Herpetofauna: One Life's List

Rana catesbiana
Bullfrog

New Florence, Missouri
Spring 1974

North America's largest frog, and a top predator in many food chains. Bullfrogs eat anything that fits in their mouths, including other Bullfrogs, rodents, birds, turtles, and snakes.  Which is all well and good, but problems start when people release them where they don't belong, California being a prime example.  Out West they've taken over habitat and either pushed out the native frogs, or consumed them.

They persist and can even thrive in urban areas, taking over backyard ponds, much to some people's dismay.  The Bullfrog in the top photo was captured for photos at a retention pond about a mile from my house.  The bottom frog is in the backyard pond of a friend.

Like an owl's hoot or a coyote's cry-yi, the deep throaty call of the bullfrog adds dimension to a dark night, the way few things can.