The American bullfrog is the Oklahoma State Amphibian. They are found statewide. They are also the largest frogs in the U.S.
The bullfrog does not have skin folds going down its back as other frogs in the genus Rana, but it does have a fold of skin running from behind the eye to around the back edge of the tympanum, the frog’s eardrum which is outside the body. The tympanum in males is larger than the eye, whereas in females it is the same size or smaller than the eye.
With his deep bass voice and those golden eyes, he must be irresistible to his lady fair. Bullfrogs have a voracious appetite and will eat anything that fits in the mouth, including insects, crayfish, other frogs, small water snakes, even birds. Large water snakes eat bullfrogs, so it’s turnabout fair play.
The gray treefrog is the only treefrog we have in Tulsa County. Two other tree frogs are found in far Southeastern Oklahoma. Gray treefrogs are usually gray with darker gray markings.
They can also be brown or green.
They can even be white.
The undersides of their hind legs are bright orange (next photo).
As with all treefrogs, they have enlarged toe pads. A gray treefrog with a completely green back and no dark markings (third photo from the left) is called a Cope’s gray treefrog.
Gray tree frogs also have a white patch beneath each eye. Unlike pond frogs, such as leopard frogs, their skin is rough instead of smooth. The only time they come to water is during the breeding season, which is April to July, to lay eggs in temporary pools. The rest of the time they are up in bushes and trees. Treefrogs are nocturnal and the call of the male is a resonating trill.
The cricket frog is a small frog, only 1–1½ inches long. Its color varies from tan to brown to reddish. There is usually a dark backwards-pointing triangle between the eyes, which can barely be seen in the attached photo (fourth from the end). They belong to the treefrog family, are usually seen in water and don’t wander from it. The skin tends to be bumpy.
We hear cricket frogs calling from the pond and temporary pools in the early spring. They sound like crickets, long before crickets are out, hence the name. Cricket frogs are excellent swimmers. They breed in shallow water from late spring into summer. Their food consists of flies, ants, beetles and spiders.
