Western Chorus Frog

Andrew DuBois - Flickr (amdubois01)

Pseudacris triseriata

Someone is making a racket at my mother’s pond. Day and night he calls, and yet, we cannot find the source. This is probably because he is only one and half inches long. Through song comparisons, we were able to determine the culprit is a Western Chorus Frog.

Western Chorus Frogs are found throughout most of Colorado, avoiding the drier regions in the southeast. They are found around bodies of water, like my mother’s pond, since they need water to lay their eggs. They mature like all amphibians, going through a larval or tadpole stage before they shed their tail, grow legs, and emerge from the water.

I wish we could find him. We’ve tried moving rocks, following the sound, but he eludes us. Being able to hide is a great survival tactic for something that is so noisy. Unlike many other frog species, their skin does not produce toxins.
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We’ll keep looking, but I almost hope we don’t find him. His ability to hide increases the chances of him reproducing and I’d rather catch a glimpse of his off-spring – the next generation of noisy pond interlopers. 

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