Why do frogs like rain so much, anyway?

Tropical Storm Erika is approaching Florida, and yesterday we got some some long-overdue rain. Can you guess which creatures were happiest about this? Frogs and toads, of course! Most amphibians breed and lay their eggs in bodies of water, but they need to find water that is free of predators, which are usually certain species of fish and insects. This means that a frog or toad's ideal breeding location is in what scientists call "ephemeral ponds."

Ephemeral ponds only exist for short periods of time, such as when a big rain fills in a depression in the ground. The rest of the year, they're dried up, so fish can't survive in them. Because of this, rain is a major signal to frogs and toads, letting them know that it is a favorable time to advertise for mates. And for frogs and toads, that means producing loud breeding calls. When I went out to my field sites last night, we had just received a downpour, and the noise of all of the frog species was deafening! I managed to get a recording of a calling squirrel treefrog (Hyla squirella) that one of my undergraduate field assistants spotted (good eye, Amanda!). You can hear other squirrel treefrogs in the background, as well as an oak toad (Anaxyrus quercicus), which is making the sound like a baby bird.