I have been recording environmental sounds for many years, and one memory that sticks out, is a recording session that followed a weather pattern similar to we are having today. Only the forecast didn’t call for a foot of snow! I was monitoring a pond in Hinkley, OH that had a full Wood frog and Spring peeper chorus by night fall. The day temp hit around 50 degrees and had one of those miserable all day drizzles. As the evening progressed, the temp fell pretty quick. To my surprise snow began to fall. The frogs chorus diminished as the temp continued to drop and was all but silent by the time I wrapped it up. Now, I don’t go around stalking the frogs during their daily routines, but my guess is that they burrow under the leaf liter and do just fine.Their liver converts glycogen into glucose as soon as ice begins to form around them. This process aids the cells from dehydrating, and is circulated through the cells until the heart stops beating. Urea is also involved in the cell protection mechanism along with an elevated blood clotting response. Any damage done after they thaw is minimized and the loss of blood is reduced. Wood frogs, Spring peepers and Grey tree frogs have this ability. Toads survival strategy is to burrow below the freezing line and other frogs can submerge under water absorbing oxygen through their skins. I have witnessed many Green frogs alive and hopping in temps below 32 degrees when breaking up beaver dams in the Cuyahoga Valley. They would start jumping around as soon as a log was moved disrupting their muddy resting place. It is all part of natures design!

• http://www.naturenorth.com/winter/frozen/frozen3.html
• http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/can-frogs-survive-being-frozen-0326