Croaks : Part II

Croaks : The Wonderful World of Bandhavgarh Frogs, by Siddharth Edeke, Program Officer, The Corbett Foundation

The major star attraction for the night were undoubtly, the Balloon Frogs- both the common Balloon frog (Uperedon globulosus) and the Marbled Balloon frog (Uperedon systoma) who had flooded almost all the streams and ponds. They were in greater numbers compared to any other frogs. These frogs are known to stay deep underground for greater part of the year and they come up only during the monsoon, stay on ground until the first few rains, mate and lay eggs and make a disappearing act soon after. As the name suggests they have a tendency to bloat when disturbed and they can give a pretty hard time to their predators.

I saw snakes like Checkered Keelback’s (Xenochropis piscator) making attempts to devour these Balloon frogs but alas most of them were in vain. The frogs were not in a mood to give up and they were clearly showing their resisting powers.

As I was really enjoying this magical journey into the world of amphibians and was getting to know many of my croaking friends one by one, I stumbled upon another unusual frog. I jumped with joy when I saw him clearly in the gleam of my torch . It was none other than Painted bull frog (Kaloula taprobanica). These frogs belonging to the narrow-mouthed frog family have round bodies. This sighting as a surprise to me making my journey more interesting.

The other sets of frogs which I came across were the tree frogs (Polypedatus macualatus) who kept on jumping from places and not staying at one place for long, Microhyla ornata whose tiny size will fool anybody but no frog can compete when it comes to intensity and loudness of his call and last but not the least, the skittering frogs (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis) who were dancing to their own tunes. My whole world had become amphibious that night and all I could hear were frogs croaking which I soon realized was in a sort of a rhythm. For any wildlife enthusiast, that croaking was nothing less than a beautiful song of its own.

There’s an old saying about Bandhvagarh that it is full of surprises. I ’t agree more after coming across so many varieties of frogs and that too on just one day. I am really hoping to encounter more species as the monsoon progresses in Bandhavgarh and hope each rain will get me closer to another of my croaking friends.

Concluded