wildlife: Green and Golden Bell Frog

The Green and Golden Bell Frog is an endangered species from the South East coast of Australia. It is one of the large Australian frogs. Despite its classification and climbing abilities, it does not live in trees and spends most of its time close to ground level. It’s usually found in places with ponds and rushes with some grass nearby. The frog remains abundant in New Zealand and several other Pacific Islands, where it has been introduced. In New South Wales the frog can only be found in about 50 places and it is so rare that it is listed under the Threatened Species Conservation Act.The Green and Golden Bell Frog numbers declined due to habitat destruction and the introduction of a foreign fish the Plague Minnow which eats the eggs and tadpoles. This frog has a dark colouration. It’s a large, stout frog with its adult ranging from 4.5 to 11 centimeters.Mature male Green and Golden Bell Frogs are generally smaller than mature females, and the colour on their dorsal surface differs greatly to females. The females tend to have more green patches than males. During the cooler months May–August, the Green and Golden Bell frogs are inactive and their colouration may darken to black. Being a member of the tree frog family, the Green and Golden Bell Frog spends much time basking in the sun on vegetation, rocks and reeds, in most cases near water, or hopping around such places. In general, the frogs stay within areas of 100–700 square metres and they are well-equipped for survival on land. They can rehydrate by absorbing moisture through their ventral skin, and evaporative water loss occurs at a very low rate indicative of a watertight skin. The voracious adults have a very broad diet, including insects such as crickets, larvae, mosquito wrigglers, dragonflies, earthworms, cockroaches, flies and grasshoppers. Besides eating other frogs of the same species, it’s also known to eat freshwater crayfish and slugs. dorau20@yahoo.co.uk