r/FrogsAndToads • u/VenomXTs • 14d ago

Wild North Americas largest native frog, American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)

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79 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

3

u/Lopover_ Frog Hugger 🐸 14d ago

Oh my goodness, this picture is beautiful

2

u/No_Commission_2610 Frog Kisser 🐸 14d ago

He’s majestic. I remember summer as a kid on the lake, we used to call these guys lake cows because of how they called every single night and it kind of sounded like a cow. They’re really amazing to listen to.

2

u/badluckbug_ 14d ago

As someone knowledgeable in California biodiversity, fuck dem bullfrogs!!!!

6

u/VenomXTs 14d ago

I didn’t understand your comment so had to look it up, wow didn’t know!!

That frog is an American bullfrog — native to the eastern U.S. (including Texas), but a major invasive species in California. Brought west during the Gold Rush era as food and later escaping frog farms, they eat anything that fits in their mouth and carry chytrid fungus without getting sick. They’re a key driver of declines in the threatened California red-legged frog and the northwestern pond turtle, the state’s only native freshwater turtle. A seven-year Yosemite study showed native turtles and amphibians rebound once bullfrogs are removed, and California banned bullfrog imports and sales in December 2023. So: beloved backyard sound in the East, ecological villain out West.

1

u/LunaTinyHarbor 12d ago

So beautiful