Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 10, 1 October 1991 — Naturally Hawaiian [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Naturally Hawaiian

by Patrick Ching artist/environmentalist

Native to North America. froas find a home on the islands

A oative Hawaiian frog? No, not quite. I just had to tell you about the animal that inspired me to study. That's right, a frog got me to study. As a kid I wasn't into books or reading. My after-school hours were spent in and around the

valley streams of Pauoa and Moanalua. One day, after a good moss sliding session I lifted a pieee of plywood from the water and' something darted out from under it and disappeared beneath the algae. Though I only caught a glimpse of it, 1 knew exact!y what it was. After an exciting chase I had it in my hands. Afrog, unrejil! I heard they were here but I never saw one in real life. I'd seen hundreds of toads before but everybody knows that toads are bumpy, brown and ugly while frogs are smooth, green and beautiful. Yes, it was definitely a frog. I took the frog home, put it in the bathtub and began reading everything I could about frogs. I read encyclopedias, magazine articles and library books. I read more in one week than I ever did in my life. Anyway, here's what I found out . . . Bu!lfrogs are native to North America. The Hawaiian names for bullfrog include poloka and lana but don't look for them in ancient legends. Frogs were first introduced to Hawai'i in 1867 as a source of food. They live in or around streams and ponds and are especially abundant in taro lo'i. Adult males emit loud, bellowing mating calls to attract females. Eggs are laid in the water attached to plants near the surface. The eggs hatch into tadpoles or pollywogs whieh grow to be about five inches long. Because of our tropicaI climate the pollywogs transform into adult frogs within six months whereas in colder areas it ean take almost two years.

In the northern U.S. bullfrogs retreat to the mud bottoms of streams and lakes for the winter. Again, because of our tropical climate Hawaii's bullfrogs are active year round with the heaviest mating activity occurring in the spring and summer months. Adult bullfrogs will eat anything that moves and ean fit in their mouths; this includes insects, fish, lizards and even miee and other frogs. They, in turn, are preyed upon by 'auku'u, heron, cattle egrets and humans. While most hunters will use a fishing pole, spear or net to catch frogs, a true river rat ean be judged by his ability to catch them bare-handed. Sadly, this is becoming a

dying sport, taking a back seat to computers and video games. About the frog that I left in the bathtub? It jumped out of the bathtub and got lost in the house. That upset my mother a bit. But mothers are funny that way.

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