Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-08-06
Frog Shooting.

The frog is a homely creature, but
every year it becomes more valuable IN
trinsjcal!y as a marketable product OF
fresh water. 1t is now esteemed as
game in the restaurants, and thrcefrogs
rIcaSseed in cream call for 10 cents
The restauranteurp pays about5O cents
dozen for them. They are sold like
terrapins. and If under six inches from
tip to tip they are not counts. The
American encyclopedia says that the
frog is batrachlan reptile of the anou-
rous order, embracing such thorough
bred groups as the ranid9 and hyis.d;e.
The ranida is, therefore, the "anOurous
batrachian reptile" which we devour
with cream sauce and pay 40 cents for.
The hyla is tree-frOg, with warts on
his back, and is not built for the table.
The small boy used to kill frogs loyears
ago on the mill-ponds with stones and
trade them off in town for enough TO
buv "alley-tawsn or ''lignum-tops"
with. Now able-bodied men armed
with shot-guns go out and make good
davis wages by killing couple of dozen
OF so. SpOrtsmen even go after them
with cat-rifles and shoot them as they
squat on the banks Of stream or pond,
with true sportsmanlike glee. Epicures
deyOur them greedily.
The ranidR are ordinarily known as
bull-frogs, because when they obtain
old age they can raise as much fuss
along a river bank at night as herd OF
Texas cattle. The boys call them
''bloodies,n - the name being an abbre-
Walton of "bloOdy-nouns," the pronun-
ciatlOn of the compound word IN gut
tursl voice being similar to stave OF
the ranida's evening serenade.
The frog spends most Of his time IN
the water, when he lOafs under a stone,
bat he can hop across country when his
native pond dries up in style that
would discount an Arabian camel
making for an oasis. When be finds
another pool of water he staysthere and
makes himself comfortable. Occasion
ally be will stop and spend some time
in a moist locality, where there IS moth
ing but ooze and damp leaves. He has
four nOnpalmated fingers, a rudimenta-
~ thumb, and enormous eXtensor mus
cles in his hind legs. He lives upon
bugs, and has been known to swallow
small birds; but, like other amphib bla,
and unlike the ward politician, he can
not drink. His tongue is fastened to the
lower jaw at the tip instead Of at the
base, and he slings it out after d cricket
OF June bug like laSsO. The ency-
clopedia states that the frog is peculiar
for the presence of Occipital condyles
and the development of the transverse
processes of the sacrum, but most peo-
pie do not believe this. His greatest
popularity lies in the fact that there IS
nothing to eat on his bones except the
muscles of his legs.
The number of frogs sent North dur
ing the spring and summer is enOrmouss.
From the tributaries of Chesapeake Bay
alone the frog crop averages 100000 a
year. In the salt marshes of the South
they grow larger than they do elsewhere
but the meat Is coarSeT and not So edi-
bic. Frogs are as prolific as herTings.
Millions Of little black tadpOles infest
every mud puddle. The knowing fish
esteem them very highly as fcod. but
the tadp0le who escapes consumption
for Uiree weeks drops his tail, which is
only temporary affair anyhow, grows
four ample legs and goes out to he
''bloOdy" himself until he Is shot or
hooked to satiate the inyeterate nav
OF tie lord OF creation.