Despite there being no standing water on our property, apart from a couple of trays holding bog plants, a surprising variety of amphibians call the garden home. Here are a couple of recent sightings that add to my list of resident amphibians.
Pickerel frogs are found throughout North Carolina, with the exception of the Outer Banks and some tidal regions of the coastal plain. This one was out late one evening on our concrete driveway, usually the hunting territory of more terrestrial-adapted toads. The night was dry, so I was surprised to see any amphibian, let alone a frog.
I have been digging postholes for a new fence, and an inch or two of rainwater accumulated in the two-foot deep holes. I’m glad I decided to fish around in the muddy water before dropping posts and concrete in the holes. The extensive webbing on the feet of this species indicates that its preferred habitat is aquatic, so I’m not sure what inspired this one to leave the creek and cross an acre or two of dry oak-pine woodland to find a muddy little hole.
In another of the postholes, I found an eastern spadefoot, a terrestrial species that I have shown before but which is uncommon enough and interesting enough to warrant showing again.
