SPRING 
     
     SYMPHONY“ 
     
    
   
   
    
     Q by Barbara MacDonald, 
     
      Charlottetown _ 
     
    
   
   
    
     I once met a man from Newfound- 
     
     land who told me a rather curious tale. 
     
     Early one Spring he took his first trip 
     
     over to the mainland. While he was 
     
     driving through Nova Scotia after dark, 
     
     he became increasingly alarmed by a very 
     
     persistent, high-pitched soueak coming from 
     
     his car. Convinced that there was something 
     
     drastically wrong, he stopped along the side 
     
     of the highway to investigate. Strangely 
     
     C7 enough, after he had stopped and gotten out of 
     
     the car, the "squeak" continued! 
     
     Upon making some puzzled inquiries, he was . 
     
     C) surprised to discover that the "sgueak" he had 
     
     been hearing was just the sound of Spring Peepers 
     
     calling from the ponds and ditches along the road. 
     
     Being from Newfoundland where there are no frogs at 
     
     all, it was the first time he had ever heard them 
     
     singing. 
     
     It is difficult to imagine not being able to hear 
     
     the symphony of frogs and toads which fills the air 
     
     in spring time. It is one of the most exhilarating 
     
     sounds of spring, reminding us that summer is on its 
     
     way - and that love is in the air! For all the joyful 
     
     singing coming from every pond, ditch and swamp 
     
     around is being done with a definite Purpose in mind. 
     
    

    
     As the weather begins to warm up and the ice begins to melt, the frogs and 
     
     toads awaken from their long winter hibernation and make their way instinctively 
     
     to the nearest pond in order to mate. Once in the ponds, the males begin to sing 
     
     their mating calls out loud and clear to attract potential mates. Each species 
     
     has its own characteristic call which helps them to attract females of their own 
     
     kind. Their calls also serve them in staking out small mating territories by 
     
     announcing their presence to other males. 
     
    

    
     Not all frogs begin to call at once. Each species returns to the ponds to 
     
     mate at a slightly different time. Local weather conditions will affect the 
     
     timing to some extent each spring, but generally once the “symphony” begins, the 
     
    
   
   
    
     same musical progression takes place - each species piping in when its time has 
     
     come. 
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
       
     
         
     
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
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