Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Giant Japanese Toad

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I nearly trod on this when I went out to check some seedlings a few weeks ago.
It made no attempt to flee so I went inside to get my camera....

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It was huge, half a kilo I would guess. I am almost certain it is a female Western Japanese Common Toad, Nihon Hiki Gaeru, Bufo Japonicus Japonicus.

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Yoko reckoned it was an Ushi Gaeru, a Cow Frog, but that is the name of the American Bullfrog that was introduced into Japan in the early Twentieth Century as a source of protein.

A photo of one of those can be seen here

3 comments:

  1. That toad is awesome! Great find... what a second. Eating frogs for protein? I am sooo glad I didn't live in Japan during the war.

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  2. nothing to do with the war, japanese diet pre-war was not good. Even until recently the japanese exported frogs legs to the US and other countries

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