What do adult bullfrogs eat?

It is best to consult an expert and find out what frog it is before we can "prescribe the right medicine". The habits of different frogs are very different!

If it's really bullfrogs, they certainly don't eat breadworms. Bullfrogs are "greedy" and like to eat food bigger than insects, such as frogs, small fish, shrimps and even chickens smaller than them! It is suggested to put some live shrimp, fish or loach in a big pot, and then put the bullfrog in it. As long as it is hungry, it will eat by itself. But I probably won't eat it in front of you. I must eat it when no one is around.

If it is a frog, it depends on which species it is. Some frogs eat all living insects, while others only eat flying insects and don't eat insects. Your frog may be a species that only eats flying insects, so it will be difficult to raise. Another possibility is that some frogs have this habit: as long as they are used to eating a certain kind of food, they will not eat other kinds of food. If this is the case with your frog, you must catch many different kinds of bugs and try them until you find the one it likes. This is very troublesome, but many animal lovers often have this kind of experience and can only be mentally prepared.

The scientific name of bullfrog means "ready to eat everything" in Latin.

It is reported that American bullfrog was first introduced to British Columbia, Canada in 1930s. At that time, people's idea was simple, just to eat their fat legs. But then, unexpectedly, there were loopholes in the work of the frog farm and some bullfrogs escaped. Nowadays, these giant bullfrogs have become a local pest, ranging from small tree frogs to waterfowl, eating whatever they meet.

The flooding of bullfrogs has become a headache for the local municipal authorities. Officials are discussing building a "control corridor" to resist the invasion of bullfrogs, and then killing them by electric shock and freezing. Clyde Burton, a naturalist of Powell River, said that these methods might have been useful if they had been used in the "Sunshine Coast" a few years ago, but now, bullfrogs have eaten all the water ducks in Cumberland Lake, about 0/20 km north of Vancouver. Burton said, "They are terrible. They eat whatever they see. " Before that, this lake area was very charming. People can see all kinds of strange waterfowl and many ducks playing by the lake. But everything has changed since the bullfrog settled here. People can't hear the singing of waterfowl, only hear the deep voice of bullfrog.

Burton said, "There is no hope for a duckling to survive. Bullfrogs are as fierce as crocodiles and will swallow them. I tell you, if you sit on the boat, don't put your hand into the water. " According to him, he first discovered that bullfrogs eat waterfowl a few years ago. He was standing on a swamp in Cumberland Lake when he suddenly saw a group of smaller snipes landing on it in search of food. He said, "Some muddy water suddenly splashed from a place on the swamp, and then these snipes flew away. I walked over and found a bullfrog with a snipe in its mouth. I saw a corner of the sandpiper's wing sticking out. "

Burton soon discovered terrible evidence: the scientific name of bullfrog means "ready to eat everything" in Latin. Burton said, "We found two ducklings in the stomach of a bullfrog, a yellow-tailed male warbler in the stomach of another bullfrog, and another bullfrog swallowed a mouse." Burton concluded that it used to be a paradise for waterfowl and ducks, but now it has become lifeless, and the culprit is bullfrogs. He said, "I used to come here often, and sometimes I could see 150 ducks. Now you can't see any."

■ After the bullfrogs escape from the farm, it means that all methods to control them are useless.

Wayne Campbell is the chief ornithologist in British Columbia. A few years ago, he began to study the bullfrog in Cumberland Lake, and was later shocked by his discovery. He said, "One day, I saw a big bullfrog floating on the water. It is dead. I fished it out and dissected it and found that it was suffocated. It wants to swallow a gosling. " He also heard that bullfrogs prey on small finches.

Campbell said that bullfrogs were found in many places in Canada. Although bullfrog is native to southeastern Canada, it is an exotic species in British Columbia. Fortunately, the farther north it gets, the colder it gets, and the bullfrog will not spread further. However, they have caused serious environmental problems now, because bullfrogs have a big appetite and eat everywhere they go, destroying the local ecological balance. Campbell said: "Although this problem is difficult, we must find a way to solve it. This requires the joint efforts of a group of experts, but I really don't know how you will eliminate these hateful things. "

Dr. Purnima Govindala Zulu of Victoria University in British Columbia has studied bullfrogs for many years. She pointed out that after the bullfrogs fled the farm, it meant that all methods to control them were useless. Some bullfrogs "immigrated" to other areas along ditches, and the appearance of bullfrogs in some areas is purely human factors, and people take them from one place to another. Govindala Zulu said: "People heard that the number of frogs is decreasing, so they put bullfrogs into local lakes or ponds, thinking that this would help frogs breed. In fact, the effect is just the opposite, because those red-legged frogs in local lakes or ponds are exactly what bullfrogs like to eat. " She also said that people cut down trees and shrubs indiscriminately, and the river becomes warmer more easily, creating a comfortable living environment for bullfrogs.

Stan Okade, an amphibian expert in Greater Victoria, suggested that a long-term plan should be made to eradicate bullfrogs, following the example of the rodent control plan in Alberta, British Columbia. Govindala Zulu doubts the feasibility of this plan. She said: "Once a bullfrog has a firm foothold in a place, it is difficult to get rid of them, because each female bullfrog can lay about 13000 eggs, so as long as a pair of bullfrogs escape, they will soon breed a big family."