Gray Tree Frog

In the seven plus years we've lived in our home, we have on three occasions found a small mild mannered toad-like creature on our porch or deck.


The first time was in August 2007. This fellow showed up near the welcome mat on our front porch. Not interested in us in the least and seemingly completely quiescent. We were leaving that day for a vacation in Maine and when we returned he was of course gone.

Two years later in May we found a very similar - though noticeably rounder - creature occupying a spot on our back deck. The patterns were very similar and we asked around to find out what this amazing toad (we thought) was. The answer was that it is probably a Gray Tree Frog.

This year - again two years later - we again found one of these fantastic frogs on our deck, this time resting right up against our back door.

Will we see one of these again this year or will it be another two years before they return? What causes them to come up on our deck? Why do we never see them in the wild?