Saturday, August 30, 2025
70.2 F
Beckley
More

    Ignore groundhogs: look to frogs to announce spring

    BEAVER, W.Va. — Say what you will about groundhogs, their ability to predict the arrival of spring is nowhere near as accurate as that of frogs: like clockwork, spring peepers will herald the return of light and warmth in central Appalachia in late February and early March.

    Advertisement

    Triggered by rising temperatures, the tiny frogs () will begin singing in vast numbers at about the time meteorological spring begins on March 1, and the phenomenon is one of the most welcome in the mountains.

    "If you're listening, it's the first frog you're going to hear in the spring," says Lauren Cole, the naturalist at Chief Logan State Park, which is one of the first state parks in West Virginia in which they're likely to be heard, as a result of its low elevation and relative warmth.

    Cole and other park officials in February are already preparing for the onset of spring and the park's famous , celebrating its 40th year on April 1, 2023. The event is one of the first scheduled wildflower events in the state, thanks to the warmth of the lower valley of the Guyandotte River.

    Advertisement
    Advertisement
    Advertisement
    Advertisement

    Cole said she'd been accustomed to hearing spring peepers singing in early March, though due to recent warming trends, their choruses may begin in late February in low-lying valleys. Their song may not be heard in the uplands until late March.

    The frogs are a species that can survive freezing temperatures, which allows them to emerge during cold weather and begin breeding when daytime temperatures warm significantly.

    "What you're hearing is the male frogs calling to the female frogs," Cole said.

    The frogs typically live near water, where they can lay their eggs, and in moist soils. Though they may live in larger bodies of water, they can also thrive near small ponds, roadside ditches, and vernal pools, which only exist temporarily.

    Advertisement

    "They typically live in the woods under logs or underneath bark, but when it warms up, that's their signal to come down to lower wet areas to mate," she said.


    Sign up to receive of FREE copy of West Virginia Explorer Magazine in your email weekly. 

    David Sibray
    David Sibray
    Historian, real estate agent, and proponent of inventive economic development in West Virginia, David Sibray is the founder and publisher of West Virginia Explorer Magazine. For more information, he may be reached at 304-575-7390.

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here

    Hot this week

    The story behind the breathtaking Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park

    CLIFFTOP, W.Va. — At first glance, the Glade Creek...

    The Battle of Stanaford—how did a massacre in W.Va. escape the notice of historians?

    STANAFORD, W.Va. — A quiet residential community outside the...

    Beloved Camp Kootaga scouting landmark in W.Va. saved for generations to come

    PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — For more than a century, Camp...

    West Virginia Explorer celebrates record 3.3 million monthly users amid 25th anniversary

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Explorer, the state’s most...

    Retro commercial realty for sale near Hatfield-McCoy ATV trails in West Virginia

    PINEVILLE, W.Va. — Once a gathering place for miners...

    Topics

    Related Articles

    Popular Categories