Why Don’t I Hear Many Bullfrogs?

With the focus most people have trying to grow large numbers of game fish, bullfrogs just can’t keep up.  Unfortunately, many are eaten.

If you want to establish or protect bullfrogs, learn their lifestyle.  Females lay 20-25,000 eggs surrounded by a jelly-like mass.  When hatched, tadpoles have a nasty taste to most critters and survive predation for a while. It takes two years for them to mature into frogs.  Once they develop legs, however, they are open season for every critter in or around the pond.

Bullfrogs need shallow water with shoreline vegetation and lots of natural food.  They thrive in small isolated ponds with fluctuating water levels and low fish populations.  Ponds designated for minnow production provide great habitat.

There’s nothing more memorable than listening to the deep “parrrummmpp” chorus of big frogs serenading a summer evening.  Introduce a youngster to this unforgettable sound and watch his or her eyes get as big as a bluegill they caught earlier in the day.