Thursday, July 06, 2006

Green Frog (Rana clamitans melanoto)

Every time I go to the pond this time of year I know I am going to hear a "bleep!" and then a 'ker-splash' as another green frog hits the water at my approach. However, I still give a little jump as the "bleep" always catches be off guard. And I seldom see froggie until its in the water! The thing to do would be to scan the edge of the pond with my binoculars first; to see it before it sees me, and I do this sometimes, but more often I forget until the "bleep!" catches me by surprise once again.

The Green Frog is easily identified as its upper jaw is a bright green and the pattern on his legs is barred rather than blotchy or round. The frog seen below was quite large and weighty as the Pond Lily paddy it was sitting on had sunk under its weight and I first thought it might be a Bullfrog because of its size. However, on closer inspection I could see that its upper jaw was green and the pattern on the legs was barred so it was just a rather large Green Frog.

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