What Frogs Live in Cypress Swamps?

Cypress swamps and other wetlands are disappearing, and many species of frogs that once flourished in cypress swamps are threatened, endangered or listed as species that warrant special concern and protection. Cypress swamps are found in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and other coastal wetlands of the Southeast United States. These bald cypress swamps also occur naturally in the Mississippi River Valley of Illinois and Missouri, and in the Wabash and Ohio River valleys of Illinois and Indiana.

  1. Green Tree Frog

    • Many species of tree frogs live in the cypress swamps.

      Many tree frogs live in the cypress swamps of the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia as well as in other dwindling cypress swamps of Southeastern Missouri and other Southern states where the green tree frogs hide in green leaves all day and become active at night when they hunt for insects. It takes a year for green tree frogs to reach sexual maturity, so by late the following summer, young frogs join the adults in the annual chorus that has been described as sounding like cowbells. Susan Post of the Center for Economic Entomology explains, "Like all members of the tree frog family," green tree frogs are expert climbers because they have "rounded adhesive discs on their unwebbed toes."

    Chorus Frog

    • Chorus frogs in the Okefenokee Swamp mate and breed in the colder months. According to Sherpa Guides of Georgia, "The southern chorus frog sounds like someone running their thumb over a comb. The ornate chorus frog's call sounds like a metallic peep. The most familiar chorus frog is the spring peeper," but in the Okefenokee it gives its peeping call in winter.

    Carpenter Frog

    • Bald cypress swamps are important habitats for many rare, threatened and endangered species of plants and animals. This habitat, with the fluctuating water levels, is home to the carpenter frog, state-listed as a species of special concern.

    Pig Frog

    • The pig frog of the Okefenokee Swamp resembles a bullfrog, but the sound of its grunting mating is more like a hog than a frog. Whit Gibbons of Sherpa Guides says, "The snorting of pig frogs can be heard from aquatic habitats throughout the swamp during much of the year."

    Southern Leopard Frog

    • The leopard frog makes a chuckling sound.

      The Southern leopard frog is a native Southern frog that grows to 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches long. Its green or light brown color with dark brown or black spots is what gives this frog its name. The Southern leopard frog is a predominantly aquatic nocturnal and carnivorous frog. It hunts for and eats insects and whatever else it can catch and fit in its mouth, including earthworms, spiders and centipedes.