A frog goes through various stages of transformation throughout its life. It starts out as an egg that develops into a free-swimming tadpole. Then, from a tadpole, it turns into a frog that dwells on land.
In every life phase, a frog is exposed to different predators that prey on the frog population. So what eat frogs?
Predators that Prey on Frogs
According to the Animal Diversity website, as many as 95% of new froglets or tadpoles die, and never reach maturity. Following are the common frog predators.
Birds and Snakes
A wide range of birds and reptiles feast on both tadpoles and frogs. Many bird varieties found in freshwater biomes feed on tadpoles and smaller frogs. While bigger frogs like bullfrogs are safe from these birds, they are not from larger birds like herons.
Expert Tip: Other common flying frog predators include geese, ducks, swans, gulls, crows, wading birds, hawks, and ravens. Water moccasins, garter snakes, and other snakes that swim also find frogs a tasty meal.
Different Kinds of Mammals
Although there are certain mammals that hate toads and frogs because of their noxious skin secretions, not all frog varieties have a foul taste that repels mammal predators.
Almost all types of mammals found in freshwater biomes prey on frogs – that is, if they can catch them. These include foxes, mink, raccoons, opossums, otters, and even humans.
Although some of these mammals don’t actually live in freshwater biomes, they often come looking for food and might pick frogs along the shore or from the water.
Fishes and Other Water Creatures
Frogs need to have wet skin at all times in order to breathe. Thus, they often spend time in the water or keep themselves holed up on plants or near bodies of water. While they are somewhat safe from predators that live on land this way, they become more vulnerable to swimming predators.
For one, fish pose a great danger to frogs. Many varieties of aquatic turtles also pose danger. Frogs also need to watch out for other frogs, particularly the carnivorous ones as they won’t hesitate to gobble up anything they find edible.
Smaller Predators
There are many small predators that find most adult dogs too big to eat. This is why they settle for tadpoles and frog eggs, as well as very tiny, immature froglets.
These small predators include dragonflies, leeches, diving beetles, dragonfly larvae, newts, and other large water bugs that feast on frog eggs. Most of these creatures also eat tadpoles, particularly the smaller ones.
Expert Tip: Young frogs are vulnerable to a lot of the bigger animals that feed on adult dogs, although some of these predators don’t find frog eggs or tadpoles worthy enough to be hunted down.
Final Word
While frogs play an important role in the ecosystem as they are both prey and predator. What eats frogs? – Different varieties of birds and snakes, mammals, fishes, and other water creatures, and even humans pose a threat to the world’s frog population.
If you have any comments or questions, you can leave them in the comments section below.
