Wild Nights

I've been wandering about after dark lately, looking and listening for some wild night life. I haven't been in the bars or clubs, I've been hanging around the swamps and marshes. I walk a bit then stop and listen for the sounds of frogs and toads calling for mates. That's right, I'm searching for amphibian sex.

I'm a member of the Friends of the Rouge and am a volunteer frog and toad surveyor. I live in the Rouge River watershed, which drains into the Detroit River, then the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and finally the Atlantic Ocean. Frogs and toads are sensitive to pollutants and other environmental changes on the land and in the water, so changes in their population can be used as an indicator of the health of a body of water. I go out at least once a week to my assigned section of land and listen for frog and toad songs. Like birds, male toads and frogs call to attract their mates and to mark their territory. The reason volunteers go out at night is because frog and toad calls can sound similar to birds songs but, birds usually don't sing at night.

I've gone to bed every night for the last month listening to a cd of the calls of the frogs and toads that live in the Rouge River watershed. I'm pretty confident that I can identify each frog or toad by its call, but just in case, I've downloaded their calls to my iPod so I can double check when I'm sitting by my swamp.

If you want to listen to their calls or see pictures of the frogs and toads, check out their website at www.therouge.org .