We are on a volunteer list for projects being done on the Eglin AFB Reservation. Last week we got an email asking for volunteers to go out onto the Reservation and search for the allusive Bog Frog.
The email said –
“All –
Brandon is doing another round of frog surveys – these are different this time though. He will be doing “road” surveys – just stopping at bridge/culvert crossings and listening for whatever happens to be calling! The work is super easy this time – no stomping around in the woods – unless you are adventurous and want to go after the frog that’s calling just to get a look!
Dates: June 7th – 10th
Time: 7:00 pm to 1:00 am
How many people: 1 person each night – but if you have a friend that wants to go, 2 will be fine
Meeting place: Jackson Guard pavilion
What you need: Food/Water for the night, bug spray, headlamp/flashlight, camera (if you want pictures of anything). You still need to wear long pants and close-toed shoes.
Erica”
I talked Troy into spending an evening with me in the woods listening to frogs.
We met Brandon, the wildlife biologist, at Jackson Guard in Niceville, loaded our stuff into his truck and off we went into the Reservation.
Naturally, the first question we asked was why survey frogs?
Brandon told us that in 1983 a new species of frog was discovered on the Reservation.
Lithobates Okaloosae – otherwise known as the Bog Frog.
Originally, it was only found in Okaloosa County but over the past few years has migrated a short distance to the east and west.
Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Walton counties in Northwest Florida are the only places this frog can be found.
Brandon’s job is to mark the locations of the Bog Frog. That data is given to Eglin officials so they know where not to conduct bombing training missions.
The Bog Frog has a very distinct voice, which sounds like a chuckle, and by sitting quietly next to streams, ponds and lakes you can hear them easily.
We had 12 areas to check and after driving deep into the woods we came to the first spot.
Brandon had a sheet for each location which he marked with the time, temperature, humidity and noted which kind of frogs he heard.
We stayed at each spot for 5 minutes and then were off to the next one.
We heard Pig Frogs (aka Southern Bull Frogs) Cricket Frogs and Bronze Frogs.
I started the trip thinking it would take years of studying frog voices to be able to tell them apart but by the end of the night I could identify all three of the frogs above.
At one point we were standing at the edge of a creek and I turned around and there on the ground behind me was a frog.
Brandon picked it up and explained that this is a female Bronze frog.
Only male frogs make noise so by listening you can guesstimate how many frogs there are in an area. Finding a female assures the biologist that the frog population at that spot will continue to grow.
Who knew I’d make a valuable contribution to the frog studying world! I doubt I’ll get credit in a science book though.
We drove on for hours, stopping at ponds and streams. As the night wore on I realized that the email I’d received was a little misleading.
There were quite a few spots we needed to check that we couldn’t get to by truck.
Brandon would stop and say “Ok, from here it’s only about 450 yards” and off we’d go.
There wasn’t any creek tromping, just clear paths down to the creeks. Which was fine with me. I don’t mind walking in the woods at night, I just won’t walk in swamps or creeks at night.
The only problem was that all of the places we needed to go were downhill from where we parked.
Which meant 450 yards down to the creek and then 450 yard back uphill to the truck.
Six times.
Halfway back to the truck on the 6th trek I decided that at the next spot I was going to use the old “I must have twisted my ankle on the last hike so I think I need to wait here” trick.
Thankfully, that was the last time we had to go far from the truck so I didn’t have to use the I’m Hurt card.
What was really cool was that Brandon is allowed access to all the Reservation. He does have to call someone before entering any of the closed areas. No one wants to wander into a night training mission.
We drove through parts of the Reservation that I would normally have zero access to.
No Bog Frogs were heard at any of the locations we checked, so at the end of the night Brandon took us to a stream where he heard them the night before.
We couldn’t see them, but we could hear them. It’s hard to describe the sound they make but it’s very distinctive.
Which means I can now name 4 different types of frogs by their voice.
Troy and I never really did understand why volunteers were needed for this particular mission but we did enjoy riding through the woods, listening to the night and learning a lot of interesting stuff.
Thanks, Brandon!
