What I wanted:
What I got:
The Backyard Science group regularly publishes The Daily Bucket, which features observations of the world around us. What's in your backyard? Funny insects, unusual birds, pretty flowers, healthy vegetables, or shy snakes?
Any of these and much more are worthy additions to the Bucket and its comments. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment, and provide a picture if you can. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record that we can refer to as we try to understand the patterns that are unwinding around us.
The Cascades and Sierra Nevada Mountain ranges kept the Pacific Northwest isolated for millennia from the rest of North America. So our critters often evolved uniquely almost as if we were on an island. As the first picture shows, our frogs are often petite and prettily colored, with dainty faces. The rest of you all were stuck much of the time with olive drab, portly bullfrogs.
Continue reading below the sensuous orange worms to find out why that may be important.
According to wikipedia, the bullfrog is native to eastern North America, and its range reached west into portions of Colorado and Wyoming. However, Humans leapfrogged the mountains and imported bullfrogs into the Western US, probably for food, and bullfrogs became the dominant frog species, preying on native frogs, hogging the best habitat and pushing native frogs closer to extinction.
Here is their current range. Bullfrogs are introduced species in all of the territory west of the Dakota/Nebraska west state line.
I mentally picture miles of bullfrogs lined up on the Nebraska plains every summer thousands of years ago, sending out frog armies in an effort to push their territory west of the Rockies, advancing with the pomp of the Roman armies in any Cecil DeMille movie, only to flounder each time on the mountains' rocky, dry, and cold slopes, with little frog bugles sounding and frog banners waving,
You may know that an odd version of the chytrid fungus, termed "BD," has been killing frogs worldwide. Bullfrogs can and do carry BD, but it doesn't seem to harm them. However worldwide trade in BD-carrying bullfrogs for human consumption may be one reason why BD has spread so far around the world.
I am trying to create habitat in my own back yard for native frogs, including stocking of native frog tadpoles in a fish-free pond. But this year, I have at least 10 bullfrogs moving in, compared to past years with just a couple of bullfrogs stopping by. The immediate problem is the bigger bullfrogs might eat my little tree and chorus frogs.
Thank you for reading. I have to work on Sunday, so I'll respond to comments after lunch.
"Spotlight on Green News & Views" will be posted every Saturday at 1pm and Wednesday at 3:30 pm Pacific Time on the Daily Kos front page. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.