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Species Spotlight: The California Red-Legged Frog
The feted frog from Mark Twain's story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was likely modeled on a California red-legged-- a species once abundant but now listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The story is about a man who bets on animals he owns and claims to speak to and coax his prized frog into jumping on command.
Twain's is a tall tale about a small animal, but the fact behind the fiction has been grim for these leaping amphibians. The frogs may once have numbered in the millions, but now likely number in the thousands. The declines occurred as they were hunted for food and driven out by mining, draining of wetlands, development of cities and suburbs, and the introduction of the nonnative bullfrog during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The frogs historically ranged from northern California to the northwestern Baja Peninsula in Mexico, but are now relegated to only about 200 streams or drainages in 23 counties. Though rare, the 1.5- to 5-inch-long creatures still wow frog fans that are lucky enough to find one. The belly and hind legs of adults, often a rich red or salmon pink, are juxtaposed with small black flecks and larger dark blotches on a backdrop of brown, gray, olive or reddish-brown skin.
In his story, Twain's protagonist bets on everything, but you can bet that if nothing is done to protect the land and water where the real-life red-legged frogs live, they will continue to decline.
Most would say that’s a gamble not worth taking.
