These Louisiana frogs freeze like popsicles in winter, then thaw and sing all summer long

SHREVEPORT, La. ( KTAL/KMSS ) – What creature sings all night long, has a bubble on its chin, can freeze like a popsicle in winter and miraculously comes back to life in early spring, and can help humans track when spring begins each year?

We’ll give you a hint—peep, peep!

Down on Bodcau Bayou in Sarepta, Louisiana, on the shoreline at Wenks Landing , a chorus assembles just before the first raindrops fall from a summer storm. They close their nostrils and mouths, then squeeze their lungs to make the balloon-like vocal sacks in their throats inflate like tiny eco-friendly balloons.

Then they peep, as Spring Peepers do best.

Also known as Pseudacris crucifer , Spring Peepers are known for their ability to chirp. And they’re part of a group of frogs that are called “chorus frogs.”

And there’s a special reason why peepers peep—they’re dating.

It’s the males that call out to the females, and after they mate the ladies go lay their eggs underwater.

Twelve days later a new cycle of tadpoles is off to the races, sprouting tails and swimming like fish until they transform into four-legged creatures that can hop to it.

You can find peepers in marshy areas, most especially in wooded wetlands, because they love water and trees. They’ll hibernate underneath logs or large pieces of tree bark.

They can grow to a maximum of 1.5” long, and in the winter they produce their own antifreeze that helps protect their vital organs as they freeze like tiny meat popsicles. Up to 70% of a Spring Peeper’s body will freeze and the frog will appear to be dead in frigid temperatures. Their tiny hearts even stop pumping when it’s below 32 degrees.

But when spring comes back around, the little peepers thaw out. It takes them a bit because they have to heal from the effects of being frozen, but then they go back to doing what they do best—singing, mating, having baby peepers, and then freezing solid in winter again.

These little frogs reach maturity at 1 year old and then have two to three years to party in the forest before crossing over to that great bayou in the sky.

To find Spring Peepers, walk quietly through the forest until you find the place where water and trees meet. They’re easier to find in the early morning, late evening, or when a storm is approaching.

But know that just because you hear a peeper peeping doesn’t mean it’s close by. They sing so loud that one spring peeper peeping can be heard by humans more than a half mile away.

You’ll know you’ve found a peeper when you see an itty-bitty frog with an X on its back. They’re usually light brown and are found across the South from Texas to Florida.

Spring Peepers are sensitive to climate change, and scientists who record the dates of first peepings every year have noticed the little frogs are peeping earlier and earlier. The earlier first-peeping dates are believed to be an indication of warming winters .

Can you imagine life without Spring Peepers? Because you might have to one day. Almost a third of the world’s 8,680+ species of amphibians are either threatened with extinction or have already gone extinct.

Here’s how to protect the Spring Peepers that live near you.

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