MASTER MORPHER

Rana Catesbeiana. What a beautiful name. Sounds like someone you went to high school with, right? Or a stripper at a bar in Shueyville. Didn't Tolstoy write about Rana Karenina? Actually, Rana catesbeiana sings to me every evening, my own basso profundo. When a chorus of Bullfrogs gets going, it can wake you from a sound sleep: barumba-rumba-rumba.

~Rana~

Rana C is a big, sturdy girl. Or boy. The American Bullfrog. I know we mothers are not supposed to have favorites, but I can cruise the perimeter of the pond for hours looking at these guys. My not-exactly-camouflaged kayak used to scare them, but they have gotten used to me, and I can coast to within a few yards before they ready those big back legs.

Nice gams!

Although I grew up on (more like in) a lake, I didn’t know how big a bullfrog could get. These fellas are 12-15 inches fully stretched out. They are a beautiful shade of green with handsome spots. And those hip bones? To die for. Frogs lack ribs, but they are well supported by those fantastic hipbones.

Bullfrogs have some very cool windows in their skulls. They can retract their eyes when they swim, pulling them down into little holes in the skull.

It's a girl

Is it a girl? If the eardrum is the size of the eye, yes. If it’s bigger, it’s a boy frog. Note: it’s not a bullfrog because it’s a boy. It’s a bullfrog because of its bellowing sound. There are female bullfrogs. In fact, they are bigger than the males. So there.

It's a boy

I always figured frogs moved their chins and throats because they were revving up to croak. In fact they move the bottom of their mouth up and down to bring in air, then they absorb oxygen through the lining of the mouth. They bring in oxygen through other skin as well.

Although frogs lay and fertilize tens of thousands of eggs, those are good fish food so we are saved from a plague of Rana catesbeiana. Those baby tads can hatch in days, and then begin their metamorphosis. Development time varies depending on climate and temperature, but it can be month or even years.

Our frogs have a constant supply of dragonflies. They wait so patiently while the dragons zip back and forth in front of their frog-noses, then snap forward and claim their dinner. They can jump 5-6 feet, and their underwater swimming is powerful, too, so they are very effective food gatherers. They will eat tadpoles, snails, snakes, birds, other frogs, turtles, mice, and other animals. They use their sticky tongue and their arms to get the unfortunate prey into the mouth. There are froggy teeth on the upper jaw and palate of a frog but not on the bottom. These are handy for holding the food in place, but the frog must stuff the food down its own throat. This behavior is also seen at Iowa City student hangouts on Thursday nights. Frogs also retract their eyes downward to help squeeze dinner out of the mouth and toward the stomach. That behavior is noted in students only after a really big football game.

I guess some people think all bullfrogs look alike, but look more closely. They each have their own beauty. And those eyes! Those lovely brown periscopes. I know what they’re thinking: “Wow, you guys all look alike.”

Time to restock the pond