A huge frog bit me

[louis]

No, I have not been drinking, although now I might have a stiff one.

hi all, i posted this subject a few weeks back when i found three of my nice fish with their heads missing. I searched the pond and could not find anything. This morning i found a beauty of a shubunkin with his back half missing. The fish was still alive and was trying to swim and hide., I netted him out and without really looking at him, put him in the freezer.

Tonight I went out with a very powerful flash lantern and searched the bottom of the pond looking for a turtle and could not see anything like that. But peeking out from under a pad was the biggest bullfrog that I have ever seen.

I quickly grabbed a net and a bucket to hold him when i caught him. I came up from behind him and nabbed him.

I tried to get him out of the net into the bucket but he was struggling too much. I managed to grab him and  lifted him up to put him in the bucket when he bit me. Scared the devil out of me. When I had him in my hand, I got a good look at him. this is not a fish or frog story, he was well over 2 pounds and had to be well over a foot in length.

I have never seen one that big. He extended from my hand to my elbow. Now, is it possible that this frog is bitting of the heads and tails of my fish. I know they will swallow anything or anyone they can get in their mouths. but bite it off ?????

what do you think.  i will try again tomorrow night, he is spooked now.

lou

[Timgod]

I don't have an answer but that is the freakiest thing I have heard of.
Sorry for the troubles.

Tim

[karen J]

Louis, That very same thing happened to me. I was standing over the pond when he bit my finger, and I shook him off. Surprised the heck out of me. My kids were delighted.

Drew blood and left a mark. Similar sized Bullfrog as what you describe.

So, yeah, I'd say that's a definite possibility as to what's been biting body parts off your fish.

BTW, I gave my frog a kiss good-bye, and let him go in the lake. Too bad my hands obscured his big fat belly.




I suspect the same frog came back in the spring of the following year. 

PS- Never wiggle any fingers in the presence of a giant bullfrog. 

[miguynmkoi]

    Scarrryyy!!!  Sorry about your fish but glad you're alright after the Bite 

[CoolShades]

Perhaps we could but a film documentary together for the Sci-Fi channel

Gary

[Kittyzee]

I suppose that is entirely possible...I've never had my hands in their mouths but wonder if they have some teeth or bony ridges like fish do back in their mouths.  I thought frogs had wide mouths and gums, but now I'm wondering.  If anyone searches that and finds out, let us know    

[louis]

Found this doing a search for frogs teeth:

 Actually, yes!
Most frogs do in fact have teeth of a sort.
They have a ridge of very small cone teeth around the upper edge of the jaw. These are called Maxillary Teeth.
Frogs often also have what are called Vomerine Teeth on the roof of their mouth.
They don't have anything that could be called teeth on their lower jaw, so they usually swallow their food whole. The so-called "teeth" are mainly used to hold the prey and keep it in place till they can get a good grip on it and squash their eyeballs down to swallow their meal.
Toads, however, do NOT have any teeth.

Frog Teeth

Yes, frogs do have teeth. They are small, cone-shaped and are found on the upper jaw. Frogs also have teeth on the roof of their mouths. The teeth hold prey before the frog swallows it whole.




lou

[Mikey]

FROG LEGS   

6-8 pairs frog legs
2 tsp. mustard
2 eggs, beaten
Flour or Jiffy corn bread mix
Salt
Pepper

Wash and pat dry frog legs with paper towels. In small bowl, beat 2 eggs; add mustard and mix well. Dip frog legs into egg mixture then into flour mixture. Fry in 1/2-inch hot oil until golden brown and crisp.

[perplexed ponder]

  MIKEY!!!

Wow that was a great story! We want pictures of that frog!!
There's a frog in the Virgin Islands that gets as big as a chicken! People eat 'em.

[Indiana Karen]

This is very interesting to me.  A couple of weeks ago when we were having fish show up with bitten tail fins, I suspected a bullfrog.  Turns out that it was a snapping turtle, which we never did find.  But I had suggested a frog to hubby and he just laughed and said "frogs don't have teeth".  So now I know better!  Thanks for the info.

Karen

[Jonna]

Did you catch him Louis?  I hope so.  I think I'd have to get my gun for one that big.  Course, then I'd have to worry about a hole in the liner.  I'm kind of glad I don't have to deal with frogs or turtles here, they kind of creep me out.  I'm already worried about what kind of creatures will move into my pond in Mexico.  I'm pretty sure that iguanas only eat your plants, although they are really good at that, but I don't know about the possums that are everywhere in the city.

[Bonnie]

I wasn't ever going to post this pix (esp. on one of our expert photographers thread) because it's such a bad one.. but here's a pix of a frog in action.

Early spring he was just sitting on the ledge of the lower pond and part of a fish tail was hanging out of his mouth!

I ran as fast as I could to get my camera and to get a shot of him.  A terrible shot because I was moving while takint it, but I did manage to catch him in action before he jumped in the water!

[barb]

Oh my goodness Bonnie, that is a nasty frog, I'm sorry to say!!  Thank goodness my frogs are nowhere near that size.  Louis, I hope you keep that frog in your part of Connecticut and far away from me.   

[LeeAnne151]

It would have freaked me out to have a frog bite me .....We think of them as being benevolent and cute but bullfrogs are very successful predators who will eat anything they can catch. My husband's friend saw a bullfrog eat a duckling at the golf course he worked at. I've seen videos of them grabbing birds. Bullfrogs are perfectly capable of biting the heads and/or tails off fish.