This spring peeper blends in with the colorful fallen leaves that blanket the ground in a wooded area in Minnesota. Although spring peppers have toe pads that enable them to climb, they seem more comfortable on the forest floor where they make themselves at home among bark, leaves, and logs. The spring peeper's binomial name, crucifer, means "cross-bearer" in Latin, a reference to the distinguishing dark "X" on its back. The frogs common name comes from its high-pitched...
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This spring peeper blends in with the colorful fallen leaves that blanket the ground in a wooded area in Minnesota. Although spring peppers have toe pads that enable them to climb, they seem more comfortable on the forest floor where they make themselves at home among bark, leaves, and logs. The spring peeper's binomial name, crucifer, means "cross-bearer" in Latin, a reference to the distinguishing dark "X" on its back. The frogs common name comes from its high-pitched call, which sounds like sleigh bells in chorus. Also known as "pinkletinks", "tinkletoes", and "pink-winks", spring peepers are ofthen called simply "peepers". Found throughout the Eastern United Sates and Canada, spring peepers are well adapted to wintry climates and can endure internal body temperatures as low as -8C (17.6F)—cold enough to freeze some of the frog's body fluids.
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