Today's frog
May 31, 2011
Today's intriguing wildlife visitor is the Northern Leopard Frog, Rana pipiens, spotted in a bird bath in the garden by judy (click to enlarge). They can reach over 4in/10cm in length and, apparently, have such large mouths that they can eat garter snakes, and even birds! That would be worth seeing... More usual fare includes flies, crickets, worms, and smaller frogs. Of course the frogs themselves are also at risk from raccoons and snakes.
Apart from the bird baths in the garden, this frog is many a long hop from the water but it's great to see one as it seems acid rain led to a decline from which they're only now recovering.
The Northern Leopard Frog is the State Amphibian of both Vermont and Minnesota! Only in America... Perhaps my home county in England should have a state amphibian as well? Come to think of it, there's probably more different amphibians in our garden here in Pennsylvania than in the whole of Northamptonshire (which has four).