Do frogs hibernate?

Question

We are getting quite a bit of snow today and my daughter asked about all of the wildlife around our house. Do frogs hibernate? I have a one year old which needs my attention so I don't have time to research this very inquisitive question. We are in Pittsburgh. What other indigenous animals can I tell her about?
Thank you so much for all of your help!

Answer 1

Well frogs do actually hibernate especially in the North east. Most of the common frogs, including green frogs, tree frogs, leopard frogs, spring peepers, mink frogs, and bullfrogs will hibernate by submerging themselves in the mud at the bottom of lakes and ponds. They do this for several reasons..... When a lake freezes, the warmest water is found on the bottom, this is because when water is at 4 degrees celcius, it is most dense, so it never freezes, keeping the tissues from being damaged by ice. Another reason for hibernating underwater is that because frogs are amphibians, they are able to absorb small amounts of oxygen through their skin, this works especially well in cold water where the concentation of oxygen is higher.

Another frog, the Wood Frog, has a very special way of hibernating. It will actually let itself freeze solid in winter. They may hide under some leaves on the forest floor and just wait for the frost to come. In the spring they will wake up and continue about their business......really cool.

Turtles hibernate in the same way as the majority of frogs, they will bury themselves in the mud at the bottom of ponds and lakes. Here they slow down their metabolism drastically, as not to use up their oxygen.

Snakes will find crevaces in the ground, known as a hibernaculum in which to wait out the winter, they can be found sometimes by the hundreds, and with several different species sharing the same den.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

The brown colour is probably from the tanins in the leaves (they're what makes tea brown) and shouldn't cause any problems for your frog. Frogs don't always get it right and can get in to trouble if oxygen levels in the water drop too low. Even though they shut right down they do rely on some gas exchange through their skin. During a cold winter that shouldn't happen as oxygen demand is very low as things slow down and cold water contains more oxygen than warm. A big build up of leaf litter in a small pond will increase the risk if you get a warm spell but on balance he should be fine.

Answer 3

frogs bury themselves in the mud when the weather turns cold... than emerge when the weather warms up.....snakes do the same..squirrels hibernate to a degree..they store nuts in the full and they eat these throughout winter....but they sleep a lot ...some birds like pigeons and cardinals stay all year long..others like hummingbirds and geese fly south for the winter months.......deer forage all winter long and in the spring they have their young...the same with bobcats...that's is all my tired brain can come up with ....

Answer 4

ya frogs hibernate...frog is a Cold-blooded hibernator.They wake up when the air outside warms or cools enough for them to be comfortable...similarly earthworms,lizards,snails also hibernate!

Answer 5

Don't know about other critters but I know Frogs can freeze solid and still thaw out and hop off!

Answer 6

They hide under rocks i think
for your second question you can tell about the crickets,beetles,spiders etc

Answer 7

yes they burrow in the mud till it warms in the spring

Answer 8

They actually freeze solid then come back to life in spring.

Answer 9

Yes they do.

Answer 10

yes they do