FROGS. 



METHODS OF CAPTURE. 



There are various methods of capturing frogs. The boy's favorite 

 device is the fish pole, with the line baited with red cloth, worms, 

 grasshoppers, or other insects; and this method is yet frequently 

 emj^loyed by the market hunter. A more common method, however, 

 is clubbing. Many of us as boys used to choose a good strong club 

 about walking-stick length. With this instrument we skirted the 

 edges of the swamps, lakes, or marshy creeks in the spring or early 

 summer, traversed the clover or hay fields of the uplands in July 

 about cutting time, or hunted in the wet lowlands a little later. 

 Some of the men and boys occasionally put nails in the end of the 

 club, but this more cruel method avails little. The frogs which were 

 killed were put into a bag or strung on a cord by loops tied about 

 their loins. They were dressed immediately after the trip. 



[In Minnesotajo frogs are also taken by sticks and gunny sacks. In using sticks the 

 frogs are usually killed and then sold in a dressed condition for food. Gunny sacks 

 in a wet condition are used in their capture by being thrown over the frogs. Frogs 

 are kept alive for market in gunny sacks placed in running water and covered with 

 hay or straw to keep out the frost. 



Some expert froggers are very adept at catching them alive by 

 hand. A frog catcher will hold one hand over or in front of the prey 

 to attract its attention and capture the game by a sudden movement 

 of the other hand. 



Several methods are based on the migration of the frogs in the fall 

 or spring. In the central New York region in late September, 

 through October, and even in November, frogs are frequently en- 

 countered working their way down the hills toward the swamps 

 around or at either end of some of our Finder Lakes. Many reach 

 the swamp in the fall, and many winter in the ravines and enter the 

 swamps in the spring. In many cases State roads or other similar 

 and partial barriers skirt our lakes — that is, steam railroads, electric 

 railways, etc. — and the frog catchers make use of these. A calcium- 

 carbide can or a barrel placed at the swamp end of a culvert may 

 yield numerous frogs which are traveling down the ravines, and the 

 swamps or ditches dug at the base of the hills and at the swamp's 

 border may give good returns. 



[In Minnesotajo! frogs are caught in various ways, but chiefly in pits dug between 

 sloughs and the adjoining high grass. The season for their capture in this manner is 

 usually in the fall, when they are returning to the water. These pits are about 3 feet 

 long, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet deep. 



There are many other variations of this pit, posthole, ditch, or 

 excavation method. In Oneida Lake an outgrowth of the pit and 

 can methods is the use of screens. 



[This form of capture]^ is used in the fall when the frogs migrate from the fields and 

 swamps toward the lake for hil)ernation. This migration is not regular, it takes place 

 mostly at night, particularly during warm rains, after a light frost. Taking advantage 

 of this migrating behavior, cheesecloth screens, about 18 inches high, supported by 

 sticks, are placed along the shore to intercept the migrating frogs. At intervals of 

 two or three rods nail kegs, carbide cans, or posthole-like excavations entrap the frogs 

 which, failing to surmount the screen, wander along it and fall into the traps. The 

 frog catcher has only to collect the frogs from those traps. Late in the season one may 

 find various sized frogs, mice, and other small mammals drowned and frozen in these 

 small wells. 



a Townscnd, C. H.: Loc. cit., p. 720. 



6 Adams, C. C, and Hankinson, T. L.: Loc. cit., pp. ICl, 162. 



