Hello and welcome to another post about a really cool animal! Today we are going to dive in and learn all about the Southern Cricket frog. Why the Southern Cricket frog, you may ask? Well, these little guys can really jump! They have been known to be able to leap to heights more than 60 times their body length! That would be like me, at 5 ft 11 inches tall, being able to jump 355 feet in the air! In comparison, the current world record for highest standing jump performed by a human is only 5 ft 5 inches according to the Guiness Book of World Records. The Southern Cricket frog's amazing jumping abilities help them catch prey as well as avoid predators such as salamanders, snakes, wading birds, or turtles.
Now that we know why they are so cool, let's learn all about the Southern Cricket frog! They usually grow to between 0.5-1.25 inches long, with the females growing to be a bit longer than the males. They live in the southeastern United States from Virginia south to Florida and then west into Louisiana. Southern Cricket frogs are amphibians, meaning they live in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Their favorite places to hang out are shallow areas of fresh water, like ponds, creeks, or even ditches along the road!
Another reason to love the Southern Cricket frog is because they really help out humans. One of their favorite meals is one of our biggest pests: mosquitos! Along with mosquitos, they also love to munch on ants, beetles, flies, and other small invertebrates. They catch their prey by jumping at them while sticking out their tongue to catch them!
According to the IUCN Red List, the Southern Cricket frog population is stable and not at risk of extinction. They are negatively impacted by activities that degrade or destroy wetlands and the introduction of invasive species, but their population stability is not necessarily threatened by these factors.
Thanks for learning with me! Can you imagine being able to jump like the Southern Cricket frog? It would definitely make for some interesting games of leapfrog! What else do you want to know about the Southern Cricket frog? Leave your questions below!
A very special thank you to Dr. Steve Johnson from the University of Florida for allowing me to use his photographs of our friend the Southern Cricket frog. If you want to see any more of his work, check out his lab page at https://ufwildlife.ifas.ufl.edu/ .
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