It’s challenging for humans to scale the Kuliouou Ridge Trail — but apparently not so much for coqui frogs, which have established a 13-acre colony in ridge forestland about 200 meters below the summit, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

No other fixed populations of coqui are known of on Oahu, but in 2006, a small Wahiawa population of the tiny-but-noisy frogs was eradicated, and in 2022, state agencies used helicopters to drop coqui-killing citric acid solution over a remote, high-elevation area of Waimanalo.

This time, because the area is very steep and remote, the state will use drones to go after the invasive species.