There goes the neighborhood? (bullfrogs)

So I was out trying to photograph foothill yellow-legged frogs and found a good looking pool that seemed to have several appropriately sized frogs hopping around. After a patient 20 minute sit by the pool I eventually caught one of these frogs and put him in a tub to photograph only to find that it was, in fact, a small Bullfrog. Since this species is invasive, I did not release it but instead took him home...
I have never found bullfrogs in this location and I know it is a prime mating location for threatened species of trout and California newts. I felt that NOT releasing the frog was the ethical thing to do despite the fact that there is obviously a breeding population of Bullfrogs which produced the numerous smaller frogs to begin with. Any thoughts?

I have no desire to keep this fellow but I also don't want to release him anywhere. What to do in this situation? I thought about donating him to the school I work for or trying to preserve his skeleton for my osteological collection.
I was just curious what other people thought about the ethics of a situation like this.

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

Euthanasia.

That's what I would honestly do. Just make sure it's deffinitely a bull frog, and if so, rounding up a few people to collect as many of them as possible would be a good idea.

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

Maybe there's a California department of environmental protection or something you could report it to?

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

The problem with donating him to a school is... what will they do with the frog if they decide that they need to get rid of it? Will they send it home with a student? Someone might release it, perhaps in an even worse (uncontaminated) location. So I have to agree that euthanasia is probably the best policy. A dab of Orajel on the belly will do the job. Turning him over to a local zoo or wildlife authorities is also a possibility if you can't do it.

I am faced with a similar dilemma at the moment. A teacher at our nature center brought back two bullfrog tadpoles from a pond he visited with some students. They are an invasive species here also, so I can't condone putting them back. They make lousy pets. We'll keep them to watch until they morph, but then I'm afraid I'll have to take care of them (and I don't mean that in a nurturing kind of way).

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

I have had that issue with tadpoles too. Once you net them its like... what do you do...

I gave a pair to my brother who keeps a lot of tropical fish and they lived as tadpoles for a year and then only very slowly turned into frogs.

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

I eat them. I cook them up in olive oil, fresh garlic and diced tomatoe. I have found crayfish, baby garter snakes and stinkpot turtles in their stomaches. I just drop a fishing fly in front of them. They eat it and I reel them up the canal bank. If you find the tadpoles give them to someone that has a turtle that will eat them. But please make sure they are bullfrog tadpoles.

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

I guess no one likes eating bullfrogs.....lol I can understand that. Bulllfrogs are extremely aggressive ans never stop eating. They are also known to eat small birds such as hummmingbirds that are feeding on flowers along a pond. I saw this once!!! At Big boulder lake here in PA. There is no place to move them too. So you have to kill them. I is a horrible thought and many people could never do it themselves. I beleive it is even worse for the animal to die without being used for something. So I eat them. If that is not for you ask around you can always find that guy that will eat anything. Just give them to him. I know some people in Florida walk around catching Marine Toads and put them in buckets of kerosene to kill them. These toads eat our natives and kill dogs and cats when their pets try to eat them. But to save our native wildlife its a small price.
Emeril's website used to have a nice frog legs receipe with black beans sauce. People should try it. I have to say I'm surprised that there isn't 20 posts yelling at me for eating them. I liked to know what other people think about non natives and what to do with them.

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

BillYannone said:

At Big boulder lake here in PA. There is no place to move them too. So you have to kill them.

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It seems to be the inevitable human thing to do to take sides among the animals. In my opinion, this impulse causes at least as much trouble as it cures. I don't eat bullfrogs anymore, but if I did it would be because they are delicious, not because they are evil. Bullfrogs are native in PA, and harvest is limited by some regulations:

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/fishpub/summary/repamp.html

-Steve Morse

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

LOL Bill I would never yell at someone for eating something I think is weird. I've lived in places where food is only considered fresh if its still moving, where eyeballs are considered a delicacy.

My only complaint would be the method of killing - not for you - just if I had a complaint. Death should be swift to instantaneous.

I can't bring myself to kill & eat my own chickens (this is why I have 5 roosters) muchless a frog. I can euthanize an animal if its for the overall good.

And maybe froglegs are delicious - lol, but darnit! they just don't sound that appetizing to me!

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

Bullfrog season opens on July 1st and ends Oct 31 in PA. You can take 10 a day. You can have twenty in possession. I guess that means if you have more that 20 in the frig you have to start eating them. They are native to PA and do eat alot of animals I like alot better honestly. But I eat them because I like them. Sharon I don't eat the eye balls. I'll try anything but I draw the line on eyes. Our big problem here like most places is red ear sliders their large size and aggressive behavior pushs out our native turtles. I remove the large females when I catch them. They seem to like my vanilla flavored carp bait. Their large egg clutches which can contain almost 25 eggs which they can lay 2-3 times a year can quickly take over and lake or pond. These I don't eat. I don't like turtle meat. I even dug up a live one last fall while planting tulips. Who would have thought they would hibernate on land like that.

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

Some snakes take bullfrogs, as do monitors and other large lizards. One of my buddies used to find bullfrogs on his property in a rural part of norcal and fed them to his pets. I suppose parasites could be an issue, but his reptiles are all very healthy and have been alive for ages.

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

BillYannone said:

I eat them. I cook them up in olive oil, fresh garlic and diced tomatoe.

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I can not believe I completely missed this. Nothing like bullfrog legs rolled in seasoning flour and then fried, it is absolutely delicious.

Re: There goes the neighborhood?

I agree with Justin 100%.