On March 11, about a half-dozen male chorus frogs gathered along the edge of Pear Pond in my backyard at dusk. They sat in carefully calculated territories, not too close to each other, all sporting their khaki breeding colors.
The alpha frog sounded long and deep, and the rest pitched in with a rapid tenor and steady soprano. I spied on them periodically with a flashlight. The males would be squatting on the lilies, interrupted mid-croak when the light hit them. A petite kelly green female frog joined them soon.
She treaded water in the middle of the pond, looking back and forth, and then picked a mate. Although the pond water was barely 40 degrees, she swam to a male who then fertilized her ejected egg sac. Then She dove, and attached the fertilized egg sac to a underwater wapato leaf, as pictured above.
There were half a dozen egg sacs visible beneath the pond water the afternoon of the 14th. Every evening I see a few more egg sacs, often next to each other, as of the 16th. Perhaps the female frogs have their own preferred areas for attaching. There are even egg sacs on the underwater thermometer.
I may see only one female frog a a time but if two or three new egg sacs show up one morning, I conclude there were at least three females achieving amplexus that evening.
The female frogs are supposed to be larger than the males to withstand the male’s weight. The male frog grasps the female from behind and gets on top to fertilize her eggs as she ejects them. This is called amplexus.
But most of the males I see are mostly 20 months old and 2 inches long. The currently visible females are probably only 8 months old, and often only half the male’s size, although still sexually mature and the prospective mother(s) of hundreds, so far.
The males chorused frantically during the recent rainstorms, perhaps knowing the females would respond to their calls and travel more readily to the mating pond during a warm rain. Some females may be delaying and waiting for the pond waters to warm to 50 degrees; it’s barely over 40 degrees now.
“This concludes my quarterly report to the Frog Environmental Regulatory Commission or FERC, regarding my operation of the 500 square foot Frog Mitigation Area,” I said.
I looked up at the three poker faced Commissioners, sitting at a table on an elevated stage.
“My name is RedwoodMan, and I’d be happy to answer any questions.”
The Commissioner Chair pounded his gavel.
“Any public commentors,” he asked the audience.
“Yes, we have objections,” I heard a high squeaky voice say. Well, I heard it in my head.
“I’m here on behalf of the Juncoes, we are little brown birds living about 60 feet from the Frog Mitigation Area. We’re complaining because RedwoodMan is failing to protect our Trust habitat which is part of the watershed for the Frog Mitigation Area. Specifically he is allowing a skunk to walk through our Designated Areas.”
I swiveled in my chair to see who was complaining but there was no one at the microphone. I grabbed my lawyer’s arm.
“Don Juan Matus,” I pleaded, “ What’s happening?”
“Don’t worry,” he soothed,” in FERC hearings, aggrieved animals are allowed to testify.”
I jumped up.
“Hey, I blocked up the hole in the fence that the skunks’ used, to keep them away from the juncoes,” I blurted out.
The Commission Chair eyed me stonily.
“Yes, we know,” he responded, “There’s a counter-complaint also pending against you, for interfering with the migratory trails and paths of your neighborhood skunks.”
He turned to others sitting nearby.
“Staff? Is anyone else waiting to provide comments on this project?”
“Yes. Bullfrogs Strong or BS are opposing to the anti bullfrog actions taking place there.”
“United Squirrels of America also claim interference with their migratory routes along the top of the fence. and the Garden-Eating Deer (GED), and Right to Bear Fangs and Claws, who are lobbyists for neighborhood cats, both want the fence removed.”
“The Neighborhood Association of Grumps, or NAG, feels the frogs are too loud.”
“I’ve heard enough,” snarled the Commission Chair, “Let’s hand this whole matter over to Frog Court!!”
“No, not Frog Court!” I cried.
“Yay, a chance to use my degree from Carlos Castaneda Law School!” crowed my lawyer. To Be Continued.
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