The northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens) grows to be just over 4 inches long and gets its name from the brown spots dotting its green back. In spring, the frogs puff up their throats and release a staccato croak, a sound the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources describes as “a loud, broken snore, somewhat like dragging your finger over a well-inflated balloon.”
Now, imagine that sound multiplied by about 175 million.
That’s what happened when mating season got out of control in the wetlands surrounding Oconto (located near the shores of Green Bay) in July of 1952. Like something out of the Old Testament or a Hitchcock film, hungry frogs filled the streets of the former lumber town, outnumbering people about 35,000 to 1…