{"id":97216,"date":"2025-08-26T01:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T01:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/97216\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T01:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T01:38:10","slug":"invasive-and-cannibalistic-bullfrogs-are-taking-over-the-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/97216\/","title":{"rendered":"Invasive \u2014 And Cannibalistic \u2014 Bullfrogs Are Taking Over The West"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forget about that 2000 Baha Men one-hit-wonder \u201cWho Let the Dogs Out?\u201d because across the West, the question is: Who let the frogs out?<\/p>\n

In Wyoming and around the West, populations of American bullfrogs\u00a0have\u00a0grown by leaps and bounds in recent decades. So much so that they\u2019re overtaking habitats of native species of amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates and small mammals.<\/p>\n

Bullfrogs can get huge and will eat anything, even small animals and any native species in the areas they take over. They\u2019ll even go cannibal given the chance.<\/p>\n

Basically, if it fits into a bullfrog\u2019s mouth, it\u2019s fair game.<\/p>\n

States have tried various measures in hopes that residents will want to take a crack at eradicating these croakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Utah openly encourages bullfrog hunting, even going so far as supplying the curious with a recipe for\u00a0breaded bullfrog legs<\/a>; while Colorado permits a year-round, unlimited take policy with a fishing license; and Washington has scrapped the license requirement altogether.<\/p>\n

But Wyoming officials have opted for a slightly different approach.<\/p>\n

\"BullfrogsBullfrogs will eat anything they can fit in their mouths. Here, a bullfrog feeds on a hamster. (Pixie Frog Nation via You Tube)Bullfrog Eradication Is \u2018Difficult\u2019<\/p>\n

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has tested some small-scale efforts to reduce the size of the bullfrog populations in a few areas, but those methods have failed to make a significant difference, said Wendy Estes-Zumpf, herpetological coordinator with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEradication of an established bullfrog population is difficult,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Given that dynamic and the possibility that an untrained eye may think all frogs look alike, Wyoming officials don\u2019t encourage the same type of bullfrog bounty as is happening elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this time, we do not recommend hunting of bullfrogs due to the possibility of misidentifying bullfrogs and some native amphibian species,\u201d Estes-Zumpf said. \u201cAccidentally killing these native individuals can do more harm than good.\u201d<\/p>\n

While that may disappoint would-be frog hunters, the public still has a \u201chuge role\u201d to play in preventing bullfrog populations from expanding outside of their current locations, added Reed Moore, the aquatic invasive species specialist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department Sheridan Region.<\/p>\n

Bullfrog Dos And Don\u2019ts<\/p>\n

Moore\u2019s recommendations boil down to a list of mostly don\u2019ts:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2022 Don\u2019t transport any water, animals or plants from one water body to another.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Don\u2019t keep bullfrogs as pets because it\u2019s illegal to be in possession of them at any stage, from tadpole to adult.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Don\u2019t release any pet bullfrogs into the wild.<\/p>\n

But there is something important the public can do: Report to a local\u00a0Game and Fish\u00a0office any sightings or calls of bullfrogs in areas beyond where they are currently known to live, Moore said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now is a particularly good time to keep your ears and eyes tuned for bullfrogs, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the late summer, bullfrogs are breeding and most vocal, whereas our native amphibians breed and are more vocal in the earlier spring months,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n

\"MapMap of documented bullfrog populations in drainages and private ponds in the Sheridan area. (Courtesy Wyoming Game and Fish Department)Wyoming\u2019s Bullfrogs<\/p>\n

In Wyoming, bullfrogs are prevalent in portions of the eastern plains (especially near Horse Creek), Cheyenne, Kelly Warm Springs outside of Jackson, and Sheridan, Estes-Zumpf said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether they were introduced accidentally or illegally, bullfrogs have been hopping around the North Platte River drainage since at least the 1950s, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause their populations can increase rapidly when introduced outside their native range, they can overwhelm and exclude native species either through competition or by preying on them,\u201d Estes-Zumpf said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Based on the somewhat gnarly photos and videos you can find online, it seems bullfrogs don\u2019t have a particularly discerning diet \u2014 they\u2019ve been documented eating rabbits, snakes and even other bullfrogs.<\/p>\n

Indeed, American bullfrogs will eat anything that fits in their mouths, and they\u2019re much larger than native amphibians, which is problematic, Estes-Zumpf said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause their populations can increase rapidly when introduced outside their native range, they can overwhelm and exclude native species either through competition or by preying on them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn adult bullfrog that was removed from Sam Mavrakis Pond in Sheridan in 2019. (Courtesy Wyoming Game and Fish Department)Tracking Bullfrog Populations\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to public outreach,\u00a0Game and Fish\u00a0has been working to map the populations of bullfrogs in the state to determine if they\u2019re expanding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

State officials sample and monitor bullfrog populations annually at several known sites, Moore said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At Sam Mavrakis Pond in Sheridan, for example, only bullfrogs have been found for the past three years, possibly indicating the loss of other native amphibian species there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are focused on containing current bullfrog populations and working to educate the public, so they are not accidentally or intentionally spread to new areas,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n

\"BullfrogsBullfrogs are an invasive species in Wyoming and across the West. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forget about that 2000 Baha Men one-hit-wonder \u201cWho Let the Dogs Out?\u201d because across the West, the question…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-97216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}