Identification Malformed Frog Study A part of the

Bull Frog Gray or Copes Tree Frog Wetlands Wildlife Inventory 3 1/2” to 8” 1 1/4” to 2 3/8” Our largest frog in Rarely venture fro m the On the Chorus Frog Wood Frog but not very common locally. trees. Bight to 3/4” to 1 1/2” 1 3/8” to 3 1/4” Greenish yellow with random gray usually with Keweenaw Bay Indian Reservation Breeds very early, Breeds early in spring mottling. Cream colored belly splotches of gray. Sticky often while snow re- then disappears into with lighter gray spots. texture. Bight yellow mains. A tree frog moist woodlands. Note belly. with long black mask short black mask. and three dark stripes down its back.

Mink Frog Green Frog 1 7/8” to 3” 2 1/8” to 4” Olive to brown in color with Green or brownish col- Northern Leopard Pickerel Frog ored frog with green Frog 1 3/4” to 3 1/2” uniform mottling along sides and legs. Pungent mink like upper lip. Large ear- 2” to 5” Slender green or tan frog drum. White belly with Slender brown or with parallel rows of odor. Yellowish colored bel- ly. black spots. Sounds like green frog with light square shaped spots down banjo strings. edges around irregu- its back. Yellow belly larly shaped spots. patch by inner thigh.

Spring Peeper Northern Cricket Frog 3/4” to 1 3/8” 5/8” to 1 1/2” American Toad One of our smallest and Very rare tiny tree frog 2” to 4 3/8” most abundant tree . that looks almost black. Large bumpy brown to Note the brown color and Has a dark triangle be- greenish colored toad. x mark on its back. tween eyes. Background Information Materials Needed Hold the frogs under the front logs with the In 1995, students found numerous mal-  Rubber boots or wading shoes frog facing you and legs dangling down. Be formed frogs on a field trip to a pond.  Frog Nets careful not to squeeze the abdomen. Check the Since that time, reports of malformed frogs have  Frog ID Pamphlet following body parts: increased dramatically throughout the .  Bucket with lid 1. Both eyes are present and symmetrical Overall, malformed frogs have been reported in 44  Malformity Survey Form 2. Front legs are present and symmetrical states and in 38 of frogs and 19 species of toads.  Pencil 3. Back legs are present and symmetrical Malformations are irregular growth pat-  Insect Repellent (NOT on hands) 4. Count that toes are present in correct terns that initiate in the developmental stages of the numbers (4 on front feet, 5 on back feet) frogs life, namely within the and during metamor- Methods 5. Do not count trauma-related injury as a phosis from tadpole to frog. Malformations are gen- malformation (leg bitten off or broken) Search along edges of wetland areas and open erally caused by one of three factors: chemical con- Please be thorough in completing the Malfor- water. Pickerel frogs and leopard frogs can be tamination, parasitic infection, and possibly increased mation Survey form. Keep any malformed frogs found in grassy areas some distance from the exposure to UV light during the development of the and bring them to the KBIC Natural Resource water’s edge. Be very careful not to injure the tadpole within the egg. It is not possible to determine Department (Fish Hatchery on Pequaming Rd) frogs in your effort to capture them. the cause strictly by the morphology of the malfor- within 24 hours. Keep them in a (5 gallon) buck- mation, but rather with careful exploratory proce- When approaching water’s edge, frogs will et, half filled with fresh pond water and covered dures at a wildlife health laboratory. most likely jump in. Wait patiently for them to loosely with a lid (allow air to enter but the frog If we do find malformed frogs on the resurface. Then, move your net carefully toward not to exit). Keweenaw Bay Indian Reservation, we may not be able the frog, coming at it head on. Flip the net over Please mail or drop off the Malformation to determine what specifically caused it. This would the frog, plunging it several inches below the Survey Form regardless of whether or not you require significant amounts of money to fund neces- water and pull back on the handle. sary lab work. However, it will put our area on the find any malformed frogs. Healthy frogs are a Collect all your specimens first, then ID them map for future investigations that may eventually good sign that we have healthy wetlands! and look for malformations. This helps to avoid answer this question. At this point, we simply seek to Mail Surveys and/or counting the same frog twice. determine whether or not we have malformed frogs Bring Malformed Frogs on reservation wetlands. To: So far in Michigan, less than 2% of all am- KBIC Natural Resource Department phibians examined have been found with malfor- 14359 Pequaming Road mations. This is a good thing and we hope to find our results are similar. Therefore, reporting normally L’Anse, MI 49946 formed frogs is equally important as reporting the 906-524-5757 Xt. 19 malformed individuals. Fax: 906-524-5748