Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I looked it up and it sure looks like what was in my yard. I live in Bucks County, PA. Is it really poisonous?

Yes that is a pickerel frog, and yes they are poisonous.
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www.frogfreaks.com

Oh my gosh. I can't believe it. My little granddaughters and I were looking at him and thinking he was cute. It just occurrd to me today to Google frog with square spots and I saw this name. I know nothing about frogs or toad.

How dangerous are they? I think there are 2 living under one of our rock steps. What should I do?

thanks

To my knowledge the toxicity of pickerel frogs has not been really studied, it's just based on anecdotal evidence of animals kept in the same collecting bag as a pickerel frog dying.

The frog would only be a threat to your kids or pets if they tried to lick or eat it. Dogs frequently pick up toads (which are doubtless much more toxic than pickerel frogs) and may vomit and feel sick for a few days, but seldom die. I wouldn't worry about the frogs too much.

I've had a pickerel frog living with my tiger salamanders for over a year, and all the animals are perfectly healthy. I expect the pickerels only secrete large amounts of toxin when attacked.

Thanks so much for answering my question. I feel better now. I'll certainly make sure they stay away.

They can make humans extremely sick if ingested, and even kills small animals. You will have not problems as long as you or the kids don't ingest any of the excreteions. Just teach them to look but not touch, and leave the frog be.
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www.frogfreaks.com

I really appreciate your response. I'll make sure they LOOK and DON'T Touch. thanks again.

That can be said about close to any frog or toad in fact any amphibian just dont stick it in your mouth lol and you will be fine.

(necroposting a bit here)

What should you do? Don't eat it.

It seems that someone, last year, vandalized the Wikipedia article on pickerel frogs to say that they can make humans very ill and kill small animals, and this was picked up by several people as authoritative. It is, however, rank nonsense (not to mention being that individual's only known edit). I fixed it, and put a few links to more accurate information on the article's talk page.

Yes, pickerel frogs (and many other anurans) secrete toxins when stressed. In the case of pickeral frogs, they're quite lethal to other frogs, as some amateur collectors have found out when they got home with a bucket of frogs and found all but the pickerel frogs dead. These secretions can be irritating, causing a burning sensation, if you get them in a cut, on a mucous membrane, or in your eyes. The key word here is irritating.

I've been catching pickerel frogs since I was knee high to a toad, and -- despite being inordinately sensitive (or downright allergic) to a wide assortment creatures including jellyfish, bees, hairy caterpillars, and garter snakes*, I've never had any issues with a pickerel frog. So has just about everyone whose childhood included living or vacationing where pickerel frogs are common, since they often spend a great deal of time away from water and are fairly easily caught (I lived in one place where it was necessary to shoo young pickerel frogs out of the way to get to the steps at night, a hundred yards and a very steep slope away from the nearest open water). I've seen them sold for live fishing bait. I've kept them as pets. In short, you have nothing to worry about.

As a general rule, you should discourage your kids from grabbing frogs, not so much for their safety as for the frogs' safety. Frogs can be easily injured and their skins are very fragile. Just enjoy watching the little guys.

*Yeah, garter snakes. :-/ I react to something in Thamnophis and Nerodia saliva, and bites itch something awful. You go figure.