Other Stories - John N. Felsher's Outdoors Adventures

      On steamy summer nights, hunters armed only with spears and
headlights search the forbidding wet labyrinths for bellowing beasts.
      Every shadow looms ominously. Long-fingered, skeletal monsters
reach across the gripping darkness. Dinosaurs appear to climb from
bayous, but they make no sounds. Every object seems sinister in sallow
moonlight.
      Narrow headlights vainly puncture rays of security through
enshrouding darkness. As lights flicker, bony clutching fingers revert to
tree branches overhanging the bayou. The silent dinosaurs morph back
into fallen trees. Everything looks different at night.
      Real dinosaurs do prowl the southern swamps. Bellowing creatures
with flaming red eyes surface and disappear suddenly. Moments later, they
reappear, grunt, hiss and again slink back into the opaque depths. Not
actually dinosaurs, but contemporaries of T-Rex, alligators survive
unchanged after eons of living along the Gulf Coast.
      Tonight, though, these bellowing reptiles don't interest the sportsmen
who focus on smaller, less toothy prey. Occasionally, lights reflect a
triangle of dots, one large and two small, along a barren shoreline.
      These sportsmen hunt frogs. Froggers normally capture bullfrogs
(Rana catesbeiana) or pig frogs (Rana grylio), also known as lagoon frogs
or grunters. People may capture frogs at night during the open season,
normally the warmer months. The action peaks on those sweltering July and
August nights when even the air seems to sweat.
      Most froggers in boats slowly scan shorelines or weed patches with
powerful lights. When light beams hit a frog, its chin and eyes shine like
two dots hovering over a bright splotch. Intense lights temporarily blind
frogs, allowing hunters time to catch them.
      Sportsmen can use spring-loaded mechanical frog grabbers that grip
frogs when a trigger touches them. Besides grabbers, sportsmen may
catch frogs by hand, with nets or with spear-like gigs where legal. Some
use archery equipment. In some places, people can slap them with the flat
side of paddles. Check local laws before catching frogs.
      Froggers without boats can still jump into the action. Frogs can live in
even the smallest habitat, as long as it remains reasonably wet with some
access to dry ground or structure.
      As a boy, I used to walk along roadside ditches or drainage canals
near my home in Slidell, La. “Neighborhood” frogs frequently hid at the
base of culverts or where two ditches intersected. Within walking distance
of my house, I usually caught enough frogs for a few meals each night.
      Canals and small ditches line many roads and highways in the South.
Bayous and creeks meander through upland forests and agricultural lands.
Most support impressive frog populations. It's amazing that such little water
can support such a large amphibian population at times.
      For a little extra excitement or a change of habitat, we sometimes
caught frogs on fishing rods. This requires considerable stealth and
teamwork. Take a red piece of cloth and hook it onto a small bream hook.
One person illuminates the frog, but doesn't shine the light directly into its
eyes. Another person approaches from behind and dangles the hooked
red cloth in front of it.
      Frogs eat almost anything they can stuff into their mouths, including
other frogs. They strike at just about anything that wanders within range of
their lethal tongues. When they slash out with their tongues, they swallow
the cloth with the hook in one gulp. Of course, others can tempt them with
actual bait, such as a worm or cricket.
      In the daytime, anglers can sometimes catch frogs with a fly rod and a
popping bug, although most people don't often see frogs sitting on
shorelines during daylight. Drop the popping bug within range of its tongue
and it cannot resist. Fighting a hooked frog jumping across lily pads while
hooked on a light fly rod makes quite a memorable, if indescribable angling
experience.
      Some people prefer to catch frogs by hand. One word of caution,
though. Nocturnal alligators, snakes and snapping turtles also fancy the
delectable amphibians. Look closely around the general vicinity to see if
anything else desires that tasty temptation. If a cottonmouth and a frogger
both attempt to snatch a frog simultaneously, serious and painful
repercussions could follow for both parties.
      After catching frogs, drop them into a securely tied sack or a locking
ice chest. They can jump long distances and could knock the top off an
unlocked ice chest. Some people stick them on old pin and hole fishing
stringers.
      Fried frog legs covered in Cajun spices taste delicious. However,
carefully remove the white or yellowish nerves in the severed legs. Without
doing so, the legs might actually jump out of the frying pan as soon as they
hit hot grease. If you want to really see some jumping excitement, try this
trick on your unsuspecting spouse -- but only once!
      Froggers can catch these bug-eyed croakers in almost any Southern
waterway. Just about any river, canal, pond or ditch can hold a population
of croakers.