Green Frog - Gertie

Green Frogs are about the most common frog in Michigan. As their name implies, they are green but also have variations of bronze, yellowish, and bluish. Their bellies are white with darker patterns of lines or spots. They have a large tympanic membrane (ear drum) and prominent ridges which run along their backs. Males usually have an ear drum larger than their eye, while females have an ear drum that is the same size or smaller than their eye. 

Green Frogs live in a variety of shallow-water habitats such as springs, swamps, brooks and the edges of ponds and lakes and may also be found among rotting debris of fallen trees. Their call is described “like the twang of a loose banjo string, usually given as a single note, but sometimes rapidly repeated several times. They can usually be heard singing from mid May through July. Females can lay clutches of 3,000 to 5,000 eggs! Their diets consist of basically anything that moves that they can fit in their mouth.

Gertie (short for Gertrude) is Sarett Nature Center’s resident Green Frog. Visitors enjoy watching her swim and hop around in her tank – especially if someone is feeding her! She seems to enjoy nightcrawlers the most, but also eats dubia cockroaches and crickets. She hails from our director’s backyard – there were many frogs living in this body of water and decided we could use a couple of them for our educational programming. Sarett Nature Center has a Scientific Collector’s Permit issued by the DNR to allow for collection and possession of these animals for educational purposes.