Interloper

We finally found the culprit that had been calling from within our house at inappropriate hours of the day (midnight, 6am):

This beautiful miniature little creature, a Spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) must have come inside on the potted Amaryllis plants we'd brought inside about a week ago. Little did we know we had a stowaway, but then I don't think it was the intention to get free shelter and meals, so an interloper (something "involved in a place or situation where they are not wanted or are considered not to belong" -  Oxford Languages) is a better descriptor.

Strangely, the reigning cats did not seem intrigued, and Dale and I had both inspected the plants for tree frogs a few times in the past week, after being woken by its calls at ungodly hours.

The calls inside the house were not the usual spring mating call, so we didn't recognize the species by its vocalization, but we suspected it was a tree frog. We're glad to have found it alive and well at last.

Look at how tiny this tan beauty is - maximum length is 1.4"

It hopped away without seeming weak or impoverished, so I hope it was finding insects and larvae in the potted soil to feed on.

All's well that ends well ...