The little loudmouths that signal springtime: Fun facts about peepers

Cape Cod can be a quiet place in the winter. But somewhere out there, an epic amphibian choir is getting ready for the biggest show of their lives. As we move into spring, a tiny frog in a tuxedo will hop up to a podium, tap its baton on a music stand and the symphony will begin. The peepers are back!

Well, it doesn’t quite happen that way. But peepers provide the most recognizable (and loudest) sign that we have survived winter and warmer days are ahead.

At first, their high-pitched song can be a thrill, but it’s understandable if you’re tempted to yell “pipe down” as the spring progresses. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, “they can be heard from as far as one mile to two and a half miles depending on the number of peepers in the chorus.”

That’s pretty loud! Here’s the tale of the tape from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation: “Even though they weigh in at .03 ounces, they can deliver a call that is 90 decibels. Those who study peepers often report hearing loss.” To put that into perspective, these roughly one-inch-long frogs can make as much noise as a lawn mower, a vacuum or a printing press.

Why do peepers make all that noise?

Here’s how these little loudmouths make that giant sound, according to the Farmers’ Almanac: “To make their calls, peepers close their nostrils and mouths and squeeze their lungs, which causes the vocal sac in the throat to inflate like a balloon. The peeping sound happens as air leaves the lungs, passes over the vocal cords and into the vocal sac.”

As you reach for earplugs, you may be wondering: why are those peepers making such a racket in the first place? Well, it’s kind of a love story. That sound you hear is male peepers trying to attract a mate.

“It’s a male advertising its fitness,” said Mark Faherty, Science Coordinator for the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. “Females will choose a male with a louder and more frequent song.”

The courtship cacophony leads to females producing eggs that hatch within days. Peeper tadpoles take several months to mature into frogs, with a possible lifespan of three to four years. But there are no guarantees in the wild, because peepers are a food source for birds, snakes, fish and larger frogs.

Easy to hear, hard to find

With all the spring peeping going on, it would seem an easy task to walk down to the edge of a wetland and get a good look at one of these clamorous tidbits. But it’s not that simple. Peepers clam up when you get near them.

“They’re incredibly frustrating,” said Faherty. “If you put on your waders and got in there with a good flashlight at night, you’d find them, but they are tough to see. They are so little and they blend in with their surroundings. On a warm, rainy night you might find them on the road, or maybe on your deck.”

Perhaps there’s no need to go on peeper patrol. We’ll know they are out there, providing the soundtrack to spring and producing more froggy Pavarottis. Of course, it might be fun if we all got together at the edge of a marsh and serenaded them, just to mix things up.

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