Friday, August 3, 2012

Just Trying To Blend In


Often, the greatest entertainment in a garden comes not from the plants, but from unexpected sources.



For the past several weeks, during my rounds in the garden, I have been coming across these little frogs in some of the most out-of-the-way places.  I'm no expert on frogs but I think these are common Gray Treefrogs (Hyla versicolor) which, like chameleons, have the ability to camouflage themselves from gray to green, depending on where they are sitting.

However, as you can clearly see from this one sitting in a corner of the pink garden gate, there are limits!  Pink is obviously not a color in their camouflage palette and I'm sure this guy feels somewhat exposed and wishes he would blend in a little better.  Some people I have met at cocktail parties could learn a great deal from these little creatures who would like nothing more than to be the best wallflower they can be.


And, this one seems to be getting a real charge out of being tucked away in this location!

Gray Treefrogs are strictly nocturnal and rarely come out of the tree tops, except for breeding.  So, why I have been finding them scattered around the garden in some of the strangest spots during the sunniest part of mid-day is a mystery, unless breeding is extremely high on their list of priorities right now.  Maybe some of you herpetologists out there can enlighten me.

3 comments:

  1. Joe,
    I do't have any biological insights but this was a great post!

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  2. I agree with Michael too Joe, great post... You are right, a few cocktails and some people should make like these frogs! :),,,

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  3. Thanks, Michael and Jeanne! It's been a banner year so far for frogs in the garden and I don't think it has anything to do with the cocktails.

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