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Creatures of Rainy Nights

Rainy nights – especially night after night of rainy nights – are very busy times in nature – not so much because of a race for shelter by some animals, but because of a race to breeding frenzies and a race for food. Amphibians – with their moist skin typically race from moist shelter across areas that are dry most days to breeding frenzies at nearby ponds and roadside ditches that are swollen by rain. Rainy nights are also breeding times for crayfish, earthworms, flatworms, and other moist-skinned creatures that spend daylight hours in moist seclusion. High nighttime humidity allows some moist-skinned creatures like tree frogs to gather around lights to feed on insects also attracted by the light. Mass nocturnal movements to breeding areas also bring out nocturnal predators such as owls, bats, coyotes, snakes, and some lizards to feed on the moist-skinned crowd.

Male frogs and toads stake out breeding territories in ponds and ditches, vocally defending their territory from other males, and luring females for mating. Some creatures will stay in moist breeding and feeding areas, others, such as many crayfish will return to a burrow they have excavated down to a moist level and will seal themselves in – protected from the dry heat of day.