Columbia spotted frog

A spotted frog with a pale mustache stripe that stays active under the ice of Yellowstone and Grand Teton ponds through winter.

Columbia spotted frog at a glance

Rana luteiventris kuh-LUM-bee-uh SPOT-ed FROG; Rana luteiventris is RAH-nuh loo-tee-VEN-triss

Type
Amphibian · frogs
Diet
Insectivore
Size
Up to about 3.5 inches long, roughly the length of a single crayon.
Lifespan
The oldest wild Columbia spotted frogs on record, aged by counting growth rings in their leg bones, had lived between 8 and 10 years.
Conservation
Least concern

Eats insects, beetles, ants, wasps, flies, spiders, worms, small mollusks

It's an opportunistic hunter that feeds within a few yards of the water, snapping up beetles, ants, flies, and whatever small invertebrate crosses its path; more than half its diet is usually insects.

Should you worry?

Completely harmless to handle. Wet your hands first so you don't dry out its skin, hold it briefly, and set it back in the water where you found it.

Walk the edge of a Yellowstone beaver pond in April and the surface still looks shut for the season, gray ice rotting at the margins. It isn’t. Somewhere under that ice a Columbia spotted frog has been awake all winter, and the moment the sheet finally breaks apart, frogs surface from every direction to breed before the water even finishes thawing. Pick one up out of the shallows and the first thing you’ll notice, once your hands are wet enough not to hurt it, is the stripe: a pale cream line running from the tip of its snout back to its front leg, like a mustache painted on with a single brushstroke.

Most frogs in this part of the country solve winter by leaving the cold entirely, burying into mud below the frost line and going still until spring. The Columbia spotted frog does something closer to enduring it in place. It stays active in the water under the ice rather than shutting down, which is also why it’s ready to breed the instant conditions allow rather than needing weeks to wake up first. The mustache stripe and the black-spotted back it wears the rest of the year are really just decoration on top of that harder trick: staying a working frog through a season built to stop one.

Biologists have aged wild Columbia spotted frogs the way you’d age a tree, counting growth rings sealed into their leg bones one winter at a time, and found individuals that had lived past 8 years. That’s a long run for something an inch and a half long at metamorphosis, spending every one of those winters submerged and every spring racing the thaw. The pond that looks empty in March is worth a second look.

Did you know?

  • A cream stripe runs from its snout to its front leg like a drawn-on mustache — one of the easiest ways to identify it.
  • It doesn't hide from winter the way most frogs do. It stays active in ponds even after they ice over, then breeds as soon as the ice breaks apart.
  • The oldest wild Columbia spotted frogs on record — aged by counting growth rings in their bones, the way you'd count tree rings — had lived more than 8 years.

Common questions

Are Columbia spotted frogs poisonous? Can I touch one?

No, they're harmless. Wet your hands before you pick one up so you don't damage its skin, then set it back exactly where you found it.

How do you tell a Columbia spotted frog apart from other frogs?

Look for the cream-colored stripe running from its nose to its front leg, like a mustache, plus irregular black spots on an olive or brown back.

Do Columbia spotted frogs freeze in winter?

No — they stay active underwater beneath the ice all winter, then breed as soon as the ice breaks up in spring.

What do Columbia spotted frogs eat?

Mostly insects — beetles, ants, wasps, and flies — plus spiders, worms, and small mollusks it finds near the water's edge.

What eats a Columbia spotted frog?

Garter snakes are its most common predator, eating both adults and tadpoles. Herons, ravens, sandhill cranes, kestrels, and coyotes eat adults. Fish, tiger salamanders, and diving beetles eat tadpoles.

Where it lives

Where we got this