The wife put in a garden fountain this Summer, it has been a blessing to birds, deer, raccons, etc. with it's three tiers of running water during this dry season.

We even had a frog move into it, took a picture of it to identify:



Come to find out, it is a "Pickerel Frog", so named because of it's popularity as bait up North. It is also the only poisonous frog in North America, seceting a toxin when stressed that is irritating to humans, and potentailly fatal to small predators. Our neighbor lost a cat when it ate one.

I bear the frog no ill will, I think he is pretty cool, and welcome to stay in the fountain. Maybe if "The End Of the World As we Know It" occurs, I can make poisonous tipped arrows from his toxic secretions like the natives do in South America (curare).

From the University of Wisconsin Biology Department website:

"To remain healthy, Pickerel Frogs eat a balanced diet of ants, spiders, bugs, beetles, sawfly larvae, and other invertebrates. To find and catch these critters, Pickerel Frogs search the grassy areas next to streams. In case of attack, Pickerel Frogs have an excellent defense mechanism: they emit skin secretions which are irritating to people and toxic to some predators. This toxicity makes the Pickerel Frog the only poisonous frog native to the United States. Because of this, most snakes and mammals will leave Pickerel frogs alone. Still, this frog does have some predators. Green Frogs and Bullfrogs, for example, have developed immunities to the secretions, and are always happy to munch on a Pickerel Frog snack. And in fact, the name "Pickerel Frog" was coined because this frog often served fishermen well as their bait for the predatory Pickerel Fish. However, despite the Pickerel Fish's fondness for Rana palustris soup, it must be noted that in this case the real predator is, of course, Man and not the Pickerel Fish, for it is Man who catches these frogs and places them on the fishing line. And unfortunately for the Pickerel Frog, a small amount of skin toxin will not stop Homo sapien."

No wonder I wound up here. Used to lick those things before baiting them.

Now I know why he purged his buffer so to speak. Lizard diarrhea is a lot worse than kitty diarrhea and that is saying a lot.
TMI TMI TMI....

Lizard did fine. His attitude reminded me of an an NFL Linebacker on a steroid rage. Getting back to the frog, I doubt his toxin is potent enough to kill a person. The poison arrow frogs born and raised in captivity are not toxic. They get the poison precursors from their diet.

GREAT smallmouth bass bait.

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But isn't it cute?

We have Cane Toads which have the same basic toxins.

My Springer Spaniel decided to grab one once. Within seconds she was foaming at the mouth, spit it out and never did that again.

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Nope!
Different toxins and the Cane Toads will not only kill a dog they will also kill a human. You were very lucky your dog did not die.

Cool pic. I've thought about adding a fountain like that. Thanks for sharing.

Not very colorful for a poisonous critter

But a very nice picture

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Kinda looks like a mini leopard frog that we speared, chopped the legs off, skinned, fried in butter and ate when I was a kid. A little salt and that's some good eats!

Tastes like chicken.

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This image comes to mind for some reason. Wasn't it National Lampoon that had the polo shirt with the amputee frog on a cart?

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Dang... don't know nothing about toads/frags...

Guess you have to have at least a associates degree in flora and fauna to qualify for living out in the country...

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Jorge

Thank you Doc, my bad

Seems "we" introduced this non native pest

"bufotoxin"

WEC 11/UW046: Marine Toads (Bufo marinus)

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Congrats on a spot-on Identification! Few would be able to identify down to species. Good picture.

Only because I am a hopeless pedant, I'd like to point out that curare is derived from plants. Oddly enough though, poison dart frog poison is in the same chemical family as curare and tobacco and a host of other exciting things like morphine and cocaine. Most unusually, the web is silent on the actual toxin secreted by rana palustris skin.

And yes, I know I am a pain in the butt, thanks.

Russ

If you use a pickerel frog as bait and catch a fish, does ingesting the frog cause the fish flesh to be toxic to humans?

How are pickerel as food? Pretty bony? What about the bigger pike and muskie?

Most local colleges have a class entitled "Plant and animal life of....." you can take. So do local museums, Audubon, etc. State parks have campfire talks (I volunteer and do a couple each year for Washington State Parks) The local F & W (either Federal or State) usually will schedule one if you get a group together. We LOVE doing this sort of thing!

Just yesterday I worked a local festival. It was at a salmon hatchery and I was handling the entrance to a nature trail/hiking trail. Took a 1/4 mile walk down the trail and found several things to impress the kids with: I found a pile of black bear scat about 75 yards down the trail. There was an otter burrow just across from the beginning of the trail. There was an eagle on a snag about 1/4 mile away. And I watched (with some visitors) a dipper work a pool over. Dippers are birds that walk along the bottom underwater and eat insects (such as hellgramites and stone fly larvae).