Every frog within a thousand miles has moved in across the street, or at least that's how it sounds when they start chirping and croaking dusk til dawn. Horror movie stuff if they weren't so tiny. The wetlands surrounding Gallinas Creek in North San Rafael provide a soggy home for these seasonal peepers, technically Pacific treefrogs (Pseudacric rigilla). One of the best places to "hunt" for these gem-like amphibians when in their early stages (not much bigger than a baby's fingernail) is at Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve, in Novato. Take the pretty 1-mile hike up to Hidden Lake, a vernal pool that vibrates with frog-life come late spring. Take a step in the rushes and watch a hundred frog-lets--topaz, emerald, jade--fling themselves out of harm's way (e.g. your shoe). That's my daughter "hunting" at Hidden Lake in the photo above.
Here are some other facts I gleaned about Pacific tree frogs:
"...Adults are 3/4 - 2 inches long from snout to vent. Tadpoles are up to 1 7/8 inches long ( 4.7 cm) blackish to dark brown and light below with a broze sheen. The intestines are not visible." (Good to know...why waste time looking for them?"
"...The call ... is known throughout the world through its wide use as a nighttime background sound in old Hollywood movies, even those which are set in areas well outside the range of this frog." (Did they get paid for travel expenses? Royalties?)
"...Treefrog tadpoles detect that their pond is drying, they can accelerate their development rate so that they metamorphose earlier in the year."(Can this apply to teenagers as they sense their parents bank accounts are drying up?)
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