THE SPRING PEEPER 



RICHARD DECKERT 



The Voice of the Peeper comes from Brook and Pond Margin 



Spring in the country, as pictured by 

 most of us, means robins, bluebirds, 

 blackbirds and pussy willows. One little 

 messenger of spring, however, remains a 

 mystery, although heard before the 

 cheerful feathered songsters, and often 

 before the willows show their gleaming 

 silvery catkins. 



This is a tiny creature of the tree-toad 

 family, known under the scientific name 

 of Hyla pickeringii, and commonly called 

 "Spring Peeper." 



Sometimes in icy February, after sev- 

 eral days of thawing, followed by a 

 heavy, warm rain, his song is heard. It 

 comes from brook and pond-margin, 

 from meadows inundated by melting ice 

 and snow, and from dark woodland 

 pools. It is the shrill, penetrating note, 

 heard every spring all over the Eastern 

 United States and Southern Canada. The 

 first singers tune up in early afternoon, 

 but the full chorus does not perform 



until about sundown. 



As we approach the pond, one after 

 another of the "Peepers" drops out until, 

 when we have reached the water's edge, 

 the song ceases entirely. After a few 

 minutes of quiet waiting, there comes a 

 faint "peep, peep" from across the pond, 

 answered by another one nearer, and so 

 on until the chorus has again assumed its 

 ear-splitting fullness. Try and isolate the 

 nearest one from the rest. As you bend 

 down in search among the grass and 

 debris in the icy water, he ceases his song. 

 Great patience is necessary in order to 

 capture the Peeper. He sings from con- 

 cealment only, and may be entirely under 

 water among a clump of grass or moss, 

 only his nose and eyes protruding. Upon 

 the slightest disturbance he will slowly 

 draw back and creep way down among 

 the roots. The writer has often captured 

 Peepers by whistling in imitation of their 

 calls, locating one particular voice and, 



