Back in early June, we
caught three bullfrog tadpoles at Smith and Bybee lakes. West of the Rockies, bullfrogs are a most disreputable invasive species, so removing them is considered good riddance! We brought them home to observe. Two of them have not yet grown their front legs, but one has finally morphed completely into a small frog! Bullfrogs are capable of remaining tadpoles for up to two years. but once they morph, they can grow up to 8 inches long. Jasper has named his frog "Flippy", and he spends many happy hours watching her and catching small bugs for Flippy to eat. Watching her eat a bug is really amazing. It happens so fast that there is really no way to see with the human eye how exactly she does it. But then when she's full, bugs can literally crawl on her and she just pushes them away. I am saying "she" (with my fingers crossed that I am right), because her eardrum (the round spot just behind her eye) is roughly the same size as her eye, and in males they are considerably larger. The reason for this is that male bullfrogs pretty much only use their ears to listen to other male bullfrogs croak loudly in defense of their territories, a sound that can carry for a half mile. Females apparently are more accommodating and somewhat disinterested in this process. Not only is my husband not enthusiastic about having to share a home with something that loud (although Jasper definitely is!), I am not enthusiastic about having the three bullfrogs not get along once the other two tadpoles morph. In any case, it had better happen soon. Right now the two tadpoles are actually larger than Flippy, but if Flippy grows too quickly (to a size of 6 - 8 inches) they may become tasty snacks. Actually, unless another local family tells us they would like to take one, that's probably a better fate than taking the bullfrogs back to the environment where they were wrecking havoc, or finding an interested French chef! But in the meantime, Jasper is thrilled to have these fascinating animals to watch.
Back in early June, we caught three bullfrog tadpoles at Smith and Bybee lakes. West of the Rockies, bullfrogs are a most disreputable invasive species, so removing them is considered good riddance! We brought them home to observe. Two of them have not yet grown their front legs, but one has finally morphed completely into a small frog! Bullfrogs are capable of remaining tadpoles for up to two years. but once they morph, they can grow up to 8 inches long. Jasper has named his frog "Flippy", and he spends many happy hours watching her and catching small bugs for Flippy to eat. Watching her eat a bug is really amazing. It happens so fast that there is really no way to see with the human eye how exactly she does it. But then when she's full, bugs can literally crawl on her and she just pushes them away. I am saying "she" (with my fingers crossed that I am right), because her eardrum (the round spot just behind her eye) is roughly the same size as her eye, and in males they are considerably larger. The reason for this is that male bullfrogs pretty much only use their ears to listen to other male bullfrogs croak loudly in defense of their territories, a sound that can carry for a half mile. Females apparently are more accommodating and somewhat disinterested in this process. Not only is my husband not enthusiastic about having to share a home with something that loud (although Jasper definitely is!), I am not enthusiastic about having the three bullfrogs not get along once the other two tadpoles morph. In any case, it had better happen soon. Right now the two tadpoles are actually larger than Flippy, but if Flippy grows too quickly (to a size of 6 - 8 inches) they may become tasty snacks. Actually, unless another local family tells us they would like to take one, that's probably a better fate than taking the bullfrogs back to the environment where they were wrecking havoc, or finding an interested French chef! But in the meantime, Jasper is thrilled to have these fascinating animals to watch. 
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