By Elaine Callahan
Elaine is a “Frog Lady”. She loves to have them in her ponds, to observe and appreciate. She shares this piece on Bullfrogs with CvilleBuzz readers.
“Everything has an awareness.”
We learned this from the indigenous people on a recent trip to Alaska, where their ancestors gave thanks to the spirit of the whale or moose they had just hunted, thanking the animal for sacrificing itself so they could eat.
This is true in all forms of life, especially the ones we observe every day, like Rana Catesbeiana, aka the Bullfrog with his bulging eyeballs and cavernous mouth.
The time of the year for winterizing our ponds has arrived, with water plants withering and leaves falling in. As the back door opens, we hear a splash or three, and notice several more bullfrogs poised for a leap.
Why? “Our” Bullfrogs are aware that a person usually has a net in hand, offering free re-location service to a very large neighboring pond. On the other hand, the charming Leopard Frog or occasional Mink Frog will sit happily alongside us as we trim plants and tidy up their environment. It’s awareness and assurance.
We have noted that the Bullfrog’s extremely large mouth enables him to eat almost any of our goldfish family, except the large Koi. Thus, sustaining our fish family requires removing the larger Bullfrogs. We remember the poor Goldfinch half-swallowed by the Bullfrog. We found both sadly drowned and floating in the pond?
Survival. Feeding. Hibernating. Perhaps Grandfather Bullfrogs passed this knowledge directly to their offspring many years ago, but we’re now convinced it’s their awareness.