lcarreau - Jan 9, 2008 11:27 pm - Voted 10/10
Outstanding photo!I'll look that one up in my book!
What elevation is Meta Lake? Looks like
either the Red-legged frog OR the Cascades
frog. That's incredible, Mark! Good find!
Mark Straub - Jan 10, 2008 8:42 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Outstanding photo!Thanks for your commment! Meta Lake is 3,610 feet above sea level. The strangest thing is about these tadpoles is, they shrink into frogs rather than grow!
-Mark
lcarreau - Jan 10, 2008 9:33 am - Voted 10/10
Yes ...Nature will always find a way! Did you say
3,610 feet? At that elevation, we might not
be looking at frogs at all. Scientists at
Mt. St. Helens have observed: "The tremendous
reproductive capacity of amphibians is
evidenced by the large number of recently
emerged Western Toads (Bufo borius)
on the shoreline of Meta Lake in the
blown-down forest northeast of the volcano."
Mark Straub - Jan 10, 2008 6:19 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Yes ...These are probably a species of toad rather than frog, but I don't think that these are Western Toads. Western Toads are 2-5 inches long, and these toads/frogs are under an inch when full-grown. The tadpoles are so numerous that they actually form a floor on certain parts of the lake that cannot be seen through.
-Mark
lcarreau - Jan 10, 2008 7:52 pm - Voted 10/10
Aaaaaaaaaaah !The Pacific Treefrog! They reproduce rapidly
in low-elevation lakes, and their average size
is an inch long! I will check with my friend
in Nevada to confirm that. Did they have a
black eyestripe, kind of like a racoon???
Mark Straub - Jan 10, 2008 10:58 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Aaaaaaaaaaah !Might be! I don't remember their exact pattern, but they were gray and liked the grass.
-Mark
lcarreau - Jan 11, 2008 12:46 am - Voted 10/10
Re: Aaaaaaaaaaah !I am 95.9% sure it is the Pacific Treefrog,
which likes to hang out in grasses beside a lake or pond. The other species of toad is
the Red-Spotted Toad, but it lives at a much
higher elevation, and has "red warts" on it!
Anya Jingle - Jan 11, 2008 12:53 am - Voted 10/10
Re: Aaaaaaaaaaah !Did they look like this?. Their color doesn't matter. It can vary.
Mark Straub - Jan 11, 2008 8:41 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Aaaaaaaaaaah !That is probably the species! Thanks for the nice picture!
-Mark
Mark Straub - Jan 11, 2008 8:42 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Aaaaaaaaaaah !Yes, that does seem right! Thanks for the ID!
-Mark
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