Appearance
Wood frogs are small frogs that grow to six centimetres long and have a black mask across their eyes and shoulders. They come in tan, brown, green or even reddish colours and have light bellies.
Range & Habitat
Wood frogs are the only frog in North America that lives north of the Arctic Circle. They are found across Canada; in B.C. they live in the central and northern interior in marshes, wet meadows and other moist areas.
Diet & Behaviour
They eat mostly worms, insects, snails and other small creatures, but they have also been known to eat small frogs. Their tadpoles eat algae and other plants. Their call sound like a duck’s quack and adults can scream when a predator is attacking them. Wood Frogs dig into the soil to hibernate for the winter and they can survive freezing temperatures because they have special sugars in their blood that stop them from freezing completely.
Lifecycle & Threats
Wood frogs start breeding in spring and each female lays a mass of up to 3000 eggs that look like pond algae. Tadpoles once hatched take about two months to grow into adult frogs and a wood frog can live for three or four years. Lots of creatures eat wood frogs including shrews, birds, and snakes. Frogs are very sensitive to environmental changes and any pollution or chemicals will affect them.
Status
COSEWIC: Not at Risk
CDC: Yellow
More Information
Visit this online interactive learning tool, Seeing Through Watchers’ Eyes, to learn the SENĆOŦEN name and other stories about this being! We recommend a desktop computer or laptop for ideal viewing.
- Simply open the link here: https://sierraclub.bc.ca/watcherseyes/
- Scroll down to the Prezi
- Click “present”
- And move your cursor to point 199 along the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen
Photo: Charles Kaiser
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