Frog Tracks

There is not much chance that you will find a frog skeleton and if you did it would probably be damaged although some frogs die of disease but even they are a meal for some hungry animal.

This is not a very good photograph of the frog skeleton but it shows you the small delicate bones and large spine. I'm unsure of the species but it was found in Western Australia. The skeleton measured 25mm long x 9mm wide.

Well its unlikely that you will find frog tracks also but you will find in Western Australia burrows made by frogs but this might not help you in identifying the frog. To do this you will need to hear the frog call. Record the call as its easy to forget the sound by the time you get home. Once you have a collection you will soon be able to tell which froggie lives where.

Go to our Frogs of Western Australia pages to hear and see many frogs or contact Frogwatch at the WA Museum.

This burrow belongs to the Sand or Marbled frog.

Most frogs are active at night although you can hear some frogs calling from within their burrows on a wet winters day.

Motorbike frog scats

You could mistake a frogs scats for those of a native mouse or small marsupial.

It is the male that calls from inside the burrow or from around a puddle or tree hoping to attract a female. Usually they call before winter or during winter. Other frogs that live in arid regions will call after summer rains.

Places to find frogs

Its not very scientific finding frogs. Different species of frogs will be calling at different times of year. Simply head out at night in your own yard with a torch, if you don't have any local frogs then go for a drive to farmland, bush land, anywhere really. Frogs like the roadside drainage ditches, check out any pipes going under the road and any roadside puddles. In the bush look in puddles, creeks, tree trunks and even amongst rocks and boulders. Some frogs will take advantage of the water tanks, ponds, outside lights are great for attracting insects, pot plants can hide a tree frog during the day and swimming pools can be used as a place to lay their eggs.

Don't forget to check under the toilet seat!

Remember Safety First- Watch the road for traffic and watch out for snakes.

It is harder to find a specific frog. You need to identify the call of the frog or if its not the season, temperature or humidity for them to be calling you will need to identify the frog and try and find where other people have already found the frog you are looking for.

Frogs markings can vary dramatically and it is very difficult to get an exact identification while you are out. Its best to take photographs and video of the frog, don't take it home with you, frogs have rights too.

The best way to identify a frogs in Western Australia is to buy or borrow "Frogs of Western Australia" by M.J. Tyler, L.A. Smith and R.E.Johnstone. If you live in the Perth region then the book " Reptiles And Frogs Of The Perth Region" by Brian Bush, Brad Maryan, Robert Browne-Cooper and David Robinson. And other CD Roms are listed on our frog pages.

Go here to see a 3D frog skeleton http://worms.zoology.wisc.edu/frogs/frogskel.html and here to fly through a frog skeleton for fun http://k-2.stanford.edu/frog.fly.html
www.bioweb.uwlax.edu/zoolab/Table_of_Contents/Lab-9b/Frog_Skeleton_1/frog_skeleton_1.htm