Why did the Frog cross the road?

wood frog ( NYS Dept. Environmental Conservation)

When I drive up my road these nights I see frogs and toads leaping and hopping across the road. I suspect they're leaving the ponds and heading into the woods for fall. The toads (American toads) will burrow into the soil below the frost line, but gray tree frogs and other frogs that aren't so good at digging will just scootch beneath layers of leaves and pine needles.

A layer of leaves sounds cozy - but it's not nearly warm enough to keep the frogs from freezing. So it's a good thing these frogs have "antifreeze" in their system.

Meanwhile, during these last nights of summer, the woods around my house is noisy. Every evening there is a symphony of cricket and frog song that echoes through the trees.

What sort of night sounds do you have around your home? Open the windows and listen. See if you can tell who's singing/chirping/wailing/trilling. If there are too many human sounds, take a nighttime field trip to a park where you can hear the insects and last-of-summer amphibians. You can listen to the sounds of frogs here and here.