wide range, and are found from South Carolina, west to Texas. Their range also extends north to Montana and east to New York.  

Ecology:

The spiny softshell turtle is mostly carnivorous, eating anything it can fit in its mouth if it’s in the water, including fish, insects, and crayfish. However, they will eat algae and other plant material. They are benthic feeders, which means they can actively hunt their prey or bury down in the sand to ambush prey. 

They can be found in nearly any body of fresh water including ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams. Sandy bottom areas are important for both their feeding strategy and nesting habitat. An interesting feature of these turtles is that they can, to a limited extent, breathe underwater. As such they prefer waters that are rich in oxygen. This is especially important during their hibernation period, as hibernating in oxygen poor waters could lead to death.

Spiny softshells don’t begin breeding until they reach 8-10 years old. Mating usually takes place in the middle or late spring in deep water. After a few months, the female will lay her eggs on a sunny sandbar or gravel bar near the water. Eggs hatch from July or September, but sometimes they will not hatch until the spring.

Due to their location, the eggs of spiny softshell turtles are often eaten by foxes, raccoons, and skunks.  Even though they are quick swimmers, juvenile spiny softshells are preyed upon by raccoons, herons, and large fish. The adult spiny softshell has few natural predators, and they are most often killed and eaten by humans. Spiny softshell turtles don’t have the same defense mechanisms a normal hard-shelled turtle has, because they cannot hide in their shell. If they are in the water, they will swim away and hide under the mud or sand to avoid predators. On land, their lack of a hard shell and general clumsiness is made up for by a change in attitude: they become aggressive if threatened. If bothered on land, spiny softshells will snap at their attacker, and their bite is quite painful. They will also kick with their powerful claws.

Special Notes:

Here in Bella Vista, spiny softshell can be found around all the lakes and in Little Sugar. They can be friendly in the water, but do not try to go near them on land. Like most water turtles, they can be skittish, so your best bet for viewing is to keep an eye out for movement in the water or at basking spots at a comfortable distance.

Scientific Name: Pseudacris crucifer
Common Name(s): Spring Peeper

Identification:
The spring peeper is a small tree frog that ranges from 0.98 to 1.5 inches in length at maturity. Their coloration ranges from shades of brown to dark gray, but temperature and other conditions can cause this coloration to vary. A distinct X-shaped pattern on their back makes this species easy to identify. Female spring peepers tend to be slightly larger and lighter in color than males. Males have a flap under their throat where the vocal pouch is located. This flap can be darker during the breeding season, when the males are calling to attract mates.

Range:
Pseudacris crucifer is native to eastern North America, and they can be found from Manitoba, Canada to Florida.

Ecology:
The spring peepers are carnivorous. They eat small insects and other small arthropods (i.e. ants, beetles, ticks, mites, and spiders). When spring peepers are in their tadpole stage, they graze on algae or decaying plant material in ponds and pools. Due to their diet, spring peepers play a strong role in forest ecosystems by controlling the insect population. Since they require ponds and pools to breed, they live in forests near wetlands.

As their common name implies, males make a chirping call in spring to attract a mate. Spring peepers are among the first frogs in the region to vocalize in the spring. Females lay between 750 and 1300 eggs. The eggs are laid in small clusters under vegetation in a wetland. Once the tadpoles hatch, they take 2-3 months to transform into a frog and move out of the aquatic habitat into the forest.

Spring peepers start breeding after their first year. Females are attracted to males with a certain volume and speed of call. Older and larger males have faster and louder calls, which are considered more attractive by females. Some males called “satellite males” do not make calls but position themselves near calling males to intercept females. Not all calls made by spring peepers are for mating. They also vocalize when fighting, after rain, and before hibernation.

Spring peepers are active from the end of winter until late fall when they dig into the ground to begin hibernation. They hibernate under logs and debris. In the northern reaches of the spring peeper’s habitat range they come out of hibernation before freezing temperatures have ended. Their bodies tolerate subfreezing temperatures down to about 18°F.

Special Notes:
Here in Bella Vista, spring peepers are the first frogs we will hear in spring. You might think you are hearing sleigh bells or car alarms, but when you hear the telltale “Peep peep!”, it means the spring peepers have come out of hibernation and spring has arrived.