www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16342350-13762,00.html#121


French snipers target frogs

From: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Le Haillan

August 22, 2005


PICTURE this: French hunters stealing out at night in pairs, one with a torch to light up the eyes of their prey, the other armed with a .22 calibre rifle equipped with a telescopic sight and a silencer.

Their quarry? Invaders from the United States - bullfrogs, to be precise, that bellow like cows and typically weigh in at a hefty 600 grams.

This is France, to be sure, but the end game of this hunt is not sauteed frog legs.

These marksmen are ecologists, out to exterminate the bullfrogs - a.k.a. Rana Catesbeina - which are threatening the local ecosystem.

"A man living in Vayres (30 kilometres, 20 miles east of Bordeaux) stocked his pond with them in 1968 as a joke, and a few years later every stretch of water in the region was full of them," said Luc Gueugneau, who works in the government agency overseeing wild animals and hunting.

The bullfrogs live for as long as nine years, hibernating from October to March, but the rest of the time gorging on local frogs, shellfish, insects, and even fledgling birds, said ecologist Mathieu Detaint.

They have virtually no predators, and each lay up to 25,000 eggs a year, against 10,000 laid by the local frogs.

"We tried draining the ponds, but it costs a lot and is not efficient enough because there are always some bullfrogs that remain," Detaint said.

One thing that did work, though, he said, was trapping the tadpoles and very young frogs in nets.

Said Gueugneau: "For the moment, hunting the adults with rifles has proved to be the most efficient way of attacking them, because it gets rid of those able to reproduce."

The hunting is done at night, as that is when the frogs are most active and easiest to spot.

"We carried out five hunts between September last year and this July, killing about 120 of them," Detaint said.

"At the start, the idea seemed ludicrous, but we became convinced little by little because they allowed us to eradicate all the adults at two sites where the system was tested."

The ecologists say they a full-scale eradication programme should be in place by 2007, and hope to fully eliminate the bullfrogs in five or 10 years.

I'd like to shoot frogs too.

Wait- are we talking about the same thing?

I think the frogs will have a leg up on them.

So you think the French can take 'em...?

Quoted: I think the frogs will have a leg up on them.

And I bet they don't surrender

They SHOOT bullfrogs?

Real men use gigs.



wait...nevermind. Scratch that 'real men' remark. I forgot who we were dealing with.

Oh the irony.

I have my money on the bull frogs. and +1 for real men using gigs.

I'd gladly fly to france to snipe some frogs.

Quoted: I think the frogs will have a leg up on them.

Each Frog lays 25,000 eggs per year - they killed 120 of them in 2 months.

Someone needs to teach the "snipers" some basic math.

Fucking bullfrogs ruin everything.  They are killing off populations of native animals in the western US and also across the globe.  All the people I know that actively seek reptiles/amphibs for study destroy bullfrogs when the come across them.

And to think of the number of times my mom yelled at me for
shooting bullfrogs with a BB gun.

Sounds like fun

Haha, the French are going to starve without their beloved froglegs, I told ya they'd weed themselves of this planet!!!

Sounds like they need some bluegill or trout to eat the tadpoles. (whatever native similar fish they have in France)

Do Bullfrogs taste good? I know there are some frogs near my home, and threatened the  ex girlfriend with catching them for a cheap dinner. But I have no idea how to prepare them, or catch them even, unless I just shoot them with a pellet gun or pick them up by hand.

Quoted: Do Bullfrogs taste good? I know there are some frogs near my home, and threatened the  ex girlfriend with catching them for a cheap dinner. But I have no idea how to prepare them, or catch them even, unless I just shoot them with a pellet gun or pick them up by hand.

You don't know what you're missing!


You can probably buy a gig online. You'll need a gi, a pole to attach it to, and a boat would be nice. You'll also need a flashlight.

Shine light on frog, gig frog, put frog in bag with ice. When frog has (finally!) died, skin back legs w/ fish skinners. It's actually pretty easy to skin a frog - much easier than you'd think.

Anyway, deep fry the legs. They're great.

Quoted: Fucking bullfrogs ruin everything.  They are killing off populations of native animals in the western US and also across the globe.  All the people I know that actively seek reptiles/amphibs for study destroy bullfrogs when the come across them.

Wow, imagine what anyone who studies humans would do if they applied the same standards.

mmmmmmmmmmmm  fried froglegs  mmmmmmm

Hell, that sounds like a lot of fun!  I generally don't kill anything unless I'm going to eat it, but hunting frogs at night with a suppressed AR would make for an entertaining time, I'd bet.

120 Bullfrogs in 2!!! months? Sheesh, I'd get 50 in an afternoon with a POS pump crossman and open sights. I'd imagine that for something as dangerous as this, the french take plenty of precautions, protective gear, and trauma plates. Heard 130 snipers drowned sneaking up on the frogs.

I have money on the frogs..........sniping the French  

First the Germans, now the bullfrogs... when will they get a break?

How long till the US gets involved?

Damn, frogs are shooting frogs... is that sorta like murder or canibalism?

Quoted: Quoted: I think the frogs will have a leg up on them. Each Frog lays 25,000 eggs per year - they killed 120 of them in 2 months. Someone needs to teach the "snipers" some basic math.

I dunno, might require algebra...