Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources calling all frog and toad advocates

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is seeking public participation in the annual Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey to help document frog and toad breeding calls throughout the state this spring and summer.

The Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey was formally launched in 1984 amid concerns about declining populations of several species of frogs. Since then, citizen scientists have helped DNR conservation biologists better define the distribution, status and population trends of all 12 frog and toad species in Wisconsin.

“The DNR is once again looking for night-loving volunteers, who we lovingly call ‘froggers,’ to lend their ears to monitor and help conserve frogs and toads in all corners of Wisconsin,” DNR conservation biologist Andrew Badje, who coordinates the DNR’s Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey, said.

Volunteers can participate in three ways:

• Traditional Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey — This option requires volunteers to drive along a preset route for three nights of surveys, once each in early spring, late spring and early summer. Volunteers make 10 stops per night, listening for five minutes at each site, documenting the species heard calling and the relative abundance of each species. To see the routes, visit wiatri.net/inventory/frogtoadsurvey/Volunteer/googlemaps/RouteFinder.cfm.

To sign up, visit wiatri.net/inventory/frogtoadsurvey/Volunteer/newVol.cfm.

• Mink Frog Survey — Mink frogs are only found in northern Wisconsin and often call in the daytime. In June and July, volunteers are recruited to listen in the Northwoods, once during the day and once at night, along routes targeting ideal mink frog breeding habitat.

For more information, visit wiatri.net/inventory/frogtoadsurvey/Volunteer/Mink.

• Phenology Survey — Volunteers help monitor when frogs and toads first start calling each spring. Phenology volunteers choose one wetland to monitor throughout the frog calling season and record data as often as possible for five minutes per night.

For more information, visit wiatri.net/inventory/frogtoadsurvey/Volunteer/phenology.cfm.

Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey volunteers have spent more than 10,500 nights surveying 103,400 sites since 1984.