Category Archives: bullfrog

Of Frogs in bogs

Posted on by

Our local frogs spend most of the winter buried in the mud. In early spring they reappear in most of our freshwater areas but they especially like cranberry bogs, whether they be wild ones or cultivated ones. The ditches seem to offer lots of good hiding spaces, plenty of sun and a whole banquet of tasty flying insects that come in to nectar on the cranberry blossoms.

At this time of year they are still looking pretty dark. This coloration helps them blend in to the murky dark backgrounds much easier than if they were the bright green they will be later in the summer.

There is a different frog in each of the two pictures above. Do you see them?

Here is a closer look at one…

And the other. These both appear to be bullfrogs as they do not have the long lateral lines going down their sides. Both frogs were quite small and probably only completed their metamorphosis late last year. Bullfrogs are pretty cool and you can click on their name to get more information.

Frogs in the Bogs….

Posted on by

Two of these frogs are bullfrogs and one is a green frog. Can you tell the difference? Sometimes people think because one is bigger than the other that it must be the bullfrog but remember that bullfrogs start out small and green frogs can get pretty big.Often their markings are very similar. Some are dark, some are brighter green, some have blotches and spots or look warty….in both species. Frogs tend to be darker in the spring which helps them camouflage themselves in the darker water. As the greenery grows and the overall environment seems lighter the color of the frogs will also lighten up a bit.
Check out the ridge or line on these frogs. On one frog that lateral ridge goes down the two sides of the back. On the other two it just curls around the tympanum (big ear drum).
The top and bottom frogs are bullfrogs and the one in the center is a green frog. Bullfrogs have the ridge circling the tympanum and green frogs have the two ridges down their backs so no matter how big or small or how spotty or green they are, that is how to tell them apart. Special thanks to Mary Alexander for the use of her green frog photo. All the frogs I photographed the other day were bullfrogs.