Hitch-hiking Tree Frog

One day last fall after school had started (8/26/10), I stopped to get gas on my way home.  As I was pulling out of the gas station, I noticed a tree frog clinging to my car antennae!  I stopped, got out, grabbed the frog and set him on my dashboard, deciding that a 30 mile relocation would probably be fine; and hoping that having this tree frog around my house would attract more to the area.

I decided to keep him in a container until my husband got home from work.  Tree frogs aren't exactly rare, but we rarely see them.  In the three years that I've lived in my current house, I'd only ever seen one before.  I went outside to take care of my outdoor pets and noticed another tree frog right outside my back door.  I nabbed him and put him in with the first frog.  Then I went back outside.  I found another frog and put him in with the first two.  By the time my husband got home from work that evening, I had collected 8 tree frogs!  They ranged in size from mature adults, 1 1/2 to 2 in, down to little itty bitty babies the size of small crickets. 

I still don't know if it was just a good August for tree frogs, or if I had accidentally created a likable habitat in my yard.  You see, I was keeping my own pet turtles safely in an old bathtub outside for the summer so they could get some natural sunlight.  I don't know if the tree frogs hatched out in or near the tub.  Maybe the tub had nothing to do with it, but the next closest body of water is a farm pond about a quarter of a mile down the road from my house. 

The tree frogs continued to be active in the morning and evening all through September.  Since they prey on small insects, they would frequent our windows, where the insects were attracted to the artificial light.  I was amazed at how much the same frog would differ in color depending on surroundings or stress.  Even the gray tree frogs would vary from almost white to a dark grayish-brown. 

I am always tempted to keep animals in captivity because I just like having them around so darn much.  I considered creating a habitat for a couple tree frogs, but after consulting my brother, an amateur herpetologist, decided against it.  I suppose when an animal is willing to cling on to your kitchen window and let you take pictures of it, it doesn't need to be put in a cage. 

The funny thing is, if the first frog hadn't found his way on to my car antennae, I might not have been perceptive enough to notice the others.  From that night on, we saw at least 2 frogs on the kitchen window everyday until the first frost.