I’ve seen posts about field-herping for reptiles (as well as looking for arachnids), but I thought I’d create a thread specifically for people to share the amphibians they’ve come across.
The first few pics are of a little anuran I found by chance in my backyard today. Because I was close to my garden hose, I was able to quickly wet my hands in an effort to minimize harm to the wee one. It made an interesting sound, but it wasn’t clear if it was a vocalization or from some manner of body movement (he was being held gently).
The second fella is from last year, an anuran my dad found chilling out right outside the door. It was larger than the little guy from my backyard.
Does anyone have a guess as to species? I don’t know much about native amphibians here. I live in northern Virginia in the USA.
The last pictures look like a wood frog, I don’t know the other off the top of my head but I can look into it a little bit later.
Edit: The first looks like a fowler’s toad.
Here’s a Fowler’s toad that I came across on a walk. You can tell it’s a Fowler’s because of the pattern on the back, but the back is not visible in this photo because of the way I’m holding it. And for anyone out there who might be concerned about how I was holding it, I was not squeezing the toad in this picture, I was applying very light pressure.
I came across a group of three leopard frogs in a hike around the local creek today, but they retreated into some thick tree roots that were in the water and I tried for half an hour to get them out, but nothing worked so I just went home without having caught any frogs
I was walking to a local Greek food place after a nice workout at the YMCA, and out of the corner of my eye I saw something move in the grass. I turned around, and the thing in the grass was a frog. I tried to grab it, but it just kept moving right before I could catch it. It went all the way across the street and under a parked car. I was finally able to corner it under one of the tires and pick up. I took a couple pics and then moved it over to a stream on the other side of the road.
I tend to see more amphibians and invertebrates than reptiles when I’m out herping. I recently saw these two. I believe the first to be a gray tree frog and the second to be an American bull frog. Both were found in central Oklahoma.
This adorable tree frog was hanging out in a dangerous location in our garage. She (I’ve no real clue on gender) was smaller than many we find. She was very unhappy when hubby trapped her in a cup to be relocated but she wasn’t trapped long. When released, she took three big springs to the grass. I thought she’d go to the stone or the wall which were both closer. As soon as she could touch a blade of grass, she seemed content. She remained still even when I put my hand down near her for scale in a photo. What a cutie!
We just recently moved to our new house - it’s in a small, rural town. Although it’s very inconvenient to not have a grocery store or gas station nearby, I’m so excited to have a bit more wildlife around. Tonight we got a pretty good storm and there were tons of frogs/toads hopping across the road and making their cute little calls. My kids and I went out and caught a handful of them. I think these are Couch’s Spadefoot toads (other than the green one), but I don’t really know for sure.
I recently moved from an apartment to a townhouse by a small forest, and I know what you mean. I’ve seen foxes, deer, anurans, hummingbirds, songbirds, raptors, and at least one family of skinks, and it’s very cool.
The little fellows you found are also super cool! And it’s so awesome to see the next generation taking an interest in nature. My dad used to collect bugs and worms and all sorts of things with me and a kid and it definitely encouraged my love of animals to blossom. My mom was supportive but so freaked out she couldn’t participate directly at the time, but now she even helps me clean my gecko enclosures and very politely feigns interest in my isopods, hehe. She’s made great progress, Im very proud of her.
