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American bullfrogs have the potential to wreak havoc in B.C. watersheds

Fraser Valley Conservancy helping folks to ID native frogs around them and improve habitat
22176521_web1_200720-CPL-Bullfrogs-Invasive-FVC_2
Invasive American bullfrogs can easily eat native critters including other frogs, birds, turtles and small mammals. (Fraser Valley Conservancy)

The American bullfrog has the potential to wreak havoc on ecosystems across the Fraser Valley and beyond, according to the Fraser Valley Conservancy.

The voracious bullfrogs can easily gobble up at-risk native frogs, and other wetland creatures.

The Fraser Valley Conservancy (FVC) is getting the word out and asking residents who find frogs on their properties from Langley to Hope to let them know.

Bullfrogs can easily eat native critters including frogs, birds, turtles and small mammals. (Fraser Valley Conservancy)

“Maybe the sheer size of this adult female we found in Chilliwack can paint a picture for you,” according to the recent post by Fraser Valley Conservancy (FVC).

Part of the problem is that bullfrog populations are often spread by humans and they’ve become an issue the world over.

“Bullfrogs are common in some areas of the Fraser Valley,” according to the FVC’s info sheet, ‘What’s the deal with bullfrogs?’

The large frogs are known by their deep ‘barrum-barrum’ call at night, and have been found in Sardis Park in Chilliwack, Mill Lake Park in Abbotsford, but not the Cheam Wetlands near Agassiz, according to examples given by FVC.

“The best thing you can do to help our native creatures is to improve the habitats where they live.”

Folks should never move amphibian eggs, tadpoles, or adults from one pond to another. Once they are established and breeding they are incredibly hard to remove.

See more on the FVC’s new bullfrogs 101 page.

READ MORE: Where are the native frogs?

READ MORE: Help them find the Pacific tree frogs


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22176521_web1_copy_200720-CPL-Bullfrogs-Invasive-FVC_2
Invasive American bullfrogs can easily eat native critters including other frogs, birds, turtles and small mammals. (Fraser Valley Conservancy)


Jennifer Feinberg

About the Author: Jennifer Feinberg

I have been a Chilliwack Progress reporter for 20+ years, covering the arts, city hall, as well as Indigenous, and climate change stories.
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