A dead bullfrog found stuck to the grill of a tourist’s car at the Rainforest Trail parking lot has a Clayoquot Sound ecologist concerned about the safety of the local amphibian habitat.
The bullfrog is a large invasive species that was introduced to the province starting in the 1940’s by people hoping to farm them for their meaty legs. The dead frog discovered Sept. 20 measured 28 centimetres from head to toe – nearly one foot long.
According to Dr. Beasley, who is an ecologist studying, among other things, coastal amphibian populations, the dead bullfrog represents the first confirmed sighting of a Bullfrog on the west side of Sutton Pass.
“The owners of the vehicle hadn't seen what they'd picked up but they did recall hearing a thud as they were driving on the east side of the Island before heading to the west coast,” reads a post by the Association of Wetland Stewards of Clayoquot and Barkley Sounds.
They went on to say that bullfrogs, an invasive species, have spread throughout the Lower Mainland and southeastern Vancouver Island as far west as Sproat Lake near Port Alberni. The bullfrog’s natural range is the east coast of North America from the Maritimes to Florida. The society hopes the bullfrogs never make it west of Sutton Pass because they are known to disrupt ecosystems where they have been introduced.
“As effective predators and competitors, they are known to cause declines in populations of native frogs such as the Northern Red-legged Frog,” reads the warning from AWSCBS.
Dr. Beasley has seen the frog. “I have confirmed that it was a female bullfrog, with an empty stomach, full of thousands of eggs,” she wrote.
AWSCBS says there is a report that a live bullfrog was transported a short distance to a new site in Nanaimo after climbing into the warm undercarriage of a car.
The society asks that local communities keep their eye out for invasive species and do their part to prevent their spread to the west coast.
“The main ways that bullfrogs move is not under their own steam, but by children and gardeners wanting them as pets in their backyard ponds... and, as we're learning, by cars,” warns AWSCBS.
According to the provincial Ministry of Environment, the bullfrog is quite distinctive in all its life stages. It is a very large, robust frog, green or brown in colour and with large golden eyes. Adult female bullfrogs may reach 20 centimeters in length not including legs and 750 grams (1.65 pounds) in weight. An adult bullfrog can leap as far as two meters (6 feet).
Female bullfrogs lay up to 20,000 eggs in ponds of standing water.
Bullfrog tadpoles can be up to 15 centimetres (6 inches) in length. Bullfrogs can live up to 10 years in the wild but mortality is high for young bullfrogs.
Please report any local sightings of bullfrogs by sending a photo to wetlandstewards@gmail.com. If you notice new bullfrog colonies, let B.C. Frogwatch know.
