Christmas Bells

Christmas Bells
Christmas Bells - Blandfordia nobilis

Monday, December 26, 2011

Verreaux's Tree Frog

I found this little guy on the kitchen floor in Steve and Celeste's kitchen.
Because Frogs have moist skin, they are not good at living in houses. This little guy had caught up a bit of dust and some wind-blown seeds, which were trailing along behind it, making it barely able to move.

As soon as I realised the nature of its predicament, I grabbed a glass of water, and dumped it in there.

Verreaux's Tree Frog - in a glass, and seen from above.

It took a moment of two to recover then immediately tried to climb out.
Some level of success, therefore, in my plan.
Also that told me it was a Tree Frog (as they have much better pads than swimming frogs).

I covered the glass so I could hobble away to grab my camera, and turn down the flash so it would not get blinded.

There are two Frog sites which cover this species of Frog.
I have used these two sites to conclude that my Frog is the Whistling Tree Frog, Verreaux's Tree Frog
(Litoria verreauxii)
http://frogsaustralia.net.au/frogs/display.cfm?frog_id=190
http://frogs.org.au/frogs/species/Litoria/verreauxi/




Note the small pads on the toes,


Note the reddish pink colour inside the legs (not yellow)
Verreaux's Tree Frog making its way back home

The call made by this frog is quite familiar to me, even though I have never seen this species before.
You can listen to it by clicking on the link at this page. 
http://frogs.org.au/frogs/species/Litoria/verreauxi/
Click on the hear it now link on that page.
The calls are copyrighted, so I am directing you to that site.
It is very quick to open, and just lasts about 7 seconds to play through.

5 comments:

Sue Catmint said...

so glad you managed to rescue this frog in distress. Great website, I had never seen it before, particularly appreciate listening to the sounds they make. Happy holidays Denis.

Denis Wilson said...

Hi Catmint
Glad you liked the froggie noises.
Those two sites are very useful.
I do not understand the politics behind two competing websites.
Their information is basically the same, but there are subtle differences.
But use the same sound files, generally, but they are presented differently.
The calls of frogs are very useful for distinguishing them. Some are very distinctive, others less so.
I recommend saving both those two sources (the Home pages) as Favourites, or "bookmarking" them, for future reference.
Have a good New Year.
Cheers
Denis

Denis Wilson said...

I meant to write "both use the same sound files"
Hopefully that is true - it seems to be on the ones I have checked recently.
Denis

Snail said...

Frog rescues are a good opportunity for getting --- and sharing --- close up views.

That first version of the call is very bird-like. I'm not sure I'd even pick it as a frog if I were listening to it 'in the wild'.

Denis Wilson said...

Frog Rescues are also a great "feel good" moment, when your poor half-dried Froggie gets a bath and cleans itself off, and heads for the wild.
Not very frequent for me, as I am looking for the wrong things usually, but I usually manage to grab my camera when the moment arises.
Glass is useful for the basic underneath shot, without harming the little creature.
Does not make for good imagery, but in this case, it showed the red inner thigh.
You've gotta love the Froggies.
Denis