Rana sylvatica

I think wood frogs have a great scientific name. Rana is latin for a frog, while sylvatica means among the woods. I can tell you that woods alone do not make a place hospitable for wood frogs. Oddly enough, if you live within their range, wood frogs are already starting their breeding season RIGHT NOW!!! Because they have an antifreeze-like substance in their bodies, wood frogs can survive rather cold temps. Within the woods, you'll find male wood frogs calling from small shallow pools or ponds. Even depressions left after a tree has toppled and uprooted can be suitable breeding habitat for the wood frog.
I used to live in a state full of wood frogs - I'll call it a conflicted state because its citizens couldn't decide if it was the north or the south, whether it should serve sweetened or unsweetened iced tea. Wood frogs are actually one of the reasons I miss Conflicted State so much. Call me crazy, but there is nothing quite like tromping through the woods on a 40 degree day listening for the squabbling calls of male wood frogs. You'll know you've found a good breeding pond when there are males spaced out every few inches, competing with each other for a space to call and bombarding the unlucky females. I once found a female with six males clasping her - one had ripped her skin open with its tight grasp. I rescued her from the males and put her in another pond. She probably died and I wonder now if I should have just left her there, as the males would certainly have fertilized her eggs once they were released - live mom or not.
I got to thinking about wood frogs yesterday as I listened to spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) calling in Boringtown. Peepers exhibit a lot of the same breeding behaviors as wood frogs, but somehow they just aren't as interesting. They also seem to be everywhere, pervasive here in the Bible Belt and in Conflicted State as well. As the planet's temperature rises, I think peepers will probably do ok. Wood frogs, which seem to thrive in cold weather conditions may ultimately suffer when winters are warmer. Vernal pools will be hard to come by and the early wood frog breeding season will be interrupted by other frogs taking advantage of warm breeding weather in January. These are just predictions...as with everything, we'll just have to wait to see if the wood frog can weather the weather.