hylidae

Maybe my ears are more closed than I thought.

I heard the sky croaking, so I stopped and pulled out my audio recorder. Hylidae; tree frogs. I've never heard them before. Their croaking didn't stop when cars passed, which surprised me. After getting the recording, I slowed down when I went under other trees, hoping to hear more.

Nothing.

Reading about hylidae, what I like most is the modestness of their size, and the fact that they only come down from their tree homes to mate. But I wonder: do they mate with frogs from neighboring trees? Or is it just that procreation is easier on the ground than on, say, a leaf? Is bark uncomfortable for such action; would they get bark burn if they did what they do up-up-up? If that's it, someone should come up with an ointment to help the little guys out.

If pairs just run down the tree to mate, then run back up, it would make sense why some trees are overrun with croaks and others lack them altogether.

Any theory I have is sure to be flawed.