Leopard Frog

Week of 06/10/2001 Excellent days to dry & store

One of my favorite memories growing up as a boy in a small country town, was catching frogs. It wasn't easy at first but with practice and time I became pretty good at it. The biggest challenge was slowly stalking a jumpy leopard frog through the tall grass. I always tell anyone who is trying to learn frog catching techniques to watch how the herons do it. They are the masters of patience and skill. Moving very slowly while never taking their eye off the target and getting as close as possible before quickly striking.

To this day I will catch a slippery frog just to get a better look at it and to see if I can still catch a leopard frog.

The northern leopard frog is a very common sight here in SW Wisconsin. The reason being that they can be seen anywhere there's a little grass. Often they will spring up in front of me while I walk through a pasture, which could be a quarter mile or more from the nearest water.

They sure do get around. Their wanderings may make them prey for many birds and animals who eat them. These 2 to 4 inch frogs are food for weasels, coons, skunks, possums, coyotes, hawks, crows, herons, cranes and so on.

This is the time of year when nature brings forth new life and there are many mouths to feed. It takes a lot of food and it comes in many forms. One being the leopard frog.

This is the reason why a healthy frog population is so important, because they affect so many other lives. Amphibians need a clean organic environment to exist in. It's so urgently important to eliminate the pollutants that could harm the frog's habitat. For when the frogs are gone many creatures will soon follow.