SEATTLE — There aren't many college vice presidents who will take you hunting for frogs.
But Peter Lortz, Vice President of North Seattle College, will. Because the Pacific Tree Frog is his school's mascot.
And in early spring, they make their presence known on the campus in the middle of the city.
“This time of year, when it's a little bit warmer, you do not hear I-5. What you hear instead is this chorus of frogs - the male frogs calling for the females and it drowns everything else out,” Lortz said.
Hugo Alamillo, PhD. teaches biology at the college. He works these frogs into the lesson plan when they start to sing in the spring.
"I can come out of teaching around eight o'clock in the evening and hear the frogs just screaming like mad. Way, way, way louder than the Interstate that's right next to us," said Alamillo. "I recently had a student say that they thought that we had a speaker blasting the call because it's our mascot. I said 'No, that's not a speaker, it's the real frogs calling.'"
This concrete campus was once frog free, but something changed.
"About 30 years ago when the major wetland renovations happened, and this pond appeared, we started hearing frogs more and more every year.” Lortz explained.
Other amphibians - like salamanders - hang out in these wetlands too. But, as is often the case, the loudest voices get the recognition.
"About six years ago, a student environmental club brought a proposal to the President's Cabinet and the President's Cabinet approved it and the North Seattle College Tree Frog was born,” Lortz said.
Having a tree frog as a mascot makes some good college swag. It also ties the community to the campus, enticing neighbors to explore the wetlands when the singing starts.
"I like their croaking noise,” said a boy named Logan who was sporting a headlamp and walking the edges of the pond, frog hunting with his family. “It's really loud and it sounds kind of like an engine!”
The tree frogs of North Seattle College raise their voices this time of year for just one reason, and it's not school spirit.
"Yeah this is a huge event of reproduction,” Alamillo said.
A whole bunch of frog love - on a campus that loves frogs.
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