5 March 2018 - SOME FACTS ABOUT BULLFROGS

SOME FACTS 

ABOUT BULLFROGS

G'day folks,

I recently landscaped my garden and found 11 frogs along the way, but none the size of a bullfrog.

The bullfrog is one of the most widely distributed frogs across the North American continent. The bullfrog is a medium-sized frog that is best known for its loud cow-like calls, hence its name.

Bullfrogs are found in a wide range of permanent freshwater habitats including ponds, swamps and lakes where the bullfrog tends to prefer to be closer to the banks rather than out in the open water. Bullfrogs also prefer to be in warmer climates rather than the cooler ones.

Today bullfrogs are being more and more commonly kept as pets and are even eaten by locals in some of the more southern regions of North America. 

Bullfrogs have also been introduced to other countries throughout the world where they have generally had a devastating impact on the local ecosystems.

Bullfrogs are carnivorous animals and bullfrogs have a diet that is meat-based. Bullfrogs are nocturnal hunters, hiding and resting during the day and actively hunting by night. Bullfrogs hunt a variety of insects and their larvae, eggs, spiders and even small fish. Some of the larger bullfrogs, today found in South Korea, have been even known to eat small snakes.

Due to the relatively small size of the bullfrog and the fact that its calls can be heard for some distance, the bullfrog has numerous different predators within its natural environment. Aquatic animals including large fish and river turtles are the most common predators of the bullfrog along with a number of snake species.

Bullfrog breeding occurs around late spring to early summer, when the male bullfrogs call out to the female bullfrogs attracting them into their territory. Once the bullfrogs have mated, the female bullfrog can lay around 20,000 eggs which float together on the surface of the water.

 The bullfrog eggs hatch in less than a week, and thousands of bullfrog tadpoles emerge into the surrounding water. The tadpoles begin to develop limbs and start to look like adult frogs. This whole process can take anywhere from 3 months to 3 years, depending of where the bullfrog lives.

Bullfrogs are generally quite hardy animals and can get to be 10 years old in the wild. One bullfrog kept in captivity was said to have died at the age of 16!

Clancy's comment: Man, did you see the size of that bullfrog caught above? Wow!

I'm ...