Wood Frog Egg Mass
May 08, 2003
Provided and copyright by: P. Riemer
Summary authors & editors: Martin Ruzek; P. Riemer
Spring temperatures in the upper 80s (about 30 degrees C) a few weeks ago gave the frogs in central Wisconsin something to sing about. The Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica) were noisy and a few Spring Peepers were active too. Frog egg masses like the one above begin to appear in ponds as the air temperature warms. Sunday noon (4/13) this first egg mass appeared; Monday there were 4 masses; Tuesday there were more than 50. But by Wednesday morning the air temperature was nearly down to freezing, and the ponds were quiet again. These eggs will take 15-20 days to hatch, depending on the water temperature, and hatched tadpoles will take 6-8 weeks to metamorphose into developed frogs, hopefully by the time spring pools dry up in early summer.
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