Just because, part 19

copes grey treefrog Hyla chrysoscelis from underside in mid call
I’ve had this one kicking around in the folder, oh, since a few days after this June post, so I figured it needed to appear to help keep things happening until I come back with a follow-up to the Jekyll trip post. This is another Copes grey treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) captured in mid call of course, showing off the lemon-yellow inner thighs. I think this was the last time we actually had rain.

Okay, that’s not true – the tropical storm that drove in a week ago gave us two days of light rain, but it had been a while, and we’re back to sweltering hot days and crumbling plants. And as I type this I remember another set of images, captured back on Tuesday as I removed the cover from the grill.

green treefrog Hyla cinerea tucked onto grill panelTucked up well underneath the cover was this green treefrog (Hyla cinerea,) who obviously couldn’t remain there because I was about to fire up the grill. I was surprised to see it, since we don’t see many green treefrogs in the immediate area. I suspected it was the one I had brought home from the garden shop a few weeks earlier, but a careful comparison of the irises between the two sets of pictures tells me they’re different individuals. I was about to capture it to move it towards the backyard pond, but it was already stirring because of my proximity and obviously sketchy behavior with the camera, and it leapt away as I tried to grab it. This led to a few moments of scrambling around to try and move it to a safe location, and during that time it paused briefly on the leg of my shorts, after urinating on my hand of course. Eventually, it made its way under the steps, which was safe from potential burns or getting smoked out, and I could continue with preparing dinner.

Yes, I washed my hands before proceeding. Sheesh.

green treefrog Hyla cinerea perched on photographer's shorts