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Unfortunately, that is exactly how Bullfrogs were introduced west of Rockies resulting in the devastation of many native species, including contributing to the extinction of the Vegas Valley Leopard Frog.

Frog farming never really was very profitable. The problem is in late summer when bullfrog tadpoles go through metamorphosis, most of them leave the body of water in which they spawned resulting in introduced populations all over, so you no longer have a lock on the local market, anyone can collect the now furiously breeding frogs from public lakes and rivers and sell them without having invested in building a pond in the first place.

Species that I know of in California that have been impacted by the introduction of Bullfrogs:

* Oregon Spotted Frog - now extinct in California, critically endangered in Oregon, WA, British Columbia. They are a tasty snack for Bullfrogs. In fact one Oregon frog farmer is recorded as stating he use to catch hundreds of these frogs to feed his Bullfrog farm.
* California Red-legged Frog - virtually extinct in Sierra's and Southern California, some good populations remain in Bay Area and north along the coast, and in Baja California. They share same habitat, and are eaten by Bullfrogs.
* Foothill Yellow-legged Frog - while they are impacted, most of their decline is probably caused by alteration of water systems. These frogs like creeks that Bullfrogs generally do not like. There is, however, some shared habitat and in that habitat male Yellow-legged frogs will try to mate with female bullfrogs (no hybrids have ever resulted) reducing reproductive output where the two species do share habitat, and bullfrog tadpoles damage the creek bottom reducing the viability of the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog tadpoles.

It's unfortunate that Bullfrogs were introduced west of the Rockies.

Frogs are for chumps. Here's where the smart guys invest: Here's where the smart guys invest!

[Edit] This one's even better!

Good stuff in this blog, especially in the category: Animals for Profit.

Last edited by mackerm (2009-11-06 11:02 pm)

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