Do frogs notice when it is raining?
John Owen-Jones Stoke Canon, Devon, UK
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In summer, my favourite party trick for visitors in the garden is to switch on the hose so it sprinkles over my pond. Within minutes, many frogs come out and enjoy the shower.
听
Sabrina Burmeister University of North Carolina, US
The answer depends on what we mean by 鈥渘otice鈥�.
There is good evidence that rain has a strong effect on the behaviour of frogs. It stimulates males to call and females to navigate to ponds, so they must 鈥渘otice鈥� changes in rainfall just as they 鈥渘otice鈥� changes in other aspects of their environment, such as shifts in temperature or the presence of predators or mates.
鈥淭he green tree frogs in our yard respond to rumbling noises that resemble the sound of thunder and start to vocalise鈥漁n the other hand, do the frogs 鈥渘otice鈥� the rain in the way you and I do, in that we reflect on the rain and the implications for our behaviour (thinking 鈥渉mm, it鈥檚 raining, that means it is time to put on a raincoat鈥�)?
Because frogs can鈥檛 talk, we will never really know the answer, but we can speculate. While frogs do express a wide range of fascinating behaviours, the ability to reflect isn鈥檛 required to explain them. Their brains are also relatively simple compared with those of animals such as birds and mammals, whose decision-making seems to be more complex.
Carol Petherick Cawarral, Queensland, Australia
We can tell whether other animals 鈥渘otice鈥� something if they respond to it by changing their behaviour.
Here in the dry tropics of Queensland, rainfall tends to coincide with increasing temperatures and day length. I can鈥檛 say that the many dozens of frogs we have in our yard definitely notice when it is raining, but they do appear to respond to increased humidity and, even if it isn鈥檛 raining, they will start to croak and become more active.
Interestingly, green tree frogs vocalise if we are watering in their vicinity even though they aren鈥檛 getting wet, and also in response to rumbling noises that even vaguely resemble the sound of thunder. This suggests that they are responding to rain-associated noises.
When it does rain, we see frogs leaping through vegetation and across the grass and roads, particularly at night.
Unfortunately, many get squashed by vehicles.
听
Lyndal Thorburn Greenleigh, New South Wales, Australia
Our semi-rural property has a dam that is home to eight species of frog. They certainly know when it has been raining.
Last week, we had a short, sharp storm. Afterwards, the number of frogs calling increased.
I am sorry now that I didn鈥檛 count them so I could provide definitive 鈥渂efore and after鈥� statistics, but we often comment on the frogs starting up calling again after a rain shower (as long as the air temperature is more than 4掳C 鈥� below this, they stop calling altogether).
听
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