Wood Frog (Heather Tan)

Sport this stylish graphic tee proudly and show your love for a species that makes the Blue Ridge Mountains so special!

With your purchase you are supporting Blue Ridge Discovery Center's mission to inspire curiosity, discovery, and stewardship through the wonders of the Blue Ridge.

Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) are small frogs, generally 1.5-3 inches, with a distinctive black mask around each eye and striping on their hind legs. Wood Frogs have been seen in varying shades of gray, red, brown, and green. As a cold-blooded amphibian, wood frogs can’t generate their own body heat. In the winter, instead of going into brumation or migrating, they have an impressive adaptation all their own. Their bodies produce an anti-freeze like substance that prevents freezing inside their cells, but allows freezing in the space between their cells. Thus, the frogs freeze solid. WIth their bodies frozen under the shelter of leaf litter, they cease to eat, to breathe, and even their heart stops beating. As soon as the weather starts to warm, they thaw out to begin breeding in early springtime vernal pools. Wood Frog calls are often the first frog calls heard in the spring. This crazy ‘cool’ adaptation enables Wood Frogs to be the only frogs who live north of the arctic circle. Closer to home in Southern Appalachia, these frogs thrive in the cool, moist microclimates provided by the mountains.