It’s National Frog Month!

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

April is National Frog Month; it’s well underway and things are hopping. Frogs do some mighty strange things, at least in the eyes of humans. Knowing facts about the lives and abilities of frogs will enhance your frog month celebration. That’s what this special blog post is all about. Then it’s time to trek off to a vernal pond in the woodlands, or perhaps lean against a tree at the edge of wildland marsh with a favorite frog-loving friend to enjoy a fantastic frog symphony in the dawn’s early light, or twilight. This link from a 2014 National Wildlife Federation blog in celebration of National Frog Month, has fun frog activities for young children. I won’t tell anyone if you read that link in order to glean more information for yourself about the long-leaping, bug-eating, swamp-singing amphibians that inhabit Oakland County.

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Bullfrogs and Green Frogs: Ambush Hunters of the Wetlands

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

IMG_3138The American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) is the largest frog species of Oakland County, or for that matter anywhere in North America. Some specimens weigh over a pound and may be 10 inches long. They are a meaty mouthful for many predators and a slippery handful for a naturalist. Several years ago I encountered a Goliath of a bullfrog along the West Bloomfield Trail, a beauty of a beast, blocked from its wetland by construction screening. After a quick photo shoot, I carried him to freedom and have been a fan of these beauties ever since.

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