Species
Wood frog
Lithobates sylvaticus
A masked frog of north Georgia's mountain woods that freezes solid in winter and thaws in spring.
Photo The Cosmonaut (opens in a new tab) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5 ca (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- About 3.5 to 7 cm long
- Habitat
- Moist woodland with seasonal pools
- Diet
- Insects, spiders, slugs and worms
- In Georgia
- The mountains of north Georgia
- Voice
- A duck-like clucking
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Tan to reddish-brown with a dark mask through the eye; ridges along the back
- Told apart from
- Other Georgia frogs, none of which have the dark robber's mask
- Where to look
- In woodland pools in late winter
Behaviour
Wood frogs can survive freezing: their hearts stop, ice forms in their bodies, and they thaw and hop away in spring. They breed explosively in a few days in late winter in woodland pools.
Why they matter
Their tolerance of freezing has made them a subject of research into preserving organs, and their breeding pools are important for many woodland species.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Eggs — Masses of about a thousand, laid together in shallow pools
Hatching — In one to three weeks
Tadpoles — Change into frogs in 6 to 12 weeks
Maturity — In two years
Lifespan — A few years
Calling — Late winter
Living around people
- Woodland pools that dry in summer are its breeding places; they are easily filled.
Misconceptions
- A frozen frog is dead. Wood frogs thaw and recover.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Frozen or sheltering | Breeding | Breeding | Tadpoles | Young frogs | In woods | In woods | In woods | In woods | In woods | Sheltering | Sheltering |
Where it lives
Recorded in 43 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
United States
If you found one
Answer a few questions and you will get a specific answer for what you are looking at.
I found an animal