Bullfrog

“ The pen scratched and scratched hesitatingly. The patient old clock on the wall tick-ticked on and on tirelessly. A contented bullfrog out in the cool garden began a hoarse pæan, a dedication to the silence, and broke off midway in a measure. ”

“ Moonlight is rarely helpful to too literal inquiry. The sound is very musical with a fairy-like quality. It is as if elves played musical glasses in this orchestra in which the grasshoppers and crickets are masters of the stringed instruments.
Another frog voice is that of the Southern bullfrog, which might better be named pigfrog, if voices are to count. The Northern bullfrog is a hoarse-voiced toper who bellows most sonorously for his favorite liquor. ”

“ From the remote, secluded farms came the faint bark of dogs; and amidst such sights and sounds he at length emerged upon the winding road, that, if followed, would lead him past Stillyside. Slowly and without special aim he continued to walk, ruminating and still drawn onwards, lured by the time and scene, until the sound alike of mastiff and of cur had ceased, the grasshopper refused to pipe upon the dusty road, and the too distant bullfrog was no longer heard gurgling to its mates, but all was silent, lying as in a trance, both heaven and earth. ”

“ Though he could not swell himself to the size of a lion, Mr Bullfrog had managed to imitate very closely his voice, so we returned to camp feeling somewhat ashamed of ourselves, Harry every now and then giving way to a burst of laughter.
In the open country, where little shelter is to be found, lions are not often to be met with, and as they can be seen long before they approach, no danger is to be apprehended from them. One of the men who had remained behind followed, bringing one of the bullfrogs which he had captured in the pool. ”

“ Here I am in a little hut by the water, writing on the bottom of a canned meat box—not our label, for I gave Billy a bit of wholesome advice as to packing foods, which he accepted on the ground that mine was expert testimony—a tallow candle flickering at my side, and the hoarse booming of bullfrogs outside furnishing an obligato to my thoughts. One particular bullfrog who resides here can make more noise than any Texas steer that ever struck Chicago. It isn't always the biggest animal that can make the loudest rumpus, as I sometimes fear you think. ”

“ Bullfrog wants waking up. Run out the caravan, and take a turn through the township, with the cornet playing and me riding ahead on the black mare, and we are bound to make an impression. Get through at a good bat, and they won't have time to look twice at the man-monkey before it's all over. Just a dash through and back to the tent, and we can be under cover again before they're fairly out of their houses. I tell you, sir, it will make Bull frog wild with curiosity."
Madame Marve, the Egyptian Mystic, favoured the scheme, and Professor Thunder agreed. ”

“ In turn the bullfrog has sufficient enemies to keep its numbers down, in fishes, birds, otters, and snakes, and, in the South, alligators. Although easily kept and growing comparatively tame, they are dull, having to be kept in solitary confinement on account of their greediness, which knows no limits. Two of our specimens each swallowed a full-grown Salamandra maculosa, and died within the same night, probably not understanding the meaning of the conspicuous black and yellow warning colours of the European. ”

“ Bully wondered what it could be. As the hours passed, still more shells were thrown out. Now the knowing old frogs seemed sadder and more worried than ever. "Things are getting worse here every day," he heard some one say. He looked around and saw several old bullfrogs near him watching Mrs. Duck. The frog who had spoken continued, "Now that duck will come from her nest in a day or two with a whole brood of babies. She will then take them to the water and they will eat all of our polly-wogs." ”

“ When one suddenly picks up a frog during the long, dry months of summer, it often voids a quantity of this clear water in a succession of jets. The large, round eye of the bullfrog is peculiar in some respects, for, if we tickle its corneal surface with some light object, as a straw, it will be noticed that the thick upper lid, covered as it is by the common integuments, has very little movement, while on the other hand, as the animal rotates its eyeball inward and beneath this, there at the same time passes up over the organ the thinner, somewhat transparent, lower eyelid. ”

