Sunday, August 17, 2008

Herp of the Day: Hyla versicolor

I think my favorite local frog species has to be the Gray Treefrog. They're attractive and variable in color, and have a pleasant call as well. The standard edition Gray Treefrog is mottled gray-and-black, with bright yellow in the hidden leg surfaces:


The ground color can vary depending on temperature, mood, background, or other factors in ways I don't understand. They can darken up to brown:


Or they can lighten up to a fantastic lime green coloration, my favorite:


The black mottling is variable, and occasionally you get something cool, such as this pattern that made me name this individual Jack (O'Lantern):


I kept a few for the summer I was working on tree swallows, because I would find them roosting during the day in nest boxes. They made awesome captives for the short time we had them, training right away to handfeeding and thinking our fingers were giant mealworms. That didn't stop them from acrobatically trying to escape, however:


(photo by Shawn Billerman)

7 comments:

  1. What a wonderfully textured little guy. He would blend in perfectly into the bark.

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  2. I like the orange hindlimbs on the green version.

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  3. I'm glad you guys like these great little frogs as well! :)

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  4. Gasp! you talk about gray tree frogs without mentioning that they're tetraploid versions of Hyla chrysoscelis? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyla_chrysoscelis

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  5. Haha, I know! That's a post for another day...

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  6. heh, you never kept those jumping spiders? or the dragonflies who had been bitten in half and were just walking around inside the boxes? =)

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  7. Haha, no, just the non-avian vertebrates :)

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