Fotogenic Frog

A dahlia flower fell down into some yews, and a shy tree frog decided it was a fine place to rest.

The Eastern Gray Treefrogs are most often found on vegetation, usually high up in the trees, rather than near water, as their name implies.  Actually, I most often see them in the outdoor tank we use to water potted plants.

I picked up the lid of the water tank to see if it needed filling, and found this little guy waiting for me. I don’t know how they get in, and I wonder how they get out.

They are adept at climbing vertical surfaces, even slick ones, using their sticky, enlarged toepads.

Their skin has a warty appearance, like that of toads, and they manage to stay hydrated without taking refuge in pools of water, even during hot days.  Gray Treefrogs tend to hunt at night, often near an outdoor light fixture where they can capture insects coming to the light.

Interesting eye color in this individual, and you notice patches of green in the otherwise gray skin.

Skin color in these frogs is highly variable (hence their scientific name — Hyla versicolor).  Three layers of chromatophores in the skin (color-producing cells) combine to produce the color pattern, which can change (very slowly) from near white to very dark brown, with variations of mottled green and gray in between. Treefrogs don’t match their environment perfectly the way a chameleon does, but their color changes do help camouflage them in their environment somewhat.  More on how this is accomplished in the next post!  Stay tuned.

oops, there are no red-orange pigments in those chromatophores, so color matching this dahlia would be tough.