Sunday, June 14, 2009

Say "hello" to my little friend....

Tonight was beautiful out. It was a perfect example of a few reasons why I love living here. First, the stars were amazing. Being out in the middle of nowhere Iowa makes for some great star gazing. Second, the temperature was a pleasant 65 with a bit of humidity... enough to create a hazy mist of fog over the corn fields. I wish I could capture that look on film but it's too darn dark. Third, the only sounds I hear are a slight breeze through the pines and all the frogs in the land. I LOVE FROGS!!! Iowa is home to 20 or so species of frogs/toads. We have at least 5 that I've seen in my yard. Meet one of them...

This little guy is a Great Plains Toad, and a cute one too! He's just a baby still. Any suggestions for a name? HA HA.There is nothing more relaxing to me than sitting out on my patio, watching the stars, and listening to the frogs sing... or croak. For those who don't know what that's like, here are a few links to the sounds I hear every night (on the top left of each page under the frog name there is a "listen" button). I particularly love the Western Chorus Frogs and Grey Tree Frogs. Needless to say, I sleep with my window open a lot!

Northern Cricket Frog: http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=AR0554
Spring Peepers: http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=AR0014
Western Chorus Frog: http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=AR0155
Grey Tree Frog (with bullfrog in background): http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=AR0020
Great Plains Toad: http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=AR0154

Take those 5 sounds, mix them together, and that's what our nights sound like. LOVE IT!!
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2 comments:

  1. The WoodlandsJune 14, 2009 at 8:37 PM

    The girls really loved this post! Morgan says that she wished she could see all of the animals at your house and hear the frogs and that we should go there someday. I sat at the laptop with them for over twenty minutes listening to toads. Which by the way, did you see that big warning in red about that little toad you held in your hand? And how he can be poisonous? Hmmm, something to think about. ;)

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  2. Shaun and DarleneJune 15, 2009 at 1:48 AM

    I think I would have liked living here as a kid... lots of critters. I loved growing up outside of Vegas... I was constantly catching lizards.

    Yep, I knew they were poisonous. It's mainly dogs/cats and other animals that need to worry since they try and eat them. I play with them all the time, I just make sure I wash my hands. In fact, it's kinda funny... if you pet their glands behind their eyes, they tip their heads as if it feels good. LOL. The only bad thing about toads is that they sometimes pee on you. :)

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