Robyn,

I think a long time ago you warned me that Spring Peepers are very loud breeders - and even advised me against having them in my pond.

Last night, I noticed these obnoxiously loud and incessant frog calls - i looked online for samples of frog calls - and i suspected it could only come from a small frog, that it would vibrate so quickly - so i made my first and only necessary stop at the Spring Peeper sample and need go no further.


I am so glad i caught this in time - before introducing an entire colony of peepers into my yard - which an ecologist friend of mine warned me that they, of all frogs, would likely remain in my pond area and not leave.

My only question is this: from a great distance, it seems that i was listening to a chorus of individual frog calls; therefore, each call is loud - that is to say: its not as though many frogs are made to sound as one and, therefore, one unified sounding call group, among other groups.

Is it the case, as i seem to observe, that each peeper is, all by itself, loud - so that i can hear them all they way about 600 yards away, so distincly and piercing.

i would have been in a lot of trouble with the neighbors.


However, do you think that if i just had a hand full of peepers in my pond area - would that be irritating to neiboring houses?

again, it seems like just one male peeper is enough to make an extemely noisey sound; and it does not seem like its a matter of several males in heterphonic unison combined that makes this piercing and loud sound.

Spring peepers prefer vernal pools and won't hang around in large ponds or those with fish for very long. They have never come to my ponds at all but call in a cesspool farm pond very close to our land. Gray tree frogs breed in our pool cover in the spring but I've only seen a few peepers there.

A single peeper calling in a world of silence will sound very loud. When a whole group calls, it becomes a different sort of constant sound, like a hum or crashing waves or something. It's more then a white noise and perhaps not as irritating from a distance. But, close up, a colony of tree frogs calling is so loud that you can't hold a conversation.

"However, do you think that if i just had a hand full of peepers in my pond area - would that be irritating to neiboring houses?"

It depends on what kind of people they are - nature lovers or haters. Spring peepers around here only call for a few months in late winter to early spring and are quiet the rest of the year. They become background noise. While less loud, an individual tree frog calling may be more irritating since it's not a constant sound but a repetitive sound.

We have a small 12x12 pond on the side of our house. It was built by the previous owner and when he left two years ago, he took all the pumps, filters, etc. with him. So we had been left with just a stagnant pond until late last year, when we bought a pump to at least get the water moving and eliminate some mosquitoes.
We have had what sounds like a large group of spring peepers this spring for the second year in a row since we've lived here (Long Island, NY). They do get loud, but as Robyn said, they only last a short time. I actually love to hear them start up in the spring. It reminds me that winter is finally over! We are in a wooded suburban area, and ours are certainly not the only peepers. As you walk or drive at night, the sounds come from many places. We have never had any complaints about our little group.