It was still officially February when this year’s emergence of wonderfully rambunctious spring peeper frogs began their annual cascade of calls. I took in a number of locales where peepers were peppering the evening air with their telltale high-pitched chirpish song. The sound-off presented as a sweet crescendo, a comforting refrain for my winter-addled brain.

As to the early peeper presence, as a herp person – a self-taught herpetologist – I closely monitor vernal showings of various frog…