The males climb up into the tree and make their mating calls high off the ground so the sound can travel and they have a better chance of finding a mate.

While these frogs are called tree frogs and spend the majority of their time in trees, mating and egg fertilization occurs on the ground near water. You can begin hearing the mating calls of this species around the same time as others, in April and May. They are also known as the southern tree frog, and in appearance they are almost identical to the eastern gray tree frog. The Cope’s gray tree frog is common throughout the whole state of South Carolina. Source: USFWS Mountain-Prairie via Flickr Gray tree frogs are found all throughout the southeast, including South Carolina. They are only active at night and spend most of the daylight hours resting on tree branches or leaves.

They lay 30-40 eggs in a mass attached to vegetation on the surface of water. Gray tree frogs rarely come down out of the trees, except to breed. They can also be distinguished by their call, which is slightly longer and slower than the Cope’s. The gray tree frog looks identical to the Cope’s gray tree frog, however they have twice as many chromosomes. Under each hind leg they have bright yellow-orange coloring that is hard to see unless their leg is extended. This helps them blend in with the bark they are sitting on. However, they are capable of quickly changing their color to a wide range of hues from nearly white to green to so dark they look black. Their skin has a bumpy texture and often appears gray with bands of darker gray or brown on their back and legs. The gray tree frog goes by many names including the eastern gray tree frog, northern gray tree frog and common gray tree frog. Common Gray Tree frog Common Gray Treefrog / Image credit:

White tree frog legs turn purple