A Little Tadpole

Ah, here's a lovely green frog tadpole, or Rana clamitans if you prefer. I caught this little guy by hand (Yeah, I know you're jealous of my amazing skill) at the same place and same day described in my previous post, the Two Chicken Pond as I believe we should start calling it during that unseasonably crappy day.

Green frogs usually occur around any inland body of water you can think of- ponds, rivers, marshes, you name it. The adults are usually between 3 and 5in and can be distinguished by a tympanum that is larger than the eye and can be differentiated from bullfrogs by the presence of that well defined dorsolateral fold. It can take anywhere from 3-22 months for a tadpole to metamorphose which means these guys can live the dream of an extended childhood. Adults can also live quite awhile with captive frogs reaching ages of up to 10 years. Green frogs breed in late spring and females choose males based on who has the best digs- better territory makes them more attractive. Their call is quite distinctive often described as a banjo string being plucked. Tadpoles eat diatoms, algae, and zooplankton while adults will eat anything that moves that's smaller than them- crayfish, snakes, insects, snails, spiders, etc.

Very cool Anurans.

(Shaun Delph)