“ The smaller varieties are sometimes eaten, and on rare occasions the bullfrog also, but the meat is tabued to ball players while in training, for fear that the brittleness of the frog’s bones would be imparted to those of the player. ”

“ Both these species are properly land-frogs, and only take to the water to breed, returning again to the woods later in the season. The same is true of the tree-frog, which passes the winter in [255] the ground or in hollow trees, and takes to the marshes in May to deposit its eggs. The common bullfrog and the pickerel frog doubtless pass the winter in the bed of ponds and streams. I think it is quite certain that hibernating animals in the ground do not freeze, though by no means beyond the reach of frost. ”

“ Female bullfrogs have white throats. Bullfrogs are the largest species of frog in the U.S. They can grow up to 8 inches and weigh over 1 lb. Life Cycle: Eggs are laid as a jelly-like mass floating on the surface of the water. Around 12,000-20,000 eggs can be laid in each mass. They usually spend 2 winters as tadpoles and live around 8 years. ”

“ All frogs and toads are flesh eaters, mainly of worms and insects and larval or small water animals; but the big species, such as the bullfrog, may seize prey of considerable size as it comes within reach, such as young ducklings. None hunt about for prey, but, aided by the concealing nature of their colors, wait quietly until a victim comes within reach [Pg 175] of their quick and accurate tongues. All lay their eggs in still water, varying in number from a few score to several thousands, according to the species. ”

“ A gap in the Great Smoky range, about the head of Noland creek, on the line between North Carolina and Sevier county, Tennessee.
kûnu′nŭ (abbreviated kûnun′) —the bullfrog; the name is probably an onomatope; the common green frog is walâ′sĭ and there are also names for several other varieties of frogs and toads. ”

“ Bullfrog, instead of being considered as a respectable old bore, got himself universally laughed at for aping fashionable manners. Every bird and beast in the forest had a gibe at him; and even old Parson Too-Whit thought it worth his while to make him a pastoral call, and admonish him about courses unbefitting his age and standing. As to Mother Magpie, you may be sure that she assured every one how sorry she was that dear old Dr. ”

“ The natural enemies include young of the copperhead. The bullfrog and leopard frog probably take heavy toll of both the adults and the newly metamorphosed young at the breeding ponds. Reproductive success of the ant-eating frogs was much greater in 1954 when these ranids were unusually scarce. The short-tailed shrew is an important enemy. On occasion it took heavy toll of frogs trapped in pitfalls, and many of the larger adults were scarred or mutilated from bites, probably of the shrew. ”

“ The frogs croaked furiously, while every few moments I heard, first to the right and then to the left, the abrupt, monotonous and mournful metallic note of the bullfrogs. Strange to say, I was no longer afraid. I was in the midst of such an unusual landscape that the most remarkable things would not have astonished me. ”

“ The disproportionate voices are produced by means of an extra amount of skin on the throat, which is distensible and acts as a drum to increase the volume of sound. In certain bullfrogs which grow to be as large as the head of a man, the bellowing power is deafening and is audible for miles. In Chile a small species of frog, measuring only about an inch in length, has two internal vocal sacs which are put to a unique use. Where these frogs live, water is very scarce and the polliwogs have no chance to live and develop in pools, as is ordinarily the case. ”

“ Just then a little muskrat jumped out of the water and from behind a tree ran a pretty gray squirrel and a striped chipmunk.
"Did you call us?" they asked Puss all at once.
"No, my little friends," he replied, "but come along," and when they reached Beaver Dam, they looked around to see what had become of the old bullfrog. There he was in the water about halfway down the stream, swimming away for all he was worth.
"Ker-chunk, ker-chunk!" he cried, as he came up to them, "Why don't you wait for [82] a fellow? ”

“ The love-songs of the frogs seemed hardly less wonderful than those of the birds, their musical notes varying from the sweet, tranquil, soothing peeping and purring of the hylas to the awfully deep low-bass blunt bellowing of the bullfrogs. Some of the smaller species have wonderfully clear, sharp voices and told us their good Bible names in musical tones about as plainly as the whip-poor-will. ”

