The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1890-08-24
ON 4 FROG FARM.
How the Luscious Reptiles
Are Fattened for Epi-
curean Tables.

A gentleman who owns pretty IarIn III
Morris county recently took the writer
over his place and fingered on the banks
of trout pond, which is his especial
pride. Sitting in plain sight on the bank
was an enormous bulifrog. What is he
doing thereYr asked the writer.
"0h. he is one of my pets" said the
farmer. "rhey are four of them, all about
the same size, md 1t would amuse
you to hear them talking to each
other at night. | like their
music and win not let anybody kill them.
The Italians on the water works job are
Kidding the surrounding country of all
the frogs, and twice have caught them
in here after these with a stick and red
rag on a hook"
"Pretty expensive pets, said the visitor.
But then | suppose you can afford to IN
dulge In Injuries"
How are they expensiveS asked the
amateur trout culturist.
well, | should figure that each of
those frogs mas COST you about 25. 900
young trout in the last three years and
may be twice that amount. Anyway
you can safely put it at 100000 trout tor
the four of them since you have had the
pond"
st4yorzonres Frogs do uUt cat trout
They live on flies and insects. / have seen
them eat them often.'
Come, now, let as dissect this big tel
low, aud if we do not find other than in
sect food in his paunch you may say that
| have libelled him and | will replace him
with two frogs full as big as he isl
You needn't do that, for / am willing
to believe that you know what you are
talking about" said the farmer, and
taking up stuck he stretched the frog
dead.
WHAT HE EAT.
In the stomach Of this particular frog
was a young trout an inch and q half
long, small striped dace, a dragon fiy
and some half digested animal matter
which could net be identified Satisfied
that the frogs were enemies of trout, the
farmer killed two others which were in
sight, and in each were found several
yo1ng fish. The fourth frog was not in
sight then, but later in the day he was
seen on the shore of the pond, high up in
the grass, and a whack from cane ended
his existence. In his stomach was found
a mass of caterpillers, such as are found
on the bottom bushes which grow on the
edges of ponds and streams. A further
search YVES made, and half dozen small
frogs were taken ont of the pond that
afternoon and summariiy dispatched A
water snake was killed during the search
for the frogs The farmer knew that he
was trout eater, having seen him on n
previous occasion with a yearling fish in
his mouth.
What do frogs eat?" is an interesting
question. A full grown bullfrog will
stop at nothing eatable, even though it is
apparently as large as himself, and he
will show unexpected dexterity in catch
ing it. The stories about frogs eating
young ducks are not fables. They have
not only been seen to pull down young
ducks, put have been killed with the
ducks in their stomachs. The writer
caught frog in the Passaic, at Singac, a
few years ago with piece of red flannel
on hook, and on opening the reptile
found that its stomach was distended
with an enormous fresh water musseI.
The process of digestion had gone on far
enough to remove the black outside of the
shell In places and show the pearly lustre
beneath. On another occasion he opened
q large frog and found in it O small mud
turtle not yet dead. In addition TO the
turtle We're two half-digested crawfishes.
THEY FEED UNDER WATER
The frogs IN the upper Passaic feed
largely on crawiish and are frequently
found with their stomachs distended
with them This proves that they occa-
sionally feed under water, and the pres
ence of fish in their paunches even more
conclusively Shows that those who have
contended that frogs take their food in
the air only ara wrong.
Ben Holorook, of West Milford, tells an
interesting story about frog he once
saw. He thought that it was being swal-
lowed by q snake, and as the frog was a
large one and the snake only eighteen
inches long and no thicker than Ben,s
thumb, he got down from his buggy to
watch the outcome or lingo" Of the
struggle. He saw in a moment, instead
OF the snake having the frog, the frog
had the snake and was trying his best to
swallow it. Ben looked on for ten min
utes, and finding that the frog was max
ing no progress he killed the snake with
his whipstock The frog immediately
opened it's mouth and spat out the snakes
head. Ben then killed the frog, TOO. and
took both reptiles over to DIR. Marsh, who
could not be made to believe the story,
The story of the frog swallowing an egg
and the jumping hard enough TO break
the she'll is probably o fable, but the
swallowing part need not be doubted.
Frogs have been known TO eat the eggs Of
marsh birds and of turtles, but it IS not
necessary for them to break the eggs TO
get at the nourishment The digestive
apparatus of q reptile which can eat mus
sells, shell and all, certainly is not to be
disturbed by an eggshell.
GOOD EATING.
Bullfrogs are good eaters, though not
particular about their food. They are
good eating also. not only the hind legs.
but every particle of flesh on their bodies
The hind legs are eaten and the rest dis