December 03, 1992 - The Last Call for Bullfrog Sightings8A • The Suffolk Times • December 3, 1992
The Last Call for Bullfrog Sightings
By Paul Stoutenburah
A young mother called me last week
and told of her son, Jason, finding a.
"monstrous big frog." This seemed odd
for we have had freezing weather and
frogs should be hibernating in ponds in
their winter sleep. But then, with the
crazy Long Island weather we've had
lately, anything can happen. And it did.
Just before this unusual find, we had a
really warm spell with heavy rains ac-
Focus on
Nature
companied by occasional thunder and
lightning. Could this have influenced
the frog's behavior?
I did some research and found that
occasionally frogs take these warm op-
portunities to go afield for one last, big
dinner before hibernating or perhaps to
travel to another, more appropriate pond
for their winter sleep. Seeing frogs have
to keep their skin moist, the warm, rainy
period was just what the frog ordered
for getting up and out to travel.
Of course, I had to see this monstrous
frog and sure enough when I arrived,
there was Jason as proud as any trophy
hunter with his truly monstrous frog.
The ear patch, larger than his eye in
size, told me this had to be the largest
frog we have in the country, the bull-
frog.
It did my heart good to see the enthu-
siasm this 8- year -old had for his trea-
sure. Of course, we had to take a picture
and we watched the frog leap about the
lawn in what seemed to be effortless
bounds. At one point it almost got away
but Jason's willing hands were there to
grab it.
Bullfrogs are some of the last to come
out of hibernation in the spring but
when they do join the night chorus that
comes from the pond, there is no mis-
taking their call. To another bullfrog it
must be sweet music and so the female
is lured to the pond where the male
clasps her and fertilizes the eggs as she
lays them. Later, tadpoles hatch and
most develop in one year into frogs. By
the end of summer they have trans-
formed from the little wiggly larvae to
small frogs that start their growth by the
side of the pond. By contrast, bullfrogs
take two years to complete this trans-
formation and by that time the tiny tad-
pole has grown into a huge five- or six -
inch tadpole before becoming a frog.
Sometimes
We're
Down
In The
Pumps
NORTH FORK SANITATION SERVICE
Garbage & Rubbish Removal
Roy A. Schelin, Prop. 765 -2M
Photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh
BULLFROG —After our first freeze we occasionally see frogs moving about
during a warm, rainy spell, looking for their last meal before hibernating.
Tadpoles in general have that remark-
able ability to regenerate a foot or tail
should it be nipped off by one of the
many predators that lurk in the pond.
This ability to grow back has put the
frog in the medical laboratory for study
and researchers hope to find out its se-
crets so that they can be made available
for man's benefit. Frogs have always
been part of the research field and I'm
sure many of you can remember
dissecting a frog in your high school
biology class. When electric currents
were first being studied, Galvani, a
famous scientist, used frogs in his
research.
Besides scientific use of these jump-
ing giants, evidence of frogs for food
has been found in caves of prehistoric
man and today frogs' legs are still used
as a gourmet delight in many presti-
gious restaurants. Because bullfrogs are
so large they are the most sought after
for food. Luckily we don't have many
collectors here for our semisecretive
bullfrogs are not that plentiful.
In spring we hear their bass call of
varying interpretations, such as "Jug -o'-
ruin, jug -o' -rum" or "More rum, more
rum." Once these connections to words
are heard, one will always remember the
bullfrog's call. Their calling attracts the
females to the ponds where thousands
of fertilized eggs are laid. This, multi-
plied by the hundreds of frogs and toads
of all types, brings the total to almost
astronomical numbers.
