Sept. 1, 2019 - Amphibians and a Reptile

Here are photos of some amphibians and reptiles I saw this summer at our home in northern Minnesota.

This is a Gray Treefrog. It has the ability to change its color from gray to green depending on the color of its surroundings. The ground under our wind turbine is covered with ferns and raspberry plants and I can always find a few of Gray Treefrogs there. This is a small frog species, measuring only 1½ to 2 inches long.

FrogGrayTreeHillourwindturbineDunningLakeItascaCounty20190802

This is also a Gray Treefrog; the whitish patch below the eye is diagnostic. This Treefrog was on our deck one night when I left the porch light on to attract moths. Its gray color isn’t a perfect match for the deck but its better than the green color.

FrogGrayTreeDunningLakeItascaCounty20190814

I saw this Green Frog at night in our yard. At 2¾ to 3½ inches long, this is a larger frog. The book Amphibians & Reptiles of the North Woods says this is the most commonly seen frog in the north. I was surprised at that because I always see more Leopard Frogs in our yard. I haven’t seen any Leopard Frogs yet, but they usually show up in the fall.

FrogGreenRanaclamitansDunningLakeItascaCounty20190816

The spring Peeper is very small, measuring only ¾ to 1 inch long. It’s a little hard to see in this photo but a good diagnostic field mark is the dark X on its back. Spring Peepers are also common among the ferns by our wind turbine.

FrogSpringPeeperDunningLake20190720

The dark mask identifies this as a Wood Frog. It was in our driveway after a rainstorm. It measures 1 3/8 to 2¼ inches long. True to its name, it spends a lot of time in the woods.

FrogWoodRanasylvaticaDunningLakeItascaCounty20190703

The American Toad is the only toad found in our area. It measures 2 to 3½ inches long. This one was resting on the rocks among the plantings around our house.

ToadAmericanDunningLakeItascaCounty20190808

Here’s one of the large Snapping Turtles that live in our lake. It was slowly swimming around near our dock. I don’t have the necessary attachments to take photos of creatures that are under the water, but I tried anyway. The resulting photo was very dark, so I worked with it in Photoshop and it turned out looking almost like a black and white photo. Look at the huge claws on its feet.

TurtleSnappingDunningLakeItascaCounty20190711