52 Nebraskaland • October 2025
MIXED BAG
As October comes and goes, it's
time to say goodbye to many of the
pond's familiar residents of spring,
summer and fall. One such character
is the American bullfrog (Lithobates
catesbeianus).
Unlike many of the pond's bird
species, the bullfrog isn't going far,
however. Neither is it "croaking," in
the sense of life or death. Rather, it is
staying local to enter a sluggish period
of dormancy called brumation.
As cooler weather arrives, bullfrogs
retreat to the bottom of the pond and
stay there, perhaps oblivious to the cold
and snow above. Bullfrogs can absorb
oxygen through their skin. As their
heart and metabolic rates slow in the
brumation process, they don't require
as much oxygen as they do during
summer when expending energy to
actively eat whatever bugs and animals
they can fit into their mouths.
Not only is brumation vital to
survival, but so is the frog's heavy diet
of late summer. Bullfrogs add glucose
to their organs at this time, creating
something of an antifreeze.
Although many assume bullfrogs
burrow into the mud and litter at the
bottom of the pond, they stay atop
or not deep into it. Sometimes they'll
even move during winter months,
albeit slowly, to seek water with more
oxygen in it.
This process happens upwards to
10 times, considered the maximum
lifespan for most bullfrogs in the wild.
When the water temperature reaches
about 60 degrees, we can welcome
the bullfrog once again as it returns to
the surface. Once there, it will resume
its feeding frenzy and greet us — or,
actually, a hoped-for mate — with its
familiar croak.
BULLFROG BRUMATION
By Justin Haag
In a scene that represents seasonal transition, the bullfrog, a star vocalist from sweltering summer nights, awaits prey among
the fallen leaves that usher in the chilly days of autumn. JUSTIN HAAG, NEBRASKALAND
