With the onset of freezing temperatures in late summer, amphibians retreat to their hibernating sites. Life in the North Amphibians are cold-blooded and must obtain their warmth from the environment. Their colonisation of the North has been limited by extremely cold winters, cool short summers, scarcity of hibernation sites and insufficient snow cover. In winter, northern amphibians survive by hibernating underground, under ponds or under leaf litter beneath a thick blanket of insulating snow. In effect, these frogs can be 'frozen solid' during hibernation and still emerge safe and sound in spring.
Northern amphibians take full advantage of the warmth of the spring and summer sun.
Eggs are large and dark to help absorb heat. They are submerged in warmer shallow water safely below the surface which might freeze. Tadpoles love to bask in the sun in the shallows while adult frogs and toads bask on land or in shallow water in the heat of the day. Some amphibians which are nocturnal in warmer climates prefer the warmest and brightest part of the day in the North. Wood Frogs are the most common and widespread amphibian in our area.