California red-legged frogs love a wet home. They live in moist woods and meadows, along the banks of streams and ponds, and at the edge of the peninsula’s reservoirs. If seasonal ponds dry up before the rainy season begins, they’ll seek refuge in burrows or damp brush piles and become dormant until the rains return.
The California red-legged frog was once abundant throughout the California coast, the Coast Range mountains, and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Mark Twain featured the red-legged frog in his story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Now listed as a threatened species, it occurs only in portions of its historic range. California red-legged frog populations have declined due to the loss of wetland habitat from urban development and introduced predators, such as American bullfrogs. These bullfrogs compete for habitat and eat red-legged frog tadpoles and adults.
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission staff are working to improve the breeding habitat of this threatened species.
Touch the model. The California red-legged frog has long legs and well-developed webbing on its hind feet.
Do you feel the two ridges running down its back?
These glandular ridges, or folds, secrete a toxic mucus that is distasteful to most potential predators.