Pickerel Frog

Description:

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.