Calendar of Events

August 2007
Amphibians

"The frog does not drink up
the pond in which it lives."
Sioux Proverb

What to Do This Month:
Listen for Bullfrogs, Green frogs (and Mink frogs if you're in northern Wisconsin) as this is their mating season.

Find out which frogs may be living in your area.

After learning about local frogs, discover some amazing frogs from around the world from the American Museum of Natural History.

Check out the Nature Net Calendar of Events for fun family programs.

And, don't forget to pick up a Nature Passport at your favorite Nature Net site (now available in Spanish & Hmong).

Tricks of the Trail for Parents:
Watching Frogs
August is the perfect time to cool off at the water’s edge. And while you’re cooling, why not look for the "coolest" of inhabitants – frogs! Watching frogs with children requires three main ingredients: 1) quiet, 2) patience, and 3) a keen eye for what to look for. Explain to your little ones that you need to be quiet so the frogs feel comfortable in the presence of such big creatures (you!). Find a comfortable position from which to watch. Look for creatures to emerge after the scene is quiet. Oftentimes you will notice two small bumps on the water’s surface. These are the frog’s eyes peering up from below. These amphibians are expert in blending in with the surroundings – frogs may be camouflaged in the greenery at water’s edge. What can you find? Once you spot and identify a frog, join the National Wildlife Federation's Frogwatch program and report what you see.

Instant Outdoor Expert:
That's One Cold Blooded Frog
With over 6,000 known species, amphibians present an immense amount of diversity. Though most diversity is found in the tropics, from a 1.5 pound Bullfrog to the fingernail-size Blanchert's cricket frog, even Wisconsin's amphibians range in size, habitat and habit. For as many species as there are in existence, there are an equal number of amazing adaptations. Being cold-blooded and having semi-permeable skin requires a close relationship with one's surrounding environment. To maintain a functional body temperature, frogs, salamanders and caecilians (snake-like amphibians) not only feature cardiovascular and neural systems different from warm-blooded animals, they also use specific behaviors to regulate their temperature and therefore their metabolic rate.  Some examples of heat modifying behaviors include: selecting specific temperatures within a microclimate, basking in the sun, changing posture to align with sun or shade, and developing daily or seasonal activity cycles. Is there an advantage to going through all this trouble? Well, considering warm-blooded animals generally spend up to 90% of metabolic activity on maintaining a constant body temperature, cold blooded animals (or ectotherms) by comparison have much more energy available to spend on hunting, foraging, and mating. Want to learn more about cold bloodedness? Check out The Reptipage or take a peek at these cool thermal infrared images of cold and warm blooded animals.

Ready to test your knowledge of frogs?  Try a Frog Quiz from the UW Sea Grant.

Eco-Exercise:
Jump, Frog, Jump
Frogs have an amazing ability to jump, oftentimes propelling themselves many times the length of their own bodies. Can you jump like a frog? Crouch down so your feet are firmly planted, knees bent, and your hands are on the floor. Get ready, get set, and lurch forward like a frog. How far did you go? Try it again and again! Can you jump ten times your own length like the Bullfrog can? 

Featured Nature Net Site

Nature Craft

Madison Conservation Parks
Madison Conservation Parks aim to restore native plant and animal communities while providing education areas and opportunities for everyone. There are 14 unique conservation parks in Madison, each differing in how it is managed and why the land was acquired. Since the Conservation Parks Program was established in 1971, the City has acquired and manages over 1600 acres of conservation parkland.
For amphibian adventuring, Nature Net suggests a visit to Edna Taylor Conservation Park which offers a broad ribbon of marsh, 1.3 miles of trails, and a boardwalk. And don't miss Dane County's largest wetland, Cherokee Marsh, which acts as a living sponge by filtering upland runoff, using excess fertilizer to grow marsh plants, and slowly releasing cleaner water to Madison's lakes. Look for frogs and other amphibians along Cherokee Marsh's 7.1 miles of trails, boardwalks and observation decks.

Park Hours: 4:00 a.m. - dusk

Frog Jumper Puppet
Leaping lizards and jumping june bugs have nothing on this adorable jumping frog puppet.  Made from readily available craft supplies, this easy to fashion frog will get the whole family hopping.

Start by painting two 6-inch paper plates green. Next, create four legs by sandwiching 10-inch pieces of pipe cleaner between 1- by 12-inch strips of green felt. Join the felt pieces with fabric glue, and attach the legs in place around the inside edge of one of the plates. For the eyes, add black paint and googly eyes to 2 green construction paper circles and glue them to the inside edge of the same plate. Now, knot one end of a length of elastic string and glue it between the frog's eyes. Glue or staple the second plate atop the the first and use paint or markers to give your frog a wide smile. Lastly, tie the elastic to a chopstick or wooden skewer and get hopping!

Nature Craft adapted from FamilyFun.com

Learn about other Nature Net sites

Nature Craft Archives

Suggested Reading:
"Frog" by Susan Cooper (age 2-7)
"Jump, Frog, Jump!" by Robert Kalan (age 2-6)
"Frog Hunt" by Sandra Jordan (age 3-7)
"Finklehopper Frog" by Irene Livingston (age 4-8)
"Icky Sticky Frog" by Dawn Bentley (age 4-8)
"The Salamander Room" by Anne Mazer (age 4-8)
"The Big Wide-mouthed Frog" by Ana Martin Larranaga (age 4-8)
"The Frog Alphabet, and Other Awesome Amphibians" by Jerry Pallotta (age 4-8)
"Tale of a Tadpole" by Barbara Ann Porte (age 5-8)
"Lizards, Frogs and Polliwogs" by Douglas Florian (age 5-10)
"Frogs, Toads, and Turtles" (Take-Along Guide) by Diane L. Burns (age 8-12)
"Uncover a Frog" by Aimee Bakken (ages 6-12)

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