Creature Feature – The Bullfrog

The bullfrog is North America’s largest frog, with a length up to 8”.  It’s mostly green, with patches of darker green, brown and black, and has long, muscular back legs that enable it to jump 15 times its body length.  This feat allows the bullfrog to catch lots of different prey, including insects, minnows, rodents, bats, ducklings, snakes…even other frogs. Surprisingly, after they hatch, bullfrogs can remain in the tadpole stage of life for 1-3 years, depending on surrounding conditions. Tadpoles may stay active under the ice through winter; but the adult frog burrows into mud on the lake or pond bottom to hibernate, where it’s able to absorb oxygen stored in the mud.  Look for “Jeremiah Bullfrog” along lake/pond edges and wetlands where there are heavy mats of vegetation, like lily pads, or other emergent aquatic plants that provide cover. If you can’t see one, you’ll still know a bullfrog is near when you hear a slow, deep call that sounds like “jug-o-rum, jug-o-rum.” An iconic sound of summer on the water!

Article & photo by Margie Manthey