Gopher Frogs

Meet the Florida Gopher Frog, Rana capito aesopus. Let's say that you're one of the lucky Floridians--one who still has a field or pasture near your home and a gopher tortoise has somehow missed be plowed under by big business. The open areas have been dry, baking in the torrid Florida sunshine. A/Cs running full blast. Then came the rains. Those fields that seemed so flat became shallow expanses of warm water--but the temps had dropped, as if by magic, from 93F to 68F. Then outside of your window, heard over the noise of the computer game or the drivel of TV-land there came a loud snore. Oh-oh. You rushed and turned down the volume on whatever it was that was making the noise and wondered who could be sleeping outside in the downpour. Another snorrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Then another but this one was more distant., then another, and another. Darkness edged its way over the landscape. The snores became a dull roar. Congratulations! You are one of the lucky few who not only has gopher tortoise neighbors, but you have a colony of gopher tortoise commensals-- Florida gopher frogs, Rana capito aesopus. How much better could life be?(LOL)

The Florida Gopher frogs from the white sands of the Lake Wales Ridge are both smaller in adult size and and lighter in color.

Like many frogs in the genus Rana, the gopher frogs have paired external vocal sacs