Daniel Midence, School #2
Passaic County
First Place, Passaic County, Pine Barrens Treefrog (c) Danny Midence
Pine-Barrens Tree Frog
Quonk-quonk-quonk. Oh, I didn’t see you there. I’m a Pine-Barrens Tree Frog or Hyla andersonii. Let me explain how to look for me and what you should know about me.
If you want to identify me, just look for a vibrant green back and a white underbelly. I’m one and a half to two inches long. I could live in southernNew Jersey, North andSouth Carolina, south-centralAlabamaand theFloridapanhandle. I have to live in special acidic habitats, such as cranberry bogs.
I like to eat insects like grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, etc. As a tadpole, I liked to eat algae and other microscopic organisms. Predators are also a danger to adults and tadpoles. Some predators that feed on our tadpoles are adult Bronze Frogs, Red Salamanders and Pigmy Sunfish. Adult predators are Banded Water Snakes and Ribbon Snakes.
We are threatened by many different sources. One threat is pH increasing in our water. pH stands for acid alkaline. Though we need this, if there is too much, we could die. Another one of our threats is habitat loss due to humans. Even though some humans fight to protect us, we are still threatened. The last of our primary threats are wetlands draining and filling. When the wetlands drain out, tadpoles cannot survive in such shallow waters. When the wetlands fill with too much water, our food, such as grasshoppers are eaten by other animals.
Please help us get off the threatened list. We want to survive as long as we can. Thank you for listening. Please share this information with other humans and save us.
Written by: Daniel Midence
Public School # 2,Clifton
Teacher: Ms. Miller