Meet The Vibrant Frogs Of Connecticut’s Summer Wildlife Scene

Remember all of those Spring Peepers that made you lose sleep back in April and May? It's August, the weather is humid, and there is life all around you if you look down.

Over the past few days as we've had this perfect Summertime weather I've noticed that this is a good year for all of our wildlife in Connecticut. Every morning over the past few weeks I've seen raccoon, opossum, deer, and quite a few fox scavenging around in the dark along 202 on my way to work. Yesterday's overabundance of animal appearances happened at my feet.

Frogs. It's nice to see those little tadpoles make it out of the water onto dry land, but oh man do they scare my 6 pound Chihuahua. I live along the Naugatuck River in Torrington and walk my dog there every day, over the weekend RayRay had quite a few scares as these little froggies try to get out of our way.

Connecticut is Home to a Wide Variety of Amphibian Species

There are more than 7,000 living species of amphibians in the world but Connecticut is home to 11 species of frog and toad. According to the Peabody Museum at Yale, you will encounter American Bullfrog, Green, Atlantic Coast Leopard, Northern Leopard, Pickerel, and Wood Frog in our state. Torrington has been a welcoming environment for Northern Leopard.

My Chihuahua at 6 pounds isn't a target for the baby frogs, but most other species under a frog's weight can be considered prey. Frogs primarily feast on insects, but anything smaller can end up as a meal, including other frogs.