Distribution:
Found throughout Kansas but appreciably less common and confined to riparian areas (and nearby impoundments) in the western third of the state. Most likely native to Kansas though probably not found statewide until introduced by fish stocking and as a food source.
There is active debate about where the natural native distribution ended in western Kansas and into Colorado. The issue is compounded by the creation of permanent water sources during settlement and the introduction via American Bullfrog farms that were established by 1913 along the South Platte River of Colorado (Ellis and Henderson, 1915).
Cragin (1880) reported the species from as far west as Riley County. Dyche (1914) and O'Roke (1922) reported them from hatchery ponds in Pratt County. Burt and Burt (1929) reported it from Washington County. Taylor (1929) did not report it in his survey of Morton County. By the time Brumwell (1933) noted records as far west as Cheyenne, Gove, Meade, Scott, and Wallace counties. Smith (1933, 1934) added not new records from western Kansas and stated that he believed their distribution in western kansas to be discontinuous due to introduction. Brennan (1934) reported the species common in permanent ponds in Ellis County, a habitat feature that didn't exist in that area until settlement.
(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record) (,   iNat Record), (  Fossil)
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• Occurrence Summary:  
• 2,893
  Records 
• 2,023
  Museum Vouchers 
• 870
  Other Observations 

Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
Allen (21); Anderson (13); Atchison (15); Barber (15); Barton (37); Bourbon (26); Brown (52); Butler (60); Chase (27); Chautauqua (20); Cherokee (309); Cheyenne (7); Clark (11); Clay (20); Cloud (9); Coffey (44); Comanche (10); Cowley (72); Crawford (161); Dickinson (11); Doniphan (17); Douglas (250); Edwards (2); Elk (16); Ellis (33); Ellsworth (25); Finney (10); Ford (9); Franklin (14); Geary (14); Gove (9); Graham (5); Grant (1); Gray (1); Greenwood (48); Hamilton (1); Harper (31); Harvey (37); Hodgeman (3); Jackson (22); Jefferson (20); Jewell (8); Johnson (220); Kingman (28); Kiowa (4); Labette (43); Lane (1); Leavenworth (41); Lincoln (3); Linn (32); Logan (5); Lyon (18); Marion (34); Marshall (5); McPherson (29); Meade (12); Miami (22); Mitchell (1); Montgomery (61); Morris (2); Morton (25); Nemaha (9); Neosho (14); Ness (2); Norton (7); Osage (9); Osborne (1); Ottawa (2); Pawnee (5); Phillips (1); Pottawatomie (42); Pratt (36); Rawlins (5); Reno (41); Republic (6); Rice (8); Riley (77); Rooks (2); Rush (2); Russell (10); Saline (26); Scott (18); Sedgwick (207); Seward (7); Shawnee (56); Sheridan (3); Sherman (5); Smith (1); Stafford (11); Stanton (4); Stevens (1); Sumner (31); Thomas (1); Trego (14); Unknown (18); Wabaunsee (23); Wallace (10); Washington (16); Wichita (1); Wilson (11); Woodson (38); Wyandotte (10