Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1900-12-04
TALES OF THE BULLFROG.
When rritated Sufficiently He Will At
tack Goldfish

was the exclamation OF pretty lIJlt
tot as she stood with her mother look
ing at the goldfish in the pond at
Bushnell park on Thursday, The
child followed with her eyes the tiny
fish and its hideous pursuer and
watched with evident pleasure the
distance between the two lengthen-
ing until the fish was out Of danger.
Policeman Strickland, who has
been doing police duty on the park
for a number Of years, says the Hart
ford Times, is probably more famil-
lar with the habi!s of the deuizens Of
the pond than anyone else in the city.
Mr. Strickland says that the bullfrogs
do not habitually prey on the fish
The ugly-looking creatures live in
harmony. as a rule, with their beauti-
full neighbors But occasionally g.
bullfrog is seen eatinl fish Officer
Strickland does not icIieve that the
pangs Of hunger excite the frogs to
make an attack on the fishes. They
will not modest them in ordinary cir
cumstances. 1t is only when She fish
provoke them that they will make an
attack. When the fishes become
frisky in their gam 1.ls and approach
too near a frog, tie latter shows It's
dislike Of them by swapping. When
the fishes congregate in large schools
to nibble at the crumbs thrown in the
water they jostIc and jump over each
other.
It sometimes happens that at these
foasts a frog viii be enjoying a siesta
in the shade of a leaf Of an aquatic
plant or a tuft Of grass. The quick
movements Of the nimble fish in their
bright hues of scarlet, made more
brilliant by the rays of the sun, dis.
turb the slothful creature near the
bank. Its bulging eyes assume a
fierce expression and a discordant
croak from its distended throat indi-
Gates its rising wrath. 1t watches the
feasting beauties for a few minutes,
and then, with a gulping sound, it
springs among them. 1t always
catches one in its wide mouth, and
proceeds to devOur its victim more i'll
anger than to satisfy hunger. 1t is
well-known fact that the shaking of
anything bright or red in front of
| frog irritates it beyond endurance.
Those who make a business of
catching frogs, knowing that the
creatures tempers are affected by the
quick movements of anything of red
color, use a piece of red flannel as
bait. The active movements of the
goldfish have the same effect on the
frogs as bait. SO long as the fish swim
slowly by the frogs the latter will not
modest them. ".--..'-,' ,
Officer Strickland tells the story of
voracious bullfFog that is worth re-
peating. He vouches for the accuracy
of it, he having seen the frog and the
fish. A frog caught an unusually
large goldfish one day and swan to a
pond lily leaf to deyour it at its ease.
The head Of the fish was in the frogs
mouth, and the greater part of the
body and tail protruded out of it,
The fish wriggled quite violently for
a few minutes and then died. But the
frog was unable TO deyour it, and
made movements which indicated
a desire to be relieved of the surplus
portion Of the fish which it could not
conveniently find room for. But the
fish, before it died, had wriggled itself
too far down the frogs throat to be
elected, and there il stuck. The frog
remained on the leaf in an apparently
comatose state for 4S hours, until it
had digested the entire fish.
A frog was seen one day in the pond
catching a sparrow and carrying it to
its Shiny quarters beneath the sur
face of the water The frog was an
old one, and was of enormous size. 1t
was seated among tall grass when a
child threw crumbs into the water
for the goldfish. Some of the crumbs
fell on a large leaf, and sparrow,
hungry for its meal had the temerity
to fly from branch of a tree onto the
leaf to pick crumb As the bird
lighted on the leaf the frog made a
quick jump and landed right on top
of the intruder There was an agi-
tated hutter and cry of despair from
the bird as the frog seized it and dived