Bust Out The Earplugs Connecticut, Spring Peeper Season Is Here
Even though it was a crisp 19 degrees while I was driving into work, I still heard it when I drove by a body of water. That sharp, high-pitched whistle, 'PEEP'. When multiplied by the hundreds of thousands, that sound can drive a person insane. Yes, it's the Spring Peeper, and they're coming Connecticut.
They're coming to transform your lakefront cottage into the hall of a thousand peeps. I heard my first 'peep' from a 2023 Spring Peeper on Saturday. Right on time, it was a beautiful day in the 50's, just enough to thaw out the Peepers. 1 single Peeper thawed out in Torrington, Poor little guy was lonely, but soon you will hear them all. If you've never seen one of them, here's a video from YouTube -
What you're going to hear in swampy areas, ponds, and creeks in all of Connecticut over the next month are millions of male Spring Peepers thawing out from their 2022-2023 Winter hibernation. Male Peepers waste no time in trying to attract a mate, and the Spring Peeper mating ritual/method of attraction is murder on human ears. Male peepers can puff up their throat/vocal sack to emit a high pitched peep, which female peepers find irresistible. It's cute if there's a few, but get a pond full of 250 or more, and it's like someone is jingling sleigh bells next to your head.
Some find the chorus of thousands of Peepers comforting, I've seen a few white noise machines that offer "Spring Peeper' as a choice.