Wood Frog

Description:

Wood frogs are a common frog in the Ranidae family ("true" frogs) that grow to about 3 inches long. They are typically tan and brown with a white underside, and females tend to be a more reddish brown. The two raised ridges running down the length of their bodies separating their backs (dorsols) from their sides (lateral) are called dorsolateral folds. There's often darker marking running the length of the dorsolateral fold, on the lateral side. Wood frogs also have a distinctive dark mark called a "robber mask" that starts at the snout as relatively thin bands that broaden as they progress back over the sides of the head, over the nostrils, eyes, and eardrums (tympanum).

Habitat:

This particular frog lives in a suburban backyard. It was spotted in an old decaying woodpile made up of pine logs. The collapsing wood pile is also home to several wood rotting fungi and insects.

Notes:

I was climbing about on the wood pile taking pictures of fungi and moss (to see if I could spot anything new and to see how the known stuff was progressing) when I decided to roll a log over and see if anything interesting was under it. I didn't see anything of note, but after a moment or so, a wood frog that had been right near the log hopped into a nearby "hole" between logs. He must have been there all along, waiting for me to go away, but I'd not been able to see him. What a pity I'd missed the chance to take good pictures of him. I did what I could instead and took pictures using the flash, down the hole. The flash was required.