Frog ID

[evangelist6589]

I live in Greenville, SC and have become interested in frogs. Sadly finding others with this interest on FB is difficult so thank goodness I found this forum! Anyways I was at Paris Mountain State Park and heard many frogs from all over the lake. I am not sure what type of frog it was but this is one from that I caught on camera.

All sizes | IMG_1202 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Do you know what type of frog this is and what he sounds like when he chirps? The frog I heard allot of tonight sounded like this.

http://srelherp.uga.edu/anurans/sounds/rancla.mp3

Species Profile: Green / Bronze Frog (Rana clamitans) | SREL Herpetology

So as I understand these frogs come out after 7:30pm?


John

[Charlotte Benedict]

All frogs are nocturnal, so will probably be more active after the sun sets. It looks to me, and sounds a lot like, the common American Bullfrog. I do not have a lot of experience with bronze frogs, but here is a link that might help distinguish between the two. Both are very interesting, but I would not recommend keeping them in captivity as they require large enclosures ( 100 gallon tank for 1 frog ) and are notoriously mean. Green Frog - North Carolina

[evangelist6589]

Thanks for the info I appreciate it. However I am in SC not NC. Most people get the two confused and always assume NC. When you say mean what do you mean? No I was not going to capture any but like to study them.

[Charlotte Benedict]

Well, both bullfrogs and bronze frogs range spans almost all across the U.S., both in your area, SC. By mean, I mean aggressive and will bite if they have the opportunity. As for studying them, trying to determine exactly what they are by the link I sent you would be a start, but both species, being almost the same, would be very interesting to study. The behavior is neat because, I have found, if you approach a bullfrog while it is hiding and feels safe, it will make a low growling sound, later I learned the sound meant it was about to attack me or flee. Keep up with the project and keep me posted when you find out what type it is!

[UncleChester]

A green frog has dorsolateral ridges (a little ridge of skin) that run from the eye down the sides of the back (which look to be there in your picture, but it's a little hard to tell), a bullfrog doesn't have these. When you know to look for them they're pretty obvious in the field. So yours looks like a green frog to me and not a bullfrog.

I'm not very familiar with frogs down south though, but given the apparent ridges it doesn't seem to resemble any of the other options on the list at Frogs and Toads of South Carolina and Georgia | SREL Herpetology You might want to go through their descriptions and make notes on how to tell the various ranids apart, then go back out and do some examining in the field. Being familiar with key characteristics will also help you take photos for later ID where these differences are prominent. For example, a bullfrog and a pig frog can be distinguished by the webbing on their hind feet, so if you suspect you've found one be sure to clearly photograph their hind feet to examine later.

It obviously sounds like a green frog as that's what your sound byte was a recording of. Recording what you hear can also be useful. It doesn't need to be super high quality to help, a cheap mp3 with a voice recorder can do the trick for later playback.

[evangelist6589]

A green frog has dorsolateral ridges (a little ridge of skin) that run from the eye down the sides of the back (which look to be there in your picture, but it's a little hard to tell), a bullfrog doesn't have these. When you know to look for them they're pretty obvious in the field. So yours looks like a green frog to me and not a bullfrog.

I'm not very familiar with frogs down south though, but given the apparent ridges it doesn't seem to resemble any of the other options on the list at Frogs and Toads of South Carolina and Georgia | SREL Herpetology You might want to go through their descriptions and make notes on how to tell the various ranids apart, then go back out and do some examining in the field. Being familiar with key characteristics will also help you take photos for later ID where these differences are prominent. For example, a bullfrog and a pig frog can be distinguished by the webbing on their hind feet, so if you suspect you've found one be sure to clearly photograph their hind feet to examine later.

It obviously sounds like a green frog as that's what your sound byte was a recording of. Recording what you hear can also be useful. It doesn't need to be super high quality to help, a cheap mp3 with a voice recorder can do the trick for later playback.

I do have a iPhone, a iPod Nano 5th Generation, a Olympus Voice Recorder, and cassette recorders, so capturing audio should not be difficult. I have only a point & shoot Olympus Camera so photographing details of frogs would be difficult. But if I were to do such a thing I would buy myself a better Canon camera with a Super Macro feature which would be in the $300-$500 range I bet. However the challenge for me at this time is finding the frogs. I heard them everywhere but could not find any. The one frog I captured jumped out of the water and onto land, but he was the only one. Do you have any suggestions?

[UncleChester]

Your camera looks fine for ID kinds of photos, you don't need the ability to resolve tiny details. It helps to know the key features to get in the picture though.

As far as finding frogs, once you've located a pond they're calling from the rest is patience. The first defence of most North American Frogs is to try not to be seen. If they think a threat is approaching they will remain motionless and silent until the threat is close and they feel flight is their best chance at survival. When moving in on calling frogs, when they go silent you should stop moving and wait patiently. During the breeding season they generally resume calling if you are still long enough. Then move closer and remain still again when the calling stops. Repeat until you are close enough to see the frog or have a good idea as to where they are. Often they'll be calling from under cover so can be hard to spot. It helps if you aren't afraid to get wet and get your eyes down to frog level.

You can also wait at a distance from where you hear frogs calling from. With calling usually comes fairly hilarious breeding antics, such as fending off competing males, that causes much splashing. This can help narrow locations down from a distance.

As to the nighttime thing- daytime can work as well. Green frogs call way more at night, but just a few days ago on a hot humid day I managed to photograph some Green Frogs calling in the middle of the afternoon.