Andrew Zhong, Millstone River School
Middlesex County
Pine Barrens Treefrog. Middlesex County. Andrew Zhong
Pine Barrens Treefrog
“Quonk, Quonk, Quonk”, hi I’m Piney, and sitting next to me is my brother Baron. We are Pine Barrens Treefrogs (Hyla andersonii).
We are 2 inches long, vibrant green and boldly colored. We live in Pine Barrens. My cousins live in the Sand Hills of the Carolinas and the Florida panhandle. These are the only three places our family lives in.
I eat insects such as flies and mosquitoes. Our habitats need acid water and white dense cedar swamps covered with dense mats of sphagnum moss. We breed in shallow ponds. Those ponds dry up in the summer and are free of predators and other species.
I’m one of the most beautiful frogs in the U.S and the symbol of Pinelands. My picture is on one of the state plates and the cover of many of wildlife conservation publications. I was one of the 10 endangered species painted by famous artist Andy Warhol in 1983.
In 1978, the U.S. Congress declared Pine Barrens as the first U.S. National Reserve. In 1979,I was listed as an endangered species in New Jersey due to our restricted range, declining population, habitat loss, and pollution of breeding ponds. Also in 1979, New Jersey passed the “Pineland Protection Act”, forbidding large residential development in the Pine Barrens. The act helped us prosper. In 2003, the Department of Environmental Protection upgraded me to the “threatened” species and made me the “Species of Month” in May. Thanks to the U.S. Congress and New Jersey.
But I still want people to remember the saying, “reduce, reuse, recycle”, and to stop using fertilizer that pollutes storm water and can damage our habitat. If our family prospers, you can see more of us on the covers of publications. “Quonk, Quonk, Quonk”.
Written by : Andrew Zhong
Millstone River School, Plainsboro
Teacher: Mrs. Barbara Osburn