It was a steamy July morning in the middle of dad’s vacation from Western Electric.

He promised months ago that we’d go “lake fishin.”

If I can remember correctly, it was a small lake called Brown’s Lake.

We didn’t own a boat but you could rent wooden row boats. I was too young to row but I was delegated to sop up some of the water that seeped in.

We got there just before dawn and all around the still waters I heard the deep chorus of bullfrogs. It was so neat to hear them. Funny how I begged to go along fishing but what I remember most was that eerily quiet lake and bullfrogs croaking everywhere. It sounded like there were hundreds there.

That was my first introduction to the world of amphibians.

Bullfrogs are one of eight species of frogs and toads we can find here in the Times News area. They, and green frogs, pickerel frogs, common toads, wood frogs, and three species of tree frogs can be found most everywhere within a few miles of where we all live.

About three weeks ago, I tried a new birding area in East Penn Township hoping to find an elusive warbler species. That goal wasn’t accomplished but I apparently stumbled upon a bullfrog convention. Lizard Creek at that spot, is a slow, meandering stream and lily pads lined most of the stream edge. It was a cloudy day and mating time because there were bullfrogs “croaking” everywhere.

All male bullfrogs look the same so I guess the one whose vocalizations are the most pleasing, attract a female.

Bullfrogs are the largest of our frog species, with some weighing about 1 1/2 pounds.

They are large enough that in some areas they can be harvested and frog legs are a delicacy.

I grew up along Main Road in East Weissport and Tar Run coursed through our backyard.

If I wasn’t helping dad or playing baseball in summer, I was either traipsing through a small woodlot or exploring this stream.

I often took my fishing pole and instead of a hook, I fashioned a small red piece of mom’s fabric onto the end of the line and would dangle it in front of the bullfrogs there. The motion attracted their attention and they would extend their tongue and grasp the fabric ball. Sometimes they held on as I lifted them up the bank close to me.

Contrary to what you might believe, a frog’s tongue is not that long. Actually, the tongue is attached to the front of the mouth and it lays backward into the mouth, to feed, they flick it outward. Bullfrogs are carnivores feeding mostly on larger insects, but the largest bullfrogs can actually eat small birds, crayfish, and even small snakes or even other frogs.

Green frogs are similar but differ by being much smaller and that they tend to stray a little farther from the ponds, lakes, or stream sides.

They also have a much “smaller” and not nearly as vocal.

Wood frogs are the first out of hibernation and sometimes they are “Quacking in a vernal pool on frosty spring evenings.

Pickerel frogs are the most terrestrial of the frogs, often hundreds of yards from a water source.

Spring peepers, chorus frogs, and gray tree frogs after breeding head to the forests to feed.

The gray tree frog makes a very tropical sounding call and I recommend you find a computer site that plays amphibian sounds and listen to that tree frog. I bet you heard them on warm, humid summer evenings and thought it was some type of bird.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: True/False When a bullfrog pulls its eyes down into it head it is using them to help push food to the back of their mouth.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: The barn owl is the most nocturnal of the owls. It seldom ventures out until it is dark. Barred owls may feed on damp, drizzly days while the short-eared owl usually begins feeding about an hour before it even gets dark.