Southern Cricket Frog Has Great Ability in Long Distance Jumping

The most obvious and best defense ability of the Southern Cricket Frog is possibly their ability to jump long distance - sometimes as far off as 8 feet away each jump. Their jump is a handy ability which allows them to avoid and run away from their predators who always want to get a bite from them. Another ability the Southern Cricket Frogs have is orienting according to the moon's movement which is pretty impressive.

The Southern Cricket frog can generally be found on the ground or in freshwater areas with sunlight. They may inhabit areas like shallow ponds with vegetation, creeks and marshes. The Southern Cricket Frog gets the southern part of their name to the fact that they inhabit areas of southern United States like Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. They do have cousins which are known as the Northern Cricket Frog.

The Southern Cricket frog can be found in a large variety of colors like black, green, red, and more. They are not very large frogs, and just like other species, the females are slightly larger than the males. Running along the back of the Southern Cricket Frogs are some bright colored stripes. Also, when compared with their cousin, the Northern Cricket Frog, the Southern Cricket Frog is generally a bit slender, and smaller in comparison. There is less webbing between their toes, and the first toe generally does not have much webbing in-between it. There are also warts on the frogs which are more prominent as it goes to the end. In many pictures, they resemble that of a cricket for a better image reference.

The Southern Cricket Frog has a large variety of diet which they will eat; however, their main diet normally consists of mosquitoes which can be seen as beneficial to humans as we see mosquitoes as annoying pests. These frogs will normally sit quickly and wait for their prey; when their prey is close by, their tongue will dart forward and catch it just like the stereotypical frog.

While the males will call all year long, the breeding season is usually from February to October. When the eggs are laid, it only takes a couple of days to hatch. Metamorphose for the tadpoles to frogs only takes around 3 months or so; however, the life span of the Southern Cricket Frog is generally only 4 months or so as many of the tadpoles will die off fast. Adults will normally only last live up to a year.

The Southern Cricket Frog's call is easy to identify as it never changes pitch or tempo. Some say that their call resembles clicking two stones together. Their calls are also fast tempo, and can be heard easily.

The Southern Cricket Frog is definitely an interesting frog to see and hear. Their appearance is adorable, and will highly resemble a cricket. They have a stabilized population still, and are quite dominant in southern United States. However, these frogs are not social creatures normally although at times they will be found together in large groups.