This past Sunday, my husband and I went for long hike in Harriman State Park in New York. In late March and early April, the sound of the spring peepers is deafening. But the other day we heard only one or two peepers. I did a little research to find out what happens to the peepers in the fall and winter. What exactly do they do from now until early spring?
Wood Frog
Frogs and toads have evolved strategies to survive freezing temperatures. Wood frogs and spring peepers actually become a “frogsicle,” as Larry Lyons explains in his article, “All the Frogs Will Soon be Frogsicles” in the Niles (MI) Daily Star. The frogs will soon find a place under the leaf litter or in a crack in a log or rock to settle for their winter nap. They’ll slowly begin to freeze as soon as temperatures reach the freezing point. The frog’s blood stops flowing, its lungs, heart and muscles stop functioning, and ice fills the body cavity. As Niles writes, “We now have a frogsicle in suspended animation.”
About 65% of the frog is frozen. It manufactures large amounts of blood sugar that serve as anti-freeze, preventing ice damage to its organs. When spring temperatures are consistently above freezing, they begin to thaw out and break out in a chorus of frog calls (as mating season begins).
What about other frogs and toads? Toads dig a burrow under the frost line, where they go into a mild state of hibernation. Their metabolism slows down and they no longer need food or water. Aquatic frogs such as green frogs go into what’s called a state of torpor. They descend to oxygen rich deep water, find a hiding place, and don’t move around much until the spring comes.
Perhaps we are more like animals than we care to admit. I know I slow down in late fall and hibernate until spring!
Tags: frog life cycle, frogs hibernation, frogs in the winter, frogsicles, Harriman State Park, Larry Lyons The Niles Daily Star, spring peepers, toad hibernation, toads in the winter, wood frog
[...] October, when we wrote our post Winter Turns Frogs into Frogsicles, the wood frogs and spring peepers had settled down for their long (frozen) winter nap. This blog [...]
Thanks for the info! I really can’t belive it’s almost Christmas. Snow, sleding, and Mistletoes!
I have been following this blog for a while and think your very accurate with the information, do you have any other blogs I can follow or ones you recommend. I really enjoyed reading this.
I just wanted to thank you very much for this indepth article. I have already bookmarked your site, when I have more free time I am going to have to do some further browsing. Well back to my dreaming of Panama or back to the books – I wonder which one is going to win out.
Hi Michele–
Thanks for your comment! Much appreciated.
Mary Jo
Hi ramblingwoods,
We’d love to hear about your experience as a FrogWatcher. Please pass along any tips you may have for people who’d like to do this.
Thanks for your comment!
Mary Jo
Thanks, Deb, for the comment! They do have some amazing adaptations–we’ll do more posts about this.
Hello, Thanks for commenting, I like your site… will look at more of it soon. Susan
This is some great information. Being the official frog sitter for my daughter’s pet clawed frog for the past 10 years, I got interested in frogs and participate in FrogWatch in our area. Our pond and wetland woods is a great place to get out and look for frogs..
I’d like to be a beingsicle.
Seriously, this is amazing– frogs are such cute and brave little creatures! I love reading about how they adapt to changing climates.
More, please.
What an interesting story on how frogs adapt to the cold. With so much on the web, this is worthwhile reading.