Herpetofauna - One Life's List

Southern Leopard Frog
Rana sphenocephala

Mississippi River, St. Louis Co., Missouri. 1974.
 


 

 There was a place, a little backwater pond a few hundred feet from the Mississippi River, that was full of these frogs.  As a kid it was great fun to try to catch them among the cattails and arrowhead plants. They are a tough capture, seeing you before you see them.

One day in early November we were walking the Snake Road in southern Illinois, not seeing much of any herp life except for sphenocephala, and there were hundreds of them out on the banks along the swamp's edge.  You couldn't take more than a few steps without hearing them rustle in the vegetation or plop into the water.  They are normally quite common here, but I have never seen so many at one time.  Most of the snakes were already bedded down for the winter - perhaps it was a good time for a last feeding?

 
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