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If you remember, last week we had temperatures below zero. Last night on the way home there was a Spring chorus of peepers. Spring peepers overwinter in the soil; a natural antifreeze in their blood keeps them from freezing. These frogs are active from late winter to late fall; breeding is in late February to mid-May in small woodland pools. Most animals don’t use warm weather as a courtship trigger. Instead, the longer days, or internal cues like the loss of body fat, let them know the time has come to produce young.
This small, slender frog can be pink, gray, tan, or light brown and has a dark X on its back. It will live near pools of water where there is thick undergrowth. Breeding in southwest Missouri occurs in fishless woodland ponds, temporary pools, or water-filled ditches, especially if brush, branches, and rooted plants are standing in the water. Spring peepers have become threatened in areas where wetland habitat has declined.
As you continue to listen on these warm late winter nights, you might hear additions to the Spring peeper chorus including Southern leopard frogs and Western chorus frogs. So, keep a keen ear listening for the chorus tune that spring is coming led by the Spring peepers.
For more information, visit Missouri’s Toads and Frogs.
 Spring Peeper
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