An amazing amphibian omnibus

By Zoey McGee | Manor Ink

The American bullfrog is the largest frog in the United States. It can reach up to six to eight inches long and can weigh up to one to two pounds. Bullfrogs come in various natural green and brown colors to blend in with the plants in their habitat, as well as some black mottling and speckles. Frogs cannot move their heads from side to side; because of this, they have large, protruding eyes to give them a wider range of vision.

Bullfrogs will eat pretty much anything they are able to catch and swallow. This includes worms, bugs, fish, other frog species, rodents, lizards, newts, snakes, small mammals and sometimes birds. Bullfrog tadpoles eat mostly aquatic plant material and invertebrates, but may also eat tadpoles from different frog species.

These frogs live in a wide range of aquatic habitats that contain slow or stagnant water and lots of vegetation. These include lakes, ponds, swamps, streams, ditches, reservoirs and canals. They primarily live on the shores of these waters, but on warm, rainy nights, they may disperse over land.

Not everyone loves this frog species. While in their native habitat in the eastern part of the United States, bullfrogs are helpful to us as they play a role in insect control. Unfortunately, in the western part of the country, where bullfrogs are not naturally occurring but have been introduced by people, they have caused more harm than good. Those bullfrogs have killed off native frog species due to their voracious appetite and resource competition.

Frogs do not have a diaphragm or ribs like us humans. So instead, to breathe, they use their throats to push air in and out of their lungs. But even more remarkable than that, frogs can directly absorb oxygen through their skin into their blood vessels.

Only male bullfrogs croak; they do this to establish territory and attract mates. They croak by breathing in, then closing their nostrils, and forcing air back and forth from their lungs to their vocal sack.

Bullfrog eggs are laid in June and July. The eggs are a jelly-like mass that floats at the surface of the water. Around 12,000 to 20,000 eggs are laid in each mass. The egg development is quick, and they hatch a few days to a week after being laid. From there, they enter the second stage of their life cycle as tadpoles, and remain that way for two summers. Then the most complicated transition is made in which the tailed, gill-breathing, herbivorous tadpole transitions to the third stage of its life where it becomes a tailless, four-legged, air-breathing, carnivorous bullfrog! And to make this sound even more impressive, they transition in a little over a week! They remain in this form for about six more years until, well, they literally croak.