Jacob emailed me recently with a question about frog calls. Here is what he had to say.

We have a large lake right next to our house (we are so lucky!!!), so I have built a pond. So far I have seen two motorbike frogs in the garden.

At the lake you hear hundreds of motorbike frogs, but you never hear any Slender tree frogs or any other frogs. In the pond there are tall rushes so I thought there would be. Is it possible that you can’t hear the slender tree frogs???

This is the answer I sent back to him.

I’m not one hundred per cent sure about your lake, and the frogs that might live in it, but I do know that it is possible for many varieties of frogs to live together in the same environment. I have been on a frog stalk at Herdsman Lake and seen, and heard, Motorbike frogs and Banjo Frogs and even Slender Tree frogs living together, and if you listen hard you can hear the different calls.

Banjo frogs have such a distinctive bonk, bonk sound and it is easy to distinguish from the Brrr, grok of the Motorbikes, but Slender Tree frogs have a high pitched screech or whistle and it can be hard to make out with the noisy Motorbikes around. They are also harder to spot, they blend in so well with their surroundings and are much smaller than a fully grown Motorbike frog. Motorbike frogs have also been known to accidentally eat a smaller frog so they really need to lay low and not be noticed.

I have heard that Motorbike frogs have become a bit of a problem at some sights because of this habit of eating anything that moves, including other frogs, as they sometimes end up making it difficult for smaller species to survive. Lets hope this isn’t happening at your lake! Regardless of this very natural aspect of frogs diets, the Motorbike frog is still my favourite, and all frogs need our help to survive.

Another thing to consider with frogs calls is the timing of their mating season. Banjo frogs breed in winter and spring, Motorbike frogs call in the summer, starting in November or December, but Slender Tree frogs are spring breeders. So maybe they have stopped calling by now.

I have been getting lots of questions lately about frogs, and I really enjoy researching and answering your emails. Keep them coming!