The Tale of Two Frogs

This January a woman called our office rather upset. She explained that she just noticed that her house plant had two, tiny frogs living in it! Obviously, it was not the right time of year to just release them and she didn't know how to care for them. Could we help?

Fortunately, we not only have Dr. Schmidt Dexter, who is highly trained in exotic pet care and wildlife rehabilitation, but we have a technician, Edi, who is a herpetologist. They assured her that they could help and encouraged her to bring the frogs to the office. When the tree frogs arrived they were very inactive, which was appropriate for the time of year, and they appeared healthy. They were identified as Gray Tree Frogs, a species indigenous to the area (meaning that they normally inhabit the wetlands of Michigan) and once spring came they could be released. The duo went home with Edi so they could safely continue their hibernation.

About a month ago Edi told me that the little frogs, whose cage was being kept in her bedroom,  suddenly began to sing. It appeared that the pair consisted of a male and a female and the male has a very shrill chirp (you can hear it on YouTube by searching Gray treefrog calling) that woke her abruptly from a deep sleep and left the whole house a little startled. Evidently it was getting close to time for their release.

Once the evenings were more consistently warm, the pair returned to our hospital for release. We are lucky to sit adjacent to a wetland and it seemed only right that they enjoy the beautiful habitat around our hospital. The hospital has extensive gardens, we don't use any chemicals on our lawn or flowers and during summer evenings our windows are literally plastered with all kinds of frogs. The charming couple was successfully released in the evening about 2 weeks ago. We  hope that they continue to thrive and reproduce. Who knows maybe we will see them on our windows, catching bugs, one evening this summer!