High-decibel frogs.It's tiny, it's cute--and its mating call mating call n → llamada del macho mating call n → appel m du mâle mating call mating n → Lockruf m sounds like a smoke alarm. Meet the coqui, a frog native to Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (pwār`tō rē`kō), island (2005 est. pop. 3,917,000), 3,508 sq mi (9,086 sq km), West Indies, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) SE of Miami, Fla. whose shrill "ko-kee" blends in with the other frogs and night noises of its homeland. But ever since the coqui arrived in Hawaii in the late 1990s, most likely by way of imported plants, it has been driving its human neighbors to distraction. Hawaiians aren't used to hearing frogs because the islands have no native amphibians amphibians members of the animal class Amphibia. Includes frogs, toads, newts, salamanders and cecilians all capable of living on land or in water. . And these frogs, though just under two inches long, are capable of shrieking at 100 decibels--similar to a loud car horn at close range. More than 8,000 of the frogs may inhabit an acre of land, and their combined chorus can guarantee a sleepless night for humans. Harry Kim, Mayor of the Big Island of Hawaii, recently asked Governor Linda Lingle to declare the infestation infestation /in·fes·ta·tion/ (-fes-ta´shun) parasitic attack or subsistence on the skin and/or its appendages, as by insects, mites, or ticks; sometimes used to denote parasitic invasion of the organs and tissues, as by helminths. an emergency and clear the way for $2 million in funding to control the spread of the frogs. Local businesses are worried that the noise will cause a decline in tourism, and the frogs' voracious appetite for insects could deplete de·plete v. 1. To use up something, such as a nutrient. 2. To empty something out, as the body of electrolytes. an important food source for several. already-endangered bird species. |
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