Barking Treefrog

​Identification:

The Barking Treefrog is Kentucky’s largest treefrog, with some adults approaching 3 inches in total length. In Kentucky, most Barking Treefrogs are bright green to brownish with scattered golden spots and flecks on the back and a broad, irregular yellowish or whitish band on each side of the body. Some adults have numerous round and oval brown spots covering the back, but these can come and go as the frogs change color, with some frogs lacking the spots entirely.

Barking Treefrogs are unique in our state because they only live in the Western Pennyrile section of the state from southern Logan County to the southern tip of Livingston County, an area almost totally devoid of forests. Breeding sites for these frogs are shallow seasonal sinkhole ponds located in open pastures and cropland. During a wet year, these ponds may hold water for several months in late spring and summer, but they often remain completely dry in other years. One of the true mysteries in Kentucky herpetology is how such large and somewhat delicate treefrogs can survive in essentially treeless areas with little or no permanent standing water.

When water is present in the breeding ponds, Barking Treefrogs may call during rainy periods from mid-May through mid-July. The distinctive voice heard during the breeding season is a hollow-sounding donk or doonk given at intervals of one to several seconds. A different call, resembling the sound of a barking dog, is sometimes heard as well.