This article was published on: 11/2/20 12:00 AM
Bulletin Editorial Board
Eat a bullfrog. Save the Oregon spotted frog. Ask your local restaurant or grocer if they have bullfrog legs. Save the Oregon spotted frog.
Encourage dissections of bullfrogs in high school biology. Save the Oregon spotted frog.
We know the idea of eating a bullfrog or dissections may be disgusting to some, but bullfrogs are just about worthy of a bounty. Do you want greater restrictions on waterways in Oregon? The bullfrog gobbling up Oregon spotted frogs could jump the federal government in that direction. Fight the bullfrog invasion.
The Oregon spotted frog is a threatened species. It used to range from British Columbia to California. It has disappeared from about 90 percent of that range. The Upper Deschutes is the core range of the species.
Some of you might not care so much about the future of a frog. The federal government does. If you think restrictions on waterways in the Deschutes Basin can be excessive now, just wait and see what happens if the spotted frog becomes endangered.
The bullfrog is not the only reason the Oregon spotted frog is threatened. The irregular flows of the Deschutes River don’t help. Biologists say, though, bullfrogs are in the top 5 threats. The bullfrog is an invasive species. They were brought in to be food and help control bugs. And they are disrupting the ecosystem. They eat native turtles and frogs.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife a video on catching and cooking bullfrogs: https://tinyurl.com/eatabullfrog. But it can be perilous to the Oregon spotted frog to take bullfrog control in your own hands in this area. The difference between an Oregon spotted frog and a bullfrog may be clear to professionals working in the field. For the rest of us, it’s not so easy.
What you can do, though, is next time you are out supporting your local restaurant, ask if the chef’s special happens to be bullfrog legs.