DAILY HERALD (Chicago, Illinois) 25 July 05 Village says it needs bullfrogs - Lindenhurst decides frog population too low (Sheila Ahern)
Next month, Lindenhurst’s population will jump by 600 — but the incoming residents promise not to crowd local schools or complain about sprinkler bans.
They will want some information on the area’s lakes, though.
The “new residents” are 600 North American Bullfrogs. Lindenhurst’s lake commission recently decided the area lacked frogs and approved spending $350 for some new ones. The frogs will be distributed throughout the village’s wetlands, ponds and lakes in August.
But the whole idea is cracking up some local frog experts. They say North American Bullfrogs are the most abundant frog in the country and in Lake County. The frogs are aggressive and eat everything — including each other at times. They’re also known to seek out other habitats if a pond’s water is low because of a drought, for example.
“The whole idea makes me chuckle,” said Mike Redmer, a fish and wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who specializes in frogs. “It’s hard for me to envision an area around here where you can’t see bullfrogs. You have to wonder if maybe they’re just not looking.”
Last week, Redmer and a co-worker walked to lunch in downtown Barrington. On his way, he stepped over a half-dozen dead bullfrogs.
“I’ve never heard of a group concerned about the declining number of bullfrogs,” he said.
But experts like Redmer don’t live in Lindenhurst and just don’t get it, said some members of the Lindenhurst Lakes Commission. They say the area’s bullfrog population isn’t what it used to be.
“I would say 13 or 14 years ago there were quite a few, but after that every year there were fewer and fewer,” said Chris Carlson, who lives on Lake Linden and is on the lakes commission. “They’re good for the environment.”
Lindenhurst’s frogs are coming from a local hatchery and will be about a year old. They will reach adulthood in about a year.
North American Bullfrogs are native to the area and can be heard for a quarter-mile on quiet mornings. Mostly they eat insects, mice, fish and other frogs, but large ones can catch small birds and snakes for food. And as far as frogs go, they are loud and big.
The frogs like to hang out on the banks of lakes and ponds. But if those banks are low, the frogs may leave and seek out other areas, said Jim Anderson, natural resources manager for the Lake County Forest Preserve.
“It’s going to be tough with the drought,” Anderson said. “You need to provide them with enough water.”
Lindenhurst Lakes Commission members don’t think this year’s drought will be a problem for the frogs and don’t expect them to be crossing Grand Avenue in search of better habitats.
“We’re going to find deep spots,” Carlson said.
Mike Adam is a biologist with the Lake County Health Department and has never heard of a village repopulating their area with bullfrogs.
“I applaud them as long as they did the proper research beforehand,” Adam said. “I’ve just never heard of a village doing something like this.”
Lindenhurst residents said there wasn’t a specific event that wiped out the bullfrogs, but it was just a slow decline over the past decade.
“I’m all in favor of restoring wetlands, but they should make sure they know what caused the decline,” Adam said. “You don’t want to put a bunch of bullfrogs in there if something is wrong.”
Village says it needs bullfrogs