Drip! Drip! Drip!

Have you ever wondered, lying in bed on a still night, where that dripping sound outside is coming from? Even when it hasn’t rained? Does the relentless ‘tock’, ‘tock’, ‘tock’ sound of water dripping onto a plastic bucket keep you awake wondering?

Well, there’s no need to check your guttering. The culprit is probably a male Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peroni). This frog is very common. Its habitat stretches from northern Queensland to Tasmania. It’s very adaptable and often found in urban environments. From personal experience, I can vouch that includes Currimundi and more specifically, our back yard.

Click on the audio-player arrow to hear the frog’s call.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Striped Marsh Frog has a very distinctive appearance. Adults usually have large regularly-shaped olive green blotches on the back and sometimes have a yellow, red, or orange mid-dorsal stripe. It grows to about 6.5 cm long. This voracious hunter lives mainly in ponds but any kind of still water body will do. Ours live in the fish pond out the back. The female lays a foamy raft of fertilised eggs that float on the surface and tadpoles hatch after four or five days. Now that we know the source of the sound the mystery is solved. It’s nice to know this little bit of nature has taken up residence with us.

But the ‘tock’, ‘tock’, tock’ can still be pretty annoying!

Tony, Currimundi October 2013