Toads and Frogs Differ
Toads live in an entirely different
habitat. Once hatched and metamor-
phosed (changed into baby toads), they
live away from the water. This is where
we often hear the phrase "It's raining
baby toads" when these young are seen
by the thousands climbing up the sides
I_APA I —AAL nAAL
78 Years Ago
Dec. 12, 1914
Two New Roads: The commission, N. Orcutt Petty
and James Elton of Riverhead and Mr. Jones of Jamesport,
have decided in favor of opening a new road along the
Sound bluffs, beginning at Lighthouse Road, Southold, and
extending west to the inlet road, Peconic. This will make a
continuation of the present Sound View Road. The road
will open up a beautiful drive and also many fine building
sites overlooking the Sound.
The other new road goes down just west of the
Cutchogue Country Club and continues to New Suffolk
Avenue, making a connection link to a most beautiful drive
for motorists.
Successful Play: The play presented by Shelter
Island High School, "Lost a Chaperone," a comedy in three
acts, was given Saturday evening in the Men's Club Hall to
a large and attentive audience in spite of a blustering east
wind. This play was in every way a success, each one act-
ing their parts so easily. The proceeds were about $50, to be
used toward making a tennis court on the school grounds.
50 Years Ago
Dec. 3, 1942
No Holiday Lights: Exterior holiday illumination of
of our houses, on windows, on our cars
or moving across the highways in count-
less numbers. Usually this occurs during
or after a rain. Most will become food
for raccoons, snakes, birds or other
predators but a few will survive to take
up their position in your garden or other
likely spot, where they will find a good
supply of insects to feed on.
The bullfrog, however, lives only in
or at the edge of the pond, where he.
feeds on insects and other small pond
life, but because of his monstrous mouth
and size, he'll take anything that moves
about him — a butterfly, a dragonfly, a
small bird, a small fish, little turtles,
snakes, mice or even another frog. The
key is that the object has to be moving
and yet small enough to swallow or
partly swallow. Many's the time that
Mr. Bullfrog has been seen with the legs
of some unfortunate dinner victim still
hanging out of his mouth. Eventually, as
the stomach assimilates the food, the
legs disappear down the throat. This is a
hard lesson for the young naturalist to
understand until he puts a small frog in
his collection basket with a bullfrog.
When he gets home and looks in he may
see only one big, happy bullfrog.
Probably the most well -known bull-
frog was the one made famous by Mark
Twain's short story, "The Jumping Frog
of Calaveras County." Even today the
jumping frog contest is carried on there
and has become an annual tradition at-
tracting thousands. The average bull-
frog, I am told, can jump nine times his
body length and so if you have a seven -
or eight -inch bullfrog he can jump al-
most six feet at one time.
As we approach winter with its icy
blasts out of the north and freezing
ponds, few of us think about those who
sleep below the ice. Here the cold will
capture the frogs until once more the
sun swings higher and higher, bringing
more warmth to each day. The first to
be released are the spring peepers with
their familiar song. Then other frogs
will join in and lastly we will hear the
solitary, deep voice of the bullfrog —
"Jug o' rum, jug o' rum, jug o' rum" —
and the cycle will start anew.
all types is ruled out this year under a directive issued by
the Suffolk County Office of Civilian Protection. The pro-
hibition, made necessary by the Army's new and more
stringent dimout regulations, applies to private, community
and commercial displays. Floyd Houston, county CCP
director, said he regretted extinguishing all outdoor Christ-
mas lighting but pointed out that regulations designed to
protect offshore shipping and reduce the dangers from hos-
tile air operations are all important.
Christmas Checks Total $29,000: This week
the First National and the People's Nationals banks of
Greenport mailed Christmas Club checks totaling about
$29,000, slightly less than last year due to the fact that
funds formerly put in Christmas clubs have been used for
the purchase of government War Bonds.
25 Years Ago
Dec. 8, 1967
East End County Bill Filed:. Preliminary filing of
a bill in the New York State Legislature is being effected
this week to authorize the creation of a new New York State
county, to be formed by the five eastern towns of Suffolk
County. The supervisors of the five towns requested the
introduction of this bill. The bill will be considered at the
next term of the Legislature.