Tiny Frogs Sing Loud Love Song
By Molly Daly
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- After a winter that felt three seasons long, there's nothing more welcome than signs of spring.
Daffodils are popping up, and birds are migrating north, but they're not the only ones that are singing.
If you're in the Philly suburbs in the early spring, you may hear what sounds like a baby bird and duckling convention.
But these singers don't have feathers: they're frogs.
"Spring Peepers are these little tiny frogs; they live in trees and forests, as do the Wood Frogs, but they come down to ponds in the springtime to mate."
The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education's Mike Weilbacher says the ponds are shallow and temporary springtime phenomena known as vernal pools. The Peepers peep, and the Wood Frogs quack, to attract females who'll fall for their froggy love calls.
"There could be hundreds or thousands of them. It is a cacophony when they're all singing."
All the more impressive when you consider their size: the peepers are about an inch and half long; the wood frogs, two inches.
And although it may be new to you, it's a springtime ritual that's been going on for millions of years.