It's nearly June. That means ONLY one thing to me. NOT Hurricane Season. NOT school closing. NOT vacation. One thing ONLY-CUBAN TREE FROGS.
These are the most annoying creatures that ever walked the earth. They wait until the wee hours of morning, and then start loudly barking, like small dogs. They carry on like this for hours. One frog can keep an entire neighborhood awake.
They are the largest tree frogs in North America. They range from 3-6 inches in length and feed on insects, lizards, other species of frogs, and even each other. Wikipedia says that their diet includes "anything they can overpower." Cannibalism--YUCK!
Their skin secretes a toxic mucus as part of their natural defense system. This mucus can burn your eyes and nose, and can cause an allergic reaction. YUCK again!
There is something about our backyard that attracts these pests. They will spend all summer taunting me and my family. My husband has been known to go out with a flashlight in the middle of the night, in search of them and to secure a few hours of sleep. You can hear them from any room in the house. I fear that it will be a long summer...
Your comments--priceless!!
A couple of summers ago, I had one of those things at my doorstep around 3 in the morning. It was as big as one of my shoes. They're stubborn too! I had to go back in my truck and get my golf umbrella to shoo it away. You're not alone, I hate them too. They're scary, ugly, big and noisy.
PLEASE don't introduce your barking tree frogs to my neighborhood gansta' frogs. That would be all I need...a poisonous barking frog who isn't afraid of me or my car tires. I was going to suggest you get an animal that eats frogs. But in your neck of the woods, that would probably be an alligator and... well...never mind. I'm off to the mailbox :-)!
I have 2 words for you EAR PLUGS! In san diego we had this annoying squaking bird that squaked from 11pm to 4 am every nite, drove everyone crazy which is when i discovered the bliss that are ear plugs!
I love the sounds of nature, however, I don't love annoying sounds of nature. We have crickets where I live and they are annoying, however, they sound tame compared to those barking frogs. I guess I won't complain this summer when they annoy me cause I know I will be blessed not to have "Barking Frogs" YUCK