Barking Tree Frog (Hyla gratiosa)

Common Name: Barking Tree Frog
Scientific Name: Hyla gratiosa
Family: Hylidae – Tree Frog family
Locations: United States – Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia
Size: 1.9 – 2.75 inches (50 – 70 mm)

The Barking Tree Frog gets its name from the male’s call that sounds like a dog’s bark. They live along the coast from Louisiana up to New Jersey, though they are probably extinct there. While they are a tree frog, they do come down from the trees to breed, hibernate, and to aestivate. During the dry summer, the frogs will dig deep into the sandy soils to prevent themselves from drying out. Also, they burrow down during winter to escape the cold and they will use other burrows of other animals, such as the Gopher Tortoise, for overwintering.

During the mating season, the males will travel to water bodies to breed. They breed in a variety of shallow water bodies from temporary ponds to streams. The breeding season changes from location to location but is from spring to summer or summer to late summer. The males let out their barking call to attract the females. Once the female arrives, the male grasps her from behind in the amplexus position. Then, the female lays her eggs and the male fertilizes them. The females lay between 1,500–4,000 eggs. Neither parent provides any parental care for the offspring.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List categorizes the Barking Tree Frog as Least Concern for Extinction. They have a decent range and are thought to be abundant through it. In some areas, the native pine tree habitats is being transformed to monocultures of loblolly pine trees