Thursday, March 6, 2008

Window



Do you see them?





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12 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Oh My Gosh. The poor little things. They look so cold. Brrrrr

Beth said...

Wow! Those are very interesting. Have they been there all winter or are they starting to move around with the sunny days?

Tom Arbour said...

Nina-

What's amazing about Wood frogs is that they can freeze solid for months with no heartbeat, and when it warms up, they pop back to life. Great research about this is being done at Miami U. in Oxford. When I studying there, we got to go inside big freezers and check out things like frozen wood frogs and frozen turtles that were waiting for spring. The adaptations that some of these animals have is really amazing.

Cathy said...

The first picture - knocked my socks off. What a window. What a view.

Dorothy said...

Absolutely beautiful photos.
I often wondered how these little creatures survived under the ice.
It's just amazing!

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Yes, they sure do look cold and seemed unable/unwilling to move--a fairly cooperative photo subject, though the glare from the crystal surface above created a little difficulty for me!
I'd guess they're some of the individuals I heard calling several nights ago, in the 70 degree weather we had--and saw floating, sprawled across the surface of this vernal pool, looking for mates. I counted 10 males and 2 females at that time. Apparently they may stay in amplexis for several days. I think they may have overwintered on land nearby, beneath leaf litter? And go to the pool only for breeding? (not sure)

I'm pleasantly surprised to find them so "active" in the cold. I guess in my mind I lump amphibains and reptiles together and assume heat is necessary to get them moving!

It's just neat to see this window into their lives so close at hand!

Stacey Olson said...

Great photos Nina thanks for sharing

Mel said...

WOW! Poor guys :S
Cooooooold... brrrr

Susan Gets Native said...

Doing it in the ice CAN'T be fun.

Anonymous said...

Talk about a frog being in the wrong place at the wrong time! Ugg . . . . !

Anonymous said...

I love the photo, and no, I didn't see anything until the last close up. I agree with everyone else here - it makes me cold to the core just thinking about sitting in that ice, adaptation or no adaptation.

Seabrooke said...

What cool photos!