Geraldine the bullfrog in the goldfish pond

 In the goldfish pond.
Daisy spotted Jeremiah Geraldine–in the flower pot

I went to the experts. My 'Jeremiah', whom Jesse named, a friend cleverly renamed Geraldine.

The Reptile and Amphibian group explained how to sex them: the size of their ear drums!

A biggie - 12" ruler of my Dad's
officially they measure them snout to vent!

I think she has grown wider! (3 1/2")

Daisy likes her walks down to the frog pond, too. We spot many tadpoles.

It is hard to spot the tadpoles. They sit in the sunshine, far from the shore. Without wading into the water, which disturbs them, it is difficult getting a great shot!

The issue with amphibians is how sensitive they are to the environment. The breathe through their skin, and I am careful to have clean hands when I touch them. I do not handle Geraldine any more than to get her photo.
That said, she seems to understand that I mean her no harm. I can touch her, walk by and she sits like a statue.
I set her on the large, flat rock after her photo shoot, and measurement, and she sat there for a time.

Daisy and Geraldine

While she wintered in the goldfish pond, she left in spring, presumably to lay eggs in the frog pond. She returned, and sits in the plant pot most of the day.

Tadpole in July –hard to spot!
They hover near the surface of the large frog pond.
hiding under the leaves when predators come by.
We don't have any predatorial heron or egrets, 
but there are raccoons, snakes, and turtles about.

AFter her photo shoot, she posed for me!

Daisy gives her a kiss sniff

Grips my ruler

North American bullfrog
She'll lay 20,000 eggs in one go, with usually one male fertilizing the lot.
They have to be 3 - 5 years old to reproduce. This is why many reptile and amphibian species are at-risk, such as turtles. It takes time to mature.

"Bullfrogs also have a longer breeding season and a higher rate of “pre-metamorphic survivorship” (tadpoles), which also allows them to be more successful than other frogs."
They are worried in some US states about them being an invasive species. The male bullfrogs can be territorial, and fight for shore line space with other frogs.

The eggs gestate about 4 days.
We have a vernal frog pond on the property where they reproduce. Thing is, some bullfrog tadpoles take 2 - 3 years to mature and metamorphose into adult frogs. When the pond dries the tadpoles die.

Geraldine can live from 7 to 9 years in the wild. Gerry has been with us for two.
She hunkered down in the frog pond during the winter. I could spot her swimming around under the ice. It was spooky.

Geraldine watched the goldfish.
So far they haven't disappeared, 
don't know why she doesn't eat them,
but they are procreating like mad.

They eat almost anything, even other frogs.
Bullfrogs are predators. They usually eat snakes, worms, insects, crustaceans, frogs, tadpoles, and aquatic eggs of fish, frogs, insects, or salamanders. They are cannibalistic and will not hesitate to eat their own kind. There have also been a few cases reported of bullfrogs eating bats. Bullfrog tadpoles mostly graze on aquatic plants.

They have a reputation for just sitting and waiting for prey. I saw this with my own eyes as a leopard frog leaped and Gerry launched herself at it, quite sprightly for a large girl, and ate it up.

Scientific name: Rana catesbeiana, an amphibian.

 Daisy likes her new friend, Geraldine. She gave her a wee kiss. Gerry is as big as Daisy's head! Daisy should be a year old in August. We're not sure, as she and twin, Dorah, were rescue kittens.

Tadpole close-up

Last year she was hefty!

Daisy hunting tadpoles. 
She gets right in!
She is my shadow!

tadpole in May

cats, bullfrog, on golden pond

Rescue cat Spencer
our aunt's cat

We went to visit hubby's aunt. Her cat, Spencer, was indoors looking out.

A stray cat visited. A pretty thing, but the neighbours feed it and it wanders the yards looking for handouts!

What a mistake. She wanted Aunt Betty to take it to the humane society.
People really don't understand cats!

Calico cat spotted a buddy to play with.

C'mere and play!

We arrived home from our city visit to find Jeremiah Bullfrog had emerged from his winter slumber.

Buster, of course, thought he should go back to sleep!

Daisy was keen to hunt almost anything!

Jeremiah bullfrog eats another frog

Frog eat frog world from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Jeremiah bullfrog and Shirley Goldfish

The turtle is fake - the frog, not!

When I want to check the status of the fish, I turn off the pond pump and chuck some fish food into the goldfish pond. For the first time, Jeremiah Bullfrog decided that the goldfish were fair game. This drew the Alewives, too. And the Alwives that have crossbred with the goldfish. Never mind that they are vastly different sizes. We couldn't believe it!

Bullfrog sits in the pot most days.

The fish nibble frog's toes, but he still goes after them, the food, and the fish, all about him!

Jeremiah bullfrog and goldfish video

I built a goldfish pond. We had a couple of fish, then someone donated 4 more. It was a school of goldfish. I had notice that there were Alewives, a type of herring - an invasive species, that appeared one day. Perhaps in the wetland plants I transplanted.
You build it, they will come.
First it was the green frogs, then the leopard frogs. Finally, or so I thought, Jeremiah bullfrog entered the pond. He seems to have taken over. Next, I found that the alewives seem to have mated with the goldfish.

Muskoka lake fun

The thrill of kids visiting is one of the total pleasures of cottaging. Water play on the deck.


The weather has been beautiful, despite the complaints many make!


Cloudy in the morning, we make forts inside, play with post-it notes, but the afternoons clear up and we all go swimming.

So much fun. There is lots to see: planes, birds, boats, trains. I heard a plane, grabbed Josephine and ran outside.

To our great joy, it was a helicopter and it swung in a circle over our heads. I thought I should grab the camera, but decided to just enjoy the moment with her. So often we spend time capturing a photo of video of an event, and lose the joy of the experience itself. As a teacher, I saw so many parents trying to capture their child's 'graduation' from kindergarten, and scramble over each other taking photos.

The lake is so wonderful. We play a game. At swimming lessons, they learned the CHOP, CHOP, CHOP....TIMBER! game.

One person says CHOP three times, then the swimmer pretends to be a tree falling. She loves the water so much! And such trust in us.

Swimming fun & games frolicking in the lake. It doesn't get any better than this! I shall watch these in January, when the lake is frozen and we are locked into winter.



And then there is frog hunting. Jeremiah took a might leap for amphibiankind, to the great delight of all, especially the Green Party candidate, Jean-Luc who enjoys making the green frog jump for joy! His wee girl had such fun.