KANE COUNTY CHRONICLE (Geneva, Illinois) 10 February 08 Residents leap at chance to monitor frog population (Eric Schelkopf)
St. Charles: Tracy Sandkam admitted that she didn’t know the difference between a western chorus frog and a bullfrog.
During Saturday’s frog-monitoring training session at Pottawatomie Community Center, she learned that there were 13 species of frogs and toads.
“I’m just excited about getting out in nature and doing something good for the community,” Sandkam said. “It’s something that is interesting. It will be a fun challenge.”
The frog-monitoring project began in 2000 after a noted decline in the animals’ numbers. Volunteers such as Sandkam will monitor frogs in a nearby wetland, and the data will be used to study where frogs live in northern Illinois and to find their approximate numbers.
The project is part of the Chicago Wilderness Coalition.
“Frogs are like a canary in a coal mine,” frog monitor Peg Jensen said. “If the area changes, they are going to disappear.”
Jensen and her husband, Bill, have been frog monitors for six years. They don’t have to go far to find them – they have four ponds at their home in Wayne.
“We have a lot of frogs,” Peg Jensen said. “It is so much fun when you recognize an odd call. You get so excited.”
Those who went through Saturday’s training session learned how to tell the frogs and their calls apart.
“The Northern Leopard Frog makes a sound like a finger being rubbed on a dry balloon,” said Pam Otto, manager of nature programs and interpretive services for the St. Charles Park District.
Frogs also differ greatly in size. Although the bullfrog can grow up to 8 inches in length, the wood frog is less than 2 inches long.
It would be a rare sight to see a wood frog in this area.
“It is not really common around here at all,” Otto said.
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