Tweedle Dee II, the Bullfrog
Tweedle Dee II has been a Splash critter for most of his life. He joined the Critterville team as a tadpole three years ago and is now our resident Bull Frog. Tweedle Dee II will occasionally make the male bull frog call sound when he hears a loud noise or vibration, like the vacuum cleaner. He has a ravenous appetite and when he sees anything move, he instinctively tries to eat it.
Wild Bullfrogs will eat anything they can swallow, including mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, and reptiles. Like most frogs, they locate their prey visually and then use their large sticky tongue to catch the prey and bring it into their mouth to eat. Because Bullfrogs eat so much, they can get really big! Bullfrogs are the largest species of frog in California, reaching up to 8 inches in length (not including the legs)!
We don’t like the fact that there are wild Bullfrogs in California because they’re not a native species. Bullfrogs are native to the eastern and midwestern United States and southeast Canada. Due to their large meaty legs, they were introduced for food in the 1920s and have since become established throughout most of the western United States and soutwestern Canada. Introduced Bullfrogs are probably responsible for the decline of many native species that can’t compete with or fall prey to this invasive species, including frogs, turtles, and baby ducklings.
In the wild, Bullfrogs live in warm water lakes, ponds, sloughs, reservoirs, and marshes. If you visit these areas and stay very quiet, you often can hear Bullfrogs making their loud low-pitched drone or bellow, sometimes described as "Huh-rumph." Bullfrogs also produce an alarm call, a fast squeak, which is usually made before the frog jumps into the water to escape from danger.
When Bullfrogs mate, the female lays a mass of eggs in a sheet of jelly about 2 feet in diameter. The egg mass floats at first, then sinks to underwater vegetation just before hatching. The tadpoles, which live in warm shallows and dense aquatic vegetation, transform into adult Bullfrogs at the end of their 2nd or 3rd summer. The transformed frogs are usually much smaller than the tadpoles from which they transformed!
Tweedle Dum is 3 years old. His favorite foods are earthworms, small mice and occasional crickets.
