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The birds are singing, the grass is greening, and the peepers are peeping. Spring has finally sprung here in upstate New York after a long, long winter. "What's a peeper?" you ask? I was surprised how many people wonder what I'm talking about when I mention how deafening the sound of the peepers is each night.
Peepers, also known as spring peepers, are little frogs. They are just as synonymous with spring in the Northeast as are crocuses, daffodils, robins, bluebirds, and pussywillows. Peepers are commonly found in wetlands, so if you're a city dweller, that may explain why you haven't heard them (or been kept up all night by them).
Maybe you know peepers by another name. I thought it was interesting, that according to Wikipedia, they are called something else in different parts of the country:
On Martha's Vineyard, peepers are commonly called "pinkletinks"; in New Brunswick, Canada, they are sometimes called "tinkletoes", although not commonly known by that name, and usually referred to as simply "peepers". On Nova Scotia's South Shore, they are sometimes referred to as "pink-winks."
Interestingly enough, peepers hibernate through the winter and can endure freezing of their bodily fluids down to -8° C. It does this by producing a glucose that acts as a natural anti-freeze to keep cells from rupturing. (Maryland Department of Natural Resources)
They start peeping in early spring in conjunction with breeding season. The males are the ones producing the peeping noise. Females can lay up to 1,000 eggs.
How can such tiny frogs keep someone up at night with their peeping? According to the Kentucky Farmhouse website , peepers can be heard as far as 2.5 miles away. At my house, it's easy to hear them by day and after dark it sounds like we live in a jungle!
If you've never heard peepers, listen here.
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Re: Jeepers, Creepers... a Different Kind of Peepers!
