UGH! Cuban Tree Frogs

[Lorien]

They're huge, they're carnivorous cannibals, and they made a loud slapping sound when they jump. I normally think frogs are somewhat charming...but these gollum -like critters totally skeez me out! It didn't help that I found one of these monsters-with it's six inch body and eight inch legs-petrified in between a stained glass window and the clear glass window beside my fireplace. How it got it there I'll never know. :scared:

They're often a fleshy color- I've even seen some that were almost cadaver white!



They're heads are freakishly huge. Better to eat other frogs with, I guess:



This one isn't as big as some that I've seen. Most would take two hands to hold:



Invasive Cuban tree frog threaten native wildlife and damage utilities

North Florida residents accustomed to tiny tree frogs may feel jumpy – a giant Cuban species has colonized half the state and is moving north, a University of Florida expert says.

The Cuban tree frog may threaten its native counterparts, said Steve Johnson, an assistant professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. The amphibians have already become a nuisance to homeowners and utilities workers.

Johnson, based at UF’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Plant City, wrote a recently published extension document on Cuban tree frogs.

“We don’t really know (how serious the issue is),” Johnson said. “They’re not going to attract the attention of citrus canker or some other problem that has huge economic importance.”

But “huge” is a good word to describe the frog, which can be more than 6 inches long. Usually creamy white to light brown, they have large eyes and rough skin. Their skin is coated with a secretion that irritates mucus membranes; Johnson says people shouldn’t touch the animals barehanded.

Cuban tree frogs adapt well to residential areas and sometimes enter homes via pipes and open doors. This can cause unpleasant surprises for homeowners, particularly when the amphibians turn up in toilets, one of their favorite indoor destinations.


http://emr.ifas.ufl.edu/inside_IFAS/6_2007/6_2007_7.html


So, what kinds of odd critters in the neighborhood really creep YOU out? (Other than Republicans)

[ghostsofgiants]

1. That last one bears a striking resemblance to the hypnotoad. (And I don't mean the DUer.)

[WannaBeGrumpy]

6. LOLL!! That is exactly what I thought!

:rofl:

[DarkTirade]

2. They change color, actually.

They go from light tan to brownish to green.

I had a couple hop through the back door at my job a few years back and I took 'em home. That six inches figure is a bit big, they're usually around 2-3. The females tend to be the larger ones, and of the two I had, the female was the most obsessed with food and the least afraid of people. I don't know if that's common or if it was just my two.


This is my Sam and Frodo shortly after I took them home. That's about as light and as dark as they can get. :)

[Lorien]

5. Well, the body of the one in my window was longer than my hand

and my hand is at least 5 inches long (the article says that their bodies are 6 inches or longer here in Florida). There may be several varieties. I heard a *THWACK* nearby as I was entering the house last night and a three inch long one that looked like your brown fellow was clinging to one of my shutters. I chased him away because I was worried that he was coming after my pink gecko, who hangs around the porch light at night. Do these frogs dine on gecko?

[DarkTirade]

9. They can only eat something that's smaller than their mouths. They can't chew, just swallow.

And that big one you saw musta been a MONSTER, 'cause I lived in FL for 20 years and I've never seen one bigger than 4 inches. The wikipedia article I read said they can get up to 5 1/2, but I'm thinking that size is rare.

You wouldn't happen to live near a nuclear power plant, would you? :P

[Lorien]

13. Well Disney isn't far away-does that count?

That one was actually the THIRD monster sized Cuban tree frog I've seen down here in nearly 20 years. The first one I saw was one that I heard first; I kept hearing this sound beside me in the Downtown Disney parking lot that sounded like a man slapping the pavement with the palm of his had, then I saw the frog come flying past me! A tree frog like that can really JUMP! It was doing a good five feet in a single bound, then making a loud SLAP when it hit the pavement. It was really hot outside too-not a great place for a tree frog to be!

Well, hopefully my pink gecko is safe, because the tree frog on the porch was only about 2.5-3" in body length, and the gecko is a little longer than that. :shrug:

[Shakespeare]

3. I LOVE that last pic!

I :loveya: frogs.

[LeftyMom]

4. We're kind of short on poisonous, gross, dangerous or creepy wildlife here.

The only really nasty things that live here state legislators and their various hangers-on and henchpersons.

[Lorien]

7. Do you get the "dog faced boy" bugs up there?

That's what my cousin calls them. I don't know what they are exactly-they sound like a weta with a slightly human face. My cousin is terrified of those things (she found one in here Santa Monica rental-and moved shortly afterwards)!

[LeftyMom]

10. Doesn't sound familiar at all.

:shrug:

[Robeson]

8. Republicans are about it. But then, it's always been that way with me.

[mopinko]

11. possums. they are just creepy looking.

i know they are nice little critters, and eat the slugs in the garden and all. i wouldn't hurt of. but ugh.

but, i often say that the payback for the cold winters in chicago is that we don't have giant bugs, and we don't have poisonous snakes. so, i don't have a lot to choose from. somehow they are creepier than rats, tho.

[ScreamingMeemie]

12. Fish Flies...

They descend upon our town usually in late June/early July and land on every surface. Sometimes they are so bad that cars will skid on them. I keep my blinds closed because they look like little nuclear accidents. They only live a day and disintegrate, basically, into this empty skin that blows in the wind and gets into just about everything. Yuck.

[MrScorpio]

14. And I'm living a fingersnap away from Lake St. Claire

Looking forward to 'em