Ohio’s 15 species of frogs and toads at a glance / / Ohio’s 15 species of frogs and toads at a glance Standard by Updated on Apr. 26, 2016 45 Comments An article entitled, , states that there are 15 species in our state. To help me to learn to identify these species, I wanted to see photos of all 15 on one page. I selected a representative photo for each species from Flickr. Keep in mind that a single species may vary a lot in color. Below each photo, I note the range of colors that are possible for that species. Toads The “True” Toads Eastern American Toad (Bufo americanus americanus) Eastern American Toad; Photographed by me at Inniswood Metro Park The Eastern American toad does vary in color. It may be reddish, gray, or tan. Fowler’s Toad (Bufo fowleri) Photo courtesy , license: Fowler’s Toad (Bufo fowleri) The Fowler’s toad may be brown, tan, gray, or light green. The dark spots on the back of the Fowler’s toad have three or more “warts” while the dark spots, if present on theAmerican toad, have only one or two “warts.” Another distinction is that the bumps on the leg of the American Toad tend to be more pronounced than those of the Fowler’s toad. The Spadefoot Toads Eastern Spadefoot (Scaphiopus holbrookii) Eastern Spadefoot by There are two yellow lines on the Eastern Spadefoot’s back. It is the only frog/toad on this page whose pupils are vertical. Frogs The “True” Frogs American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) American Bullfrog; Photographed by me at Inniswood Metro Park American Bullfrog; Photographed by me in my driveway The American bullfrog’s back may be green or brown. Northern Green Frog (Rana clamitans melanota) Northern Green Frog; Photographed by me at Inniswood Metro Park The back of the Northern Green Frog may be green or brownish green. It may or may not have noticeable spots. When it doesn’t seem to have spots, you can still distinguish it from the American Bullfrog because the Northern Green Frog has a ridge going down each side of itsback, while the American Bullfrog does not. Pickerel Frog (Rana palustris) Pickerel Frog by The Pickerel Frog may be tan, light brown, or olive-green. Note that the spots between the folds on the frog’s back have a squarish quality. Northern Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens pipiens) Northern Leopard Frog, photographed by me at Tinker’s Creek State Nature Preserve. The Northern Leopard Frog may be tan, light brown, or olive-green. Note that the spots have a light-colored rim. Southern Leopard Frog (Rana sphenocephala utricularius) Southern Leopard Frog by The Southern Leopard Frog may be green or brown. Unlike the Northern Leopard Frog, the spots of the Southern Leopard Frog don’t have a light border. Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica) Photographed by me at Dawes Arboretum; these frogs are both wood frogs, so this gives you some idea of the variation in color that’s possible. Wood frogs are typically dark brown or tan, but occasionally individuals have been discovered that are a reddish color,or even pink. The Tree Frogs Blanchard’s Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi) Blanchard’s Cricket Frog by The Blanchard’s Cricket Frog may be brown, gray or olive-green. Cope’s gray tree frogs (Hyla chrysoscelis) Cope’s gray tree frogs by The Cope’s gray tree frog (above) and the Eastern gray tree frog (below) are supposed to look virtually identical, but they are very different genetically. You might be saying to yourself, “Hey, they don’t look so very identical to me.” But as mentioned at the top of this post, this is part of the normal variability in color that occurs in many of these species. Typically these two species are gray, but they can change to green. Eastern Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) Eastern Gray Treefrog by Mountain Chorus Frog (Pseudacris brachyphona) Mountain Chorus Frog (Pseudacris brachyphona); published by Todd Pierson at Flickr The Mountain Chorus Frog may be light brown or olive-green. Northern Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer crucifer)Northern Spring Peeper by The back of the Northern Spring Peeper is some combination of yellow, brown, tan, reddish, or olive-green. Western Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata triseriata) Western Chorus Frog by The Western Chorus Frog’s back is brown, gray, tan or olive-green. Window wells: Because people have posted comments about finding tiny toads in their basement window wells, I looked into this further. It turns out that once the toads get into the window wells, they are trapped there and will likely die if a person doesn’t help them to escape. Probably the best solution is to prevent the animal from getting into the window well in the first place. You can do this by getting a window well cover like . You can also find window well covers at your local hardware store. Another alternative that might work is putting something into the window well that a small animal could use as a ramp to get out. © Deborah Platt, Robert Platt and TrekOhio.com 2012 Tags: 45 thoughts on “Ohio’s15 species of frogs and toads at a glance” Holly says: I have seen twenty frogs with the blue to violet feet and hands in Middletown ohio today…they do not look like any of the 15 images they also have blue specks in their throat balloons…they are almost tame. They are abundant in a natural metro park here. Any thoughts on what it is? I will try to post pics tomorrow Mitzie Kelleher says: Hello, I just found a frog/toad on my table inside the house. I believe it has been living in my houseplants that I brought inside this past September. Would it be better to put it outside on a warmer winter day or keep it in a terrarium until spring? Any advice would be appreciated. says: I think it would be better to wait till it is warmer. Many species of frog prepare for winter by digging into the ground and burying themselves. However, at this time of the year the ground is frozen, so I don’t think they’d be able to pull it off. Judy Jones says: I have a little frog living in my hanging fernplanter, it has container of water hanging under the planter to keep water in. He sometimes moves from there to my porch light and back. My question is what will I do with him when it’s time to take the planter down and will he be ok? Where will he go during the winter? says: Frogs and Toads hibernate over the winter, but the manner in which he chooses to hibernate depends on his species. Some species hibernate at the bottom of ponds. Toads and some frogs are very good diggers, and they hibernate by digging down till they are past the frost line where they remain through winter. And there are other frogs, like the Cope’s Gray Tree Frog that aren’t capable of digging down that deep, but still spend the winter on land. What they do is bury themselves under leaf litter or mulch, or squeeze into some little cranny. Since they are not below the frost line, they do partially freeze, but amazingly they thaw out and resume life in the spring. They have a sort of biological anti-freeze thatkeeps them from freezing entirely. Mo Jones says: I have a frog living in my bedroom windowsill in my basement. I think he’s a northern leopard frog but I’m not 100% sure. He got in around last summer or spring and my sister and I named him Todd. I don’t know how he got in because we have a cover on the windowsill. Also I don’t know how he’s lived this long without dying but I think he’s eating spiders and there’s always a little bit of water in the bottom of the sill. We haven’t been able to get him out yet because he has this little hole in the corner he crawls into that we can’t reach into. Any ideas on how to get him out? says: Mo, wow, that’s a tough one. If you happened to see Todd while he’s farther away from the hole, maybe you could drop something over the hole before you tried to catch him. Still it’s good to hear that he’s survived so long. Steve McBride says: Can you identify this frog. He has been at our back door every day looking for bugs I suppose. We have two ponds infront of our condo so I am guessing frogs originate from there. Every year we have one frog like this one in the same spot? We have small dogs that look at him but do not get too close nor do they bother with him much. I am worried a little that if they choose to get closer they may get smeared with the glands this frog may have on his neck? says: Steve, if you have a photo of the frog, you can send it to our gmail address (username: trekohioblog). Dawn Lyons says: I’m new to the central Ohio area (2+ years). I grew up in eastern PA and the Pocono mtns were my home away from home. I’m pretty familiar with all the fauna in that area, including amphibians, but sadly, I didn’t experience the NUMBERS of tiny little toads and tree frogs until this year, in our country yard. For nearly 2 months, our little 1 acre property was over-run with dime sized toads. Every. Single. Step. Even accidentally squished one between my toes. =( Can’t wear sandals out there since then. Been getting some