by JEN BIUNDO

After snapping a photo to back up their story, Owen Wheeler and Mike Sutton released this massive bullfrog back into the wild. (Photo by Judy Sutton)

When Negley Elementary School kindergartener Owen Wheeler, 6, and his grandfather Mike Sutton heard a loud croak that sounded like a fog horn coming out of the darkness, they decided to investigate. The light of the flashlight revealed a huge frog near the path that lead to a pond by Sutton’s Kyle home.

“Owen, being brave as usual, picked it right up and carried it back to the house to scare his Grandma. Then, after a few pictures (as proof to back up his new frog story) they released it back to the pond where it was found,” reported his mother, April Wheeler.

Marsha May of the Wildlife Diversity Branch of Texas Parks and Wildlife identified the creature as a bullfrog. Commonly found throughout Texas and the eastern United States, bullfrogs are the largest frog in America. They are capable predators, feeding on insects, crawfish, small fish, other frogs, birds and even snakes, and are most active in the evening and at night.

A Texas Parks and Wildlife program called Texas Amphibian Watch teaches budding scientists how to identify frogs and toads by their calls and appearance, May said. Links can be found at www.tpwd.state.tx.us under “learning.”