orianneViews:
November’s photo of the month comes to us from Cory Verne who snapped this photo of a Cuban Treefrog which was inhabiting his son’s Grand Wagoneer! Cory lives in a rural area of Punta Gorda in Southwest Florida. It has been surprisingly wet for this time of year in the region, causing there to be a multitude of reptiles and amphibians still out and about. Cory is a local firefighter and avid outdoorsman who grew up in Florida and loves seeing native wildlife, regardless of how big or small!
Cuban Treefrogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis) are an invasive species that were introduced to the Florida Keys from the Caribbean, probably in the 1920s. The species rapidly expanded its range and now occupies almost all of South Florida with some populations in the panhandle. Because Cuban Treefrogs compete for resources with, grow much larger than, and voraciously eat native treefrogs, those native species quickly decline in abundance wherever Cuban Treefrogs are found. For more information, visit Dr. Steve Johnson’s University of Florida’s research page.
