I spotted this little illegal alien the other day when I was moving boards that were stacked up against the house. This is a Cuban tree frog and it is labeled an invasive species, one of many in Florida. Of course, this one was hatched here and has never set foot in Cuba, nor migrated anywhere.
Its large size and enormous appetite makes it a threat to our native green tree frogs, although it seems the species prefers to stick closer to the house than the native ones, which I often see further out in the yard hiding under bark and such, perhaps trying to avoid becoming a snack for a fellow amphibian and the countless predators that move about, day and night.
There are ample insects for all the amphibians here, and for reptiles as well, because this is a swamp, and as much as I love wetlands, mosquitos and deer flies are usually not in short supply in their seasons. But this is an unusual year.
So far this year, I have yet to be bothered by mosquitos, though I have seen their jiggling, dancing larvae in stagnant water as I go about tipping over buckets and such to deny the mosquitos nurseries when possible. With the drought their options are definitely limited this year.
It is not quite deer fly season yet, but let’s not rush that. The drought may keep their numbers low this year, as it has with mosquitos.