The Bubbling Kassina

The frog that walks not hops.

This is one of my favorite frogs for a number of reasons:

• it's beautiful coloration and stripes
• it's expressionate face and pop out eyes
• it's call, so peaceful to listen to as you drift off to sleep
• the way it walks and climbs rather than hops

IMG's from

To listen to its call click on the link... the shrill call is a cricket and the lovely bubbling sound is the sound of the aptly named bubbling kassina's. Each pop comes from an individual male frog and the continuous bubbling is made by many male frogs responding to each others calls.

http://www.africam.com/wildlife/files/bubblingkassina_0.mp3

We find them more on the hill slopes at our farm rather than in the valley by the river. I have also tended to find their beautiful tadpoles in the temporary mountain streams rather than in permanent dams and ponds.

They probably prefer to breed in in the temporary water bodies due to a lessor prevalence of predators.

Their tadpoles are large and have wide red rimed tails. They seem to hang midway in the water, suspended as if by magic.