“ The amount of time that adults spend in the water varies enormously. Bullfrogs and green frogs, although they have lungs and breathe air, spend almost all their adult lives in the water. On the other end of the spectrum, toads and treefrogs spend the majority of their adulthood outside of water. All frogs and toads, however, must eventually come back to the water to mate and lay eggs. ”

“ When the road dips again there are stretches of marshland that one instinctively dislikes, and indeed almost fears at evening when unseen whippoorwills chatter and the fireflies come out in abnormal profusion to dance to the raucous, creepily insistent rhythms of stridently piping bullfrogs. The thin, shining line of the Miskatonic's upper reaches has an oddly serpentlike suggestion as it winds close to the feet of the domed hills among which it rises.
As the hills draw nearer, one heeds their wooded sides more than their stone-crowned tops. ”

“ That always stands for the big bullfrogs. I ought to know, because I'm an experienced frog-raiser. Cleared sixty-seven dollars from my little pond this very summer; but I've never seen frogs'-legs quoted quite so high as that Mr. ”

“ It feeds entirely on shell-fish from the kelp and tidal rocks; hence the beak and head, for the purpose of breaking them, are surprisingly heavy and strong: the head is so strong that I have scarcely been able to fracture it with my geological hammer and all our sportsmen soon discovered how tenacious these birds were of life. When in the evening pluming themselves in a flock, they make the same odd mixture of sounds which bullfrogs do within the tropics. ”

“ That night Bully had a dream. In his dream he saw bad boys killing frogs, and he saw snakes and turtles eating them. He saw men, with live frogs on cruel hooks, jerking them back and forth through the water trying to catch fish with them. In his dream he saw frogs put in stuffy little pens with little to eat, and many people lean over the pen looking down at them. And he saw ducks eating thousands and thousands of young frogs. All these little cousins were reaching out their tiny hands and begging him to get the Lark to hurry and tell them how to find the Frog Pond. ”

“ As soon as the Lark goes, and the strange frogs begin to come to Bully's Frog Pond, I shall write and tell you all about them. I'm sure it will not be many days before Bully's friend starts on his journey. Mrs. Lark thinks that, with the help of the Robins and Grandfather Bull Frog's good advice, she can take care of her babies. You wait patiently until he returns. He flies fast, so it will not take him long to visit them all. Then as the frogs come hopping in from all parts of the world I will tell you about them in my next book, called Bully's Queer Relations. ”

“ Bully and Mrs. House Frog were among the first to reach there. When all the frogs had landed on the island, Grandfather Bull Frog asked the Crow to tell his news.
"Yesterday," he told them, "our friend the Lark came home."
"The Lark came home!" cried several frogs all at once. "Are you sure you haven't made a mistake?"
"Of course I'm sure," replied the Crow crisply. "Isn't he an old friend of mine? And don't I know where the Larks' nest is? I saw the Lark and talked with him. He is hard at work helping his mate find fat worms for those dear baby larks." ”

“ You know there is no place quite so safe as the one close to mother when danger is near. And Grandmother, you remember, was the only mother Bully knew.
Down behind the old log he found most of the old frogs. They were talking scarcely above a whisper, and all of them looked frightened and worried. He heard them say, "What shall we do? We can't live here with those ducks. There isn't room in the Frog Pond for both ducks and frogs. But how can we make the ducks go away? Is it possible the Lark made a mistake and invited those dreadful ducks to come here, too? ”

“ The birds are making the day glad with song. All nature seems to be full of joy. The sun smiles upon forest, hill, and field, not forgetting to warm the water of the Frog Pond. Bully is glad he is alive. He is on the shore busy catching gnats and flies. There are a great many other frogs living in this pond. The ones Bully admires most are Grandfather Bull Frog and Grandmother Bull Frog. They live on the island in the middle of the pond. Grandfather Bull Frog rules all the frogs in and about the pond. Bully wished he could be as big and strong as Grandfather Bull Frog. ”