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Froggy is a courtin'

Didn’t you hear? It’s frog and toad mating season. Size doesn’t matter to females; they care about the boom of the groom.

By MELANIE AVE
Published June 5, 2006

It was no ribbet or croak, or any other frog cliche you’ve heard. Of that he is certain.

The sound was more like a high-pitched, um, what? Bill O’Grady thinks for a second.

A whirring, yeah, a whirring, decides O’Grady, supervisor of educational programming at Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg. It assaulted his ears as soon as he drove into the parking lot of the exotic gardens Friday, the morning after the season’s first big rainstorm, which dumped 3 inches in some neighborhoods.

When O’Grady walked into the park off Fourth Street, the loud noise he first thought was a broken pump at the gardens was really the whirring of frogs and toads — at least 1,000, he thinks — whose mating season was in full and noisy bloom near the ponds and fountains.

Every foot or so, male amphibians, who had attracted a love interest with a melodious song, hung on to the backs of females, waiting for them to hatch eggs that could be fertilized.

“I’m in my 50s, and I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,’’ O’Grady said. “It was quite fascinating.
“We joked about it being like a plague, the plague of the frogs.”

All around the Tampa Bay area, rain that followed several steamy weeks charged the hormones of many of the 30-plus species of frogs and toads that call Florida home.

Mating begins for many frogs this time of year and continues through the summer months. It often peaks at night, especially after a rain. People who live near shallow ponds and rivers are most likely to hear the frog chants, which differ by species.

For some people, all the gronking and croaking and trilling mark the unofficial beginning of summer. Others consider the sounds an annoyance that interrupts their sleep and sends their cats and dogs into a frenzy.

“I have customers calling and asking, 'How can I get them to stop making so much noise?’” said George Ruiz, owner of Nice Cool & Beautiful Ponds in Dunedin.

His typical answer: “Live with it.”

Dan Otte, retail manager of Pondscapes in Tampa, has received the same kind of calls.

“Some people can’t stand how loud they are,” he said. “It’s a matter of personal preference, I guess.”

So how loud can they get?

University of Florida wildlife ecologist Mark Hostetler has never measured the intensity of frog sounds, usually referred to as calls.

“I’m not aware of what the decibels are,” he said, “but they can get pretty loud.”

For the females, it’s not the size of the males that matters but the sounds they make. The louder the better, Hostetler said. Loud sounds are a sign of good health, which can mean stronger offspring.

The males belch out a song, which draws the females.

“It’s stiff competition,” he said. “Who can call the best can get the best position.’’

Steve Johnson wishes more people would learn about frogs and embrace the sounds they make.

A herpetologist at the University of Florida’s Plant City campus,  Johnson studies reptiles and amphibians. He said frogs usually signify a healthy ecosystem.

And they happen to top his list of favorite animals.

“Frogs embody the sound of Florida to me,” said Johnson, a native. “Florida is a beautiful, diverse state. A lot of people don’t appreciate it.”

For those who just can’t stand the frog sounds, Johnson has a few recommendations: “Don’t move to a wetland. Close the windows. Wear earplugs.’’

By Saturday, the number of mating pairs had dwindled at Sunken Gardens. But here and there a couple would swim through the waters.

A few bachelors waited on the edges of the ponds, their voices mixing in an on-again, off-again chorus.

On a lily pad in the ornamental carp pond, a bumpy brownish toad sat deathly still. A few minutes passed and a dark male made his way into her line of sight. They stared into each other’s eyes before he followed her into the water’s darkness.

Throughout the pond, strings of gelatinous eggs floated. Soon there would be another, the ultimate reason for all the whirring sounds.

Melanie Ave can be reached at (727) 893-8813 or mave@sptimes.com.

[Last modified June 5, 2006, 22:44:27]