![]() A special antifreeze they produce keeps liquids from freezing inside their cells and killing them. Throughout the winter, wood frogs stop breathing, their hearts stop beating, and ice crystals form within their hibernating bodies, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. What’s most amazing is that the wood frog is so adapted to cold temperatures that its tissue can actually freeze and thaw. These frogs hibernate during the winter in terrestrial or forested wetlands in very shallow earth. In fact, the wood frog is the only frog found north of the Arctic Circle. This hearty frog is one of the more cold-adapted species with a natural habitat range extending farther north than any other amphibian species. Green frog and bullfrog tadpoles hatch in the summer and then spend all winter living and swimming below the ice in the nearly freezing water.īut none of these species compare to the wood frog when it comes to cold weather adaptations. Some toads even bury themselves to hibernate. Well, it turns out that frogs and toads, particularly in the Northeast and other colder climates, spend their winters quietly tucked away while they hibernate in the mud at the bottom of lakes, carefully concealed in logs and tucked under leaf litter. If he needed help getting through the snow, how was a small frog or toad going to navigate the cold, wintry earth? We received so much snow from this recent snowstorm that I had to shovel a small path so our Boston terrier could navigate the backyard. With more than a foot of fresh snow covering the ground, I began to wonder where all of the frogs and toads go in the winter. Last week, as I was taking in the beauty of the snow-covered New England landscape, I started thinking about amphibians. ![]() (Photo by: Brian Gratwicke, Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project) Throughout the winter, wood frogs (tadpole shown here) stop breathing, their hearts stop beating, and ice crystals form within their hibernating bodies.
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