Northern Crawfish Frog

​Identification:

This unique frog occurs only in the Jackson Purchase and Western Coal Field Regions of Kentucky. As the common name implies each Crawfish Frog spends most of the year living in and around a crayfish burrow in open grasslands, pastures, or old fields. During the warmer months, a Crawfish Frog spends most of its time both day and night sitting quietly on a patch of bare ground beside its home burrow, gobbling down any large insect that happens by. If a possible predator approaches, the frog dives into the burrow in a heartbeat and makes its escape. Once underground, a Crawfish Frog will turn around to face the entrance and block out the intruder with its oversized head. The basic color pattern on one of these large 4-inch frogs is a network of dark circles outlined in white or gray that makes it nearly impossible for a predator to see in its grassy habitat.

The home burrow of a Crawfish Frog can sometimes be a mile or more from its breeding site but the frog seems to have no trouble finding its way to the pond and returning directly to the very same spot after the mating season ends, all in nearly total darkness.

Crawfish Frogs breed during a 2 to 3-week period in early spring, generally in March and early April. They travel to and from farm ponds and seasonal pools during stormy warm-weather fronts, traveling mostly on rainy nights. The male advertisement call is a deep, loud, resonant nasal snore, and a large chorus of a dozen males can sound just like the drunk tank in the county jail on Saturday night.