A Contemplative Green Frog

After seeing a bunch of American Bullfrogs 1 day last May, I finally met another frog, this Green Frog. (Yeah, I know, this Green Frog isn't as green as the species name would suggest; that's just a Green Frog thing.)

As I've mentioned before, the ridges going down its back [1] (you can see the right side ridge pretty easily in the picture below) distinguish it from its American Bullfrog cousins. They also speak different languages. While the American Bullfrog has a deep, foghorny call, the Green Frog has a much twangier call. Also, AFAIK American Bullfrogs don't vocalize when jumping in the water, but if a Green Frog jumps in [2] I'll frequently here a call of "Eek!". Presumably this alerts the other frogs that something dangerous is around. Why Green Frogs raise an alarm while American Bullfrogs refuse to alert others is unknown to me.

What's this frog thinking about? My guess is that it's got more to do with eating an insect than it does about thinking back to its life as a prince, before meeting that witch.

May 10, 2023 at Delaware Raritan Canal
Photo 282315522, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] It's called a dorsolateral ridge for you frog anatomy nerds out there.

[2] Frogs know to flee from predators, especially humans with cameras.

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