Spring Peeper

The spring peeper is a small chorus frog widespread throughout the eastern United States and eastern Canada, preferring permanent ponds for the advantage they give in avoiding predation, though it is adaptable with respect to the habitat it can live in. In northern regions the frog can endure below-freezing temperatures because its liver can exude and flush the bloodstream with a glucose cryoprotectant that acts as an antifreeze in its blood and allows organs such as the heart to enter a state of protected dormancy. It earned its name from its chirping call, which marks the beginning of spring, and crucifer comes from the Latin root meaning cross-bearing, a reference to the cross-like pattern on its dorsal side.