THI-: OKKGON NATURALIST. 



The myriads of little fellows with big 

 heads and fine, whip-like tails in one of 

 these enclosed ponds show how they might 

 increase if duly protected, but what do you 

 think is the worst danger from which the 

 wire netting shields them? Nothing more 

 or less than the old frogs themselves. 

 Bull-frogs are extremely voracious and 

 will eat any animal that they can over- 

 come, small fishes, crawfishes, toads, 

 worms, insects, anything and everything 

 and of course they find the young of their 

 own species acceptable morsels. 



The tadpoles grow to a large size, many 

 of them attaining a length of four and one 

 half inches. They usually develop into 

 the adult form in two years, hut it is said 

 that there are many exceptional cases in 

 which individuals live three years and 

 even longer before undergoing their meta- 

 morphoses. The young frogs are allowed 

 to remain in the small enclosed ponds un- 

 til they are thought to be old enough to 

 take care of themselves, then the fence is 

 lowered and they are driven out to take 

 their chances with their older relatives 

 In the larger pond they usually find an 

 abundance of food and they are useful in 

 subdueing the myriads of insects and 

 other vermin which find a breeding place 

 in the water, and in the rank vegetation. 

 In spite of this abundance of natural food 

 the owners find it advisable to feed them 

 occasionally, scattering about consider- 

 able quantities of waste meat kwhich has 

 been chopped fine. The frogs eat greedily 

 and soon attain a large size. 



Killing or capturing the frogs for market 

 is not at all difficult on a well stocked 

 farm. Sometimes they are knocked over 

 with a long switch, sometimes shot with 

 a spring gun, and sometimes they are 

 caught on a hook, baited with a strip of 

 red flannel, a bait which they are said to 

 take readily. In some countries the whole 

 frog is eaten, but in America, it is usual 

 to send nothing but the hind legs to 



market, the rest of the animal, on which 

 there is but little good meat, being used to 

 feed the survivors in the pond. 



Sometimes however it is found best to 

 ship the frogs alive. They are then 

 canght in a small net on the end of a 

 light pole, a contrivance very much like a 

 butterfly net with a long handle. The 

 consumer can then, without danger of 

 loss, lay in a considerable supply of live 

 frogs to be kept and killed as needed. 

 They are kept in dark pits or large boxes, 

 without food but with plenty of water. 

 They are often kept for weeks in this way, 

 spending their time huddled up together 

 and indulging in low croakings, or, if the 

 weather is cold, lying buried in the wet 

 straw and awaiting their doom in a torpid 

 or semi-torpid state. 



Although frog raising is a comparatively 

 new industry and but little familiar to the 

 general public it has already risen to the 

 dignity of statistics, for 60, 000 lbs of frog 

 meat, mostly that of domesticated animals, 

 are sold annually in New York City where 

 the average retail price is thirty cents per 

 pound. 



In their natural state frogs are solitary 

 animals, except in the spring when they 

 congregate in large numbers, making 

 night hideous with their hoarse bellowings 

 which, it is said, have been heard over 

 five miles. At such times the males often 

 fight furiously and have frequently been 

 found struggling so fiercely that they did 

 not notice the intruder. 



At the approach of winter they bury 

 themselves in the mud at the bottom of 

 theirpond or stream, and there, in a torpid 

 state, await the coming of spring. 



The smaller wading birds, such as 

 "teet?r snipes" and sandpipers, often grow 

 fat on the young tadpoles, and the larger 

 wild fowls, ducks, geese and herons, feast 

 upon the growing frogs. Fishes, too, keep 

 both tadpoles and frogs on their bills of fare, 

 and certain snakes subsist mainly on frogs. 



