The Ear Fold Is the Signature
A lost White's tree frog is confirmed by the thick, fleshy fold of skin that arcs from above the eye down over the ear, giving the head a heavy, sleepy look no slim garden frog shares. Photograph your frog in side profile with that fold clearly lit, because a finder comparing frogs on a porch at night needs exactly that feature. Add a top-down view showing the broad, plump back, and a shot of the large round toe discs that let this frog cling to glass, tiles and smooth leaves.
Colour must be handled honestly in the description. A White's tree frog ranges from leaf green to blue-green and can look brownish when cold or stressed, and some individuals carry white or gold flecks along the lower flanks or a pale stripe edging the jaw. State the usual colour, name any flecks or jaw stripe your frog actually has, and warn finders that a dull-looking frog on a cold wall may still be the bright green animal in your photograph once it warms up indoors.
Size and Build Rule Out the Small Frogs
A White's tree frog is a big, heavy-bodied tree frog, broad across the head with waxy, almost rubbery skin and a calm, unbothered manner when approached. Record the body length and that plump build in plain words, because most frogs a finder meets locally are smaller and leaner, and size plus the ear fold together exclude nearly all of them. Note any missing toe tip, scar or unusually pale patch, since adults you have kept for years often carry one small history mark that a photograph can prove.
Behaviour guides the search. This frog is nocturnal, climbs well and settles in damp, sheltered height: guttering, porch lights that draw insects, bathroom windows, dense shrubs and the rims of water tanks. It also calls with a deep, slow croak after rain, so ask neighbours to listen as well as look, and to check outdoor lights and wet walls after dark before assuming it has travelled far.
Ask Finders to Keep Skin Damp and Hands Wet
A White's tree frog should only be handled with wet hands or wet, powder-free gloves, because dry skin and the oils and lotions on human palms damage amphibian skin. The kindest finder response is to place a ventilated container over or beside the frog, coax it in, line it with damp paper towel and keep it somewhere cool and dark. No feeding, no dry cardboard box in a warm room, and no releasing it by a pond in the hope it sorts itself out.
Mention the voice on the record as a finding aid. A male White's tree frog calls from height with a loud, barking croak that carries across several gardens on a still night, and even a frog who never calls may be located by a neighbour hearing an unfamiliar croak from a drainpipe or porch beam. One line about listening after rain turns passive neighbours into active searchers for this particular frog.
Share the side-profile photograph with surrounding homes the first evening, while the frog is likely still close and climbing familiar walls. When that profile, the colour note and your number are stored in KinsLe as his Pet Pass, a finder woken by croaking outside the bathroom window can match the ear fold against the verified card and contact you before the frog moves on.