Coordinator, O. (2020, October 14). American Bullfrog – Invasive Predator. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.oregoninvasivespeciescouncil.org/news-channel/2020/10/14/american-bullfrog-invasive-predator

The American bullfrog, typically found and native to Eastern United States, has become a highly invasive species in Oregon. They are also considered invasive in other parts of the world, including South America, Asia, and Europe. What makes the bullfrog especially harmful is their capability to spread Ranavirus, an infectious disease passed among amphibian populations that has a mortality rate of 90-100%. This disease is significantly harming native frog populations in Oregon as well as the chytrid fungus. Additionally, female bullfrogs can lay 20,000 eggs at a time which is nearly tenfold the amount that a native female frog might lay.

An interesting takeaway from this article was how the Oregon Invasive Species Council suggests locals (but preferably experts) help in the eradication of this invasive species. According to this article, they emphasize the importance of identifying the species to make sure that it is clearly the American bullfrog; specifically, they suggest that people note that adult females tend to be 7-8 inches long, have dark spots, gold eyes, and large eardrums. I thought it was interesting how blunt and to-the-point the council is with their instructions: “Kill adult females as early in the spring as possible (when they first emerge from hibernation) to prevent the large number of eggs that they disperse… it is advised to destroy eggs when they are discovered which are easily identifiable by their large size.” Words like “kill” and “destroy” jumped off the page for me, suggesting a sense of desperation. In that same vein, people don’t even need to obtain a permit to kill these bullfrogs, indicating the urgency behind their eradication for the safety of the native amphibian population, as well as the maintenance of biodiversity on a larger scale.