The pickerel frog is a curious looking frog with a pattern of seemingly “hand-drawn” squares on its back. These frogs can be found in southeastern Canada and throughout the eastern half of the United States. They face the threats of habitat loss and destruction at the hands of residential and commercial developments, farming, ranching, and clearcutting forests. They also suffer from habitat division at the hands of roads and railroads, that can result in vehicle strike (being hit by vehicles), and infection from the deadly Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which has a 100% mortality rate. However, these frogs are abundant enough to be listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. Their population trend is also listed as stable.
First the Stats…
Scientific name: Lithobates palustris
Weight: Up to .12 ounce
Length: Up to 3 inches
Lifespan: Up to 8 years
Now on to the Facts!
1.) Their front toes are not webbed, a morphological characteristic for some in the genus Rana and some in the genus Lithobates. This allows these frogs to adapt to terrestrial (spend most of their time on the ground) life.
2.) As is the case for most frogs, they display sexual dimorphism in that the females are larger than males.
3.) Their preferred habitats are shallow streams, bogs, marshes, and spring-fed ponds.
4.) These frogs are a trogloxene species. This means they dwell in caves, however they are unable to complete their life cycles within caves.
5.) When it gets too cold, they will occupy hibernacula. This is a protective shelter, such as a burrow, cave, or crevice. There they will stay till the temperatures increase to an acceptable level.
But wait, there’s more on the pickerel frog!
6.) Females lay egg masses that contain up to 3,000 eggs.
7.) Based on the temperature, eggs hatch in up to 21 days. The hatching time is shortened by warmer weather.
Did you know…?
The call of males during the breeding season is often times so low that they are not easily heard by the human ear.
8.) It takes up to 3 months for the tadpoles to metamorphose into froglets.
9.) Ants, beetles, various bugs, sawfly larvae, spiders, and other invertebrates are all feasted upon.
10.) These frogs have a superb defense mechanism in that they emit skin secretions that are irritating to humans and toxic to certain predators; making them the only poisonous species of frog native to North America.
11.) Bull frogs, green frogs, northern water snakes, eastern ribbon snakes, and common garter snakes all prey on these frogs. They are seemingly unphased by their poison.
Now a Short Pickerel Frog Video!
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Some source material acquired from: Wikipedia & IUCN
