Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1914-02-07

there has been such an active de-
mand for the frogs from the Kansas
farmers that a partof the hatchery
is to be devoted exclusively to frogs
and every farmer who wants TO have
a few swamp canariesn loafing a
round his fish pond or irrigation
reservoir can get them for the asking.
In the last six weeks. Prof. L. L.
Dyche, state fish and game warden,
has distributed more than l.. 900 tad
poles TO Kansas farmers to be placed
in ponds. Early in the fall Prof.
Dyche remarked that he would like
TO find some way of keeping the bull
frogs out of the ponds, because they
ate the Young fish, and the next day
he began getting letters from farm
ers asking for frogs.
Al first Prof. Dyche tried to dis
tribute the frogs 10 to u inches long
weighing as high as 80 ounces each.
But he had so mitch trouble with the
first consignment that now he
handles only the tadpoles, which
were hatched in May and June, and
which will turn into frogs with the
opening of warm weather next spring.
you can't keep bull frog any
place. said Prof, Dyche in describing
his troubles with 400 bull frogs he
had in the state fish car on enc trip.
They are the slickest, hoppingesJ,
most pestiferous creatures l ever had
to deal with. THE only way to handle
bullfrogs is to put each single frog in
sack by itself and then tie the sack
| TO t. i
the frog in the sack He would hop
away with it.
I'VE didn't dare to leave the car
/ door open or open a window on that
trip. We had screens that fit down
over the tanks and before the car
had gone twenty miles every frog was
| outside the tanks. l watched them
lift that screen up. A dozen or so
frogs would make jump at the same
time and hit that screen with bang.
One was sure to get his leg through
between the screen and the side of
the tank and by wiggling little he
would get his body partly through
Then every frog in the tank would
jump through the opening, and after
they were all out the one that had
held up the screen would wiggle him
self out. We had to steal a lot of
old railroad iron to hold the screens
down after we had rounded up the
frogs and put them back into the
tanks. Anyone that insists on having
real frogs from now on viii have to
get them in box and pay the ex-
press. We won't haul anymore frogs
in the car. That one lot nearly drove
US crazy"
On the night when the 400 frogs
were taken out, Prof. Dyche and his
two helpers were peacefully sleeping
in the births until just about day
light, when Dyche says he was a.
wakened by what he thought surely
was a train wreck. But it wasn't.
About a hundred bullfrogs had
escaped from the tanks and about
sixty of them were perched on the
sides of the two upper berths and
were singing. One frog was perched
in Prof. Dyche's hat, hanging on the
hat rack at the top of the car, and
was leading the chorus.
Anyway he made more noise, and
whenever he started up the others
followed says Dyche.
The car was being held at Herring
ton while the tanks were being filled
with fresh water A railroad yard
man walked into the car.
docs this thing belong to you?"
he asked.
He was carrying big frog just as
he would carry y chicken. The frog
was found summing himself on the top
of the car. Evidently it was one of
those that had hoped upon the up
per berths during the morning and
had climbed out through The ventila-
tor windows at the top of the car.
just back of the station at McFar-
land there is a creek probably 800
yards from the tracks. Dyche and his
men thought they had corralled all
the frogs that had escaped early in
the morning. The front door of the
fish car had been left open while one
of the men went up to the station TO
send some kilograms about the COM
ing of the car. Suddenly Dyche heard
some one outside yelling at the top
of his voice. He looked out and there
were about twenty bullfrogs hopping,
'sInjun STYLE" one behind the other,
n