MINK FROGS AND CARPENTER FROGS

     Though inhabiting different parts of eastern North America, mink frogs and carpenter frogs have several characteristics in common, which indicates how unrelated species can be the same because they adapted to similar habitats.  Adults of both kinds of frogs are camouflaged, and only three inches long, making them difficult to spot.  Both species are nocturnal, hunting invertebrates and calling for spawning mates under the cover of darkness.  Some individuals of both kinds live in damp sphagnum bogs, close to a pond or slow-moving stream.  Females of both species spawn clusters of eggs on submerged vegetation, which their tadpoles ingest.  Each type of frog has a limited range in natural habitats where they are seldom seen and relatively unknown.  And, being frogs, each of these species has their tongues anchored to the front of their mouths.  To snare invertebrates, they flip their sticky tongues out and on the intended prey, then snap their tongues back into their mouths when they swallow their meal. 

     But each species of these frogs has its own traits, too, which is why there are distinct species of life.  Mink frogs inhabit wetlands and ponds in eastern Canada and around the Great Lakes, where water is cold.  They are called mink frogs because they have a pungent odor, like that of mink, which probably protects them from some predators.

     Mink frogs are dappled light-green and chocolate all over, making them quite handsome.  On summer nights, many male mink frogs actually do squat on lily pads in ponds and utter low-pitched, metallic croaks, like we see in cartoons.  That croaking, of course, is to entice females of their kind to spawn.  

     Carpenter frogs inhabit wetlands along the Atlantic Coastal Plain from the New Jersey Pine Barrens to southern Georgia.  Their niches are sphagnum moss edges of tea-colored ponds and slow-moving streams in piny woods.  The color of water in the barrens is caused by dead and fallen pine needles and deciduous leaves steeping in the water, which also makes it acidy.  

     Several male carpenter frogs chorusing together in shallow water to attract mates for spawning sound like a gang of carpenters hammering.  Their boisterous calling is a unique sound in nature.

     Carpenter frogs are olive-brown, with two beige stripes, lengthwise, on each flank.  They are attractive in their own camouflaged way.

     Some creatures prey on these kinds of frogs, including broad-winged and red-shouldered hawks, water snakes, snapping turtles, raccoons, mink and other species.  And herons and egrets, and dragonfly larvae are some of the predators that consume many tadpoles.

     Mink frogs and carpenter frogs are mostly voices in the dark.  But they are charming voices that indicate the warmth of spring and summer.   

         

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