Some residents of Kailua are freaking out, saying the sky is falling because a few coquis were heard chirping in their neighborhood. But is this really a coqui crisis, or just hysteria?

I help manage the Hawaiian Coqui Frog Sanctuary and Nature Preserve, on the Big Island. We have enjoyed the presence of coqui tree frogs for more than eight years, and have had guests from around the world describe the coquis' nighttime serenade as "completely enchanting."

We have fewer mosquitoes and other insect problems, since the coquis eat lots of fire ants, termites, roaches, tree borers, fruit flies and other insect pests. We have come to appreciate having them.

People throughout the world find our Frog War silly and cruel, since most governments are trying to save frogs from extinction. In fact, Hawai'i is the only place in the world where tree frogs are considered pests and are attacked by the Department of Agriculture. Elsewhere, frogs are considered beneficial to agriculture. As for the "noise," those outside of Hawai'i have little sympathy for people who are lucky enough to live in paradise, but who complain about the sounds of chirping frogs, a sound common to the tropics.

Some people say that after 20 years in Hawai'i you are considered kama'aina. The coquis have been here 20 years, and have become our first naturalized tree frog. Like the gecko, also an introduced species, they are part of Hawai'i.

Coqui have not affected property values, according to a study done by the University of Hawai'i, and they have had no negative environmental impacts, according to researchers at Utah State University.

In fact, the coqui are filling an open niche in Hawai'i, consuming many of the invasive insect pests that have been introduced over the years. With so few insect-eating species and so many insects, we are fortunate that we have these tree frogs.

Coquis do have predators in Hawai'i. Birds are the primary predator of coquis in Puerto Rico. Any insect-eating birds in Hawai'i, including native birds, would gladly dine on coquis. And the biggest threat to coqui eggs is other coquis, which is why the male frog defends the eggs even after they hatch. Evidence from areas on the Big Island where coquis have colonized for 20 years shows that the frogs reach a balance with the environment, and there are still plenty of insects left to feed birds and other insectivores.

Negative propaganda comparing their sound to a lawnmower, leaf blower or table saw is ridiculous. Actually, they sound like a bird. Large choruses of coquis sound like sleigh bells, and can lull you to sleep — provided you don't have a prejudice against them. While they can reach large numbers in undisturbed low-elevation rainforests, their numbers are much lower in urban and residential areas that have limited trees.

A survey we conducted on the Big Island showed that residents who had feared the coquis coming into their neighborhoods found, once the frogs inevitably did arrive, that the sound is not really disturbing, despite what they had been led to believe.

Many people say that after having the coquis for a while, they can't sleep without them! Change is hard for some, but for those who can make the adjustment, there is no problem with coqui frogs. We humans are adaptable creatures, and can get used to pretty much anything, if we want to.

No amount of money can completely exterminate coquis in Hawai'i, but we can go on wasting millions of dollars spraying acid into our forests, killing plants, geckos, birds, insects and other non-target species. Or we can decide as a community that, in the end, the only reasonable way to deal with these immigrants to the Islands is to learn to accept and appreciate them.

Soma Grismaijer is director of the Good Shepherd Foundation. She wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.