by Linda Martinson

Certified Blue Ridge Naturalist

Nothing like a Pandemic and a foot of snow to make you good and tired of winter, but a few days before the end of February, I heard the first calls of spring peepers in the evening and I felt a burst of Blue Ridge Spring happiness. Spring peepers do sound happy and thrilled to be alive…maybe because they are eagerly seeking mates. We have the northern subspecies of spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer), widespread throughout the area wherever they have the right habitat. That would be, for example, moist fields; woods with creeks and marshes; and low grassy areas near ponds and wetlands. Spring peepers are small, about the size of a paper clip, so although the chorus of their calls is loud, the tiny frogs are seldom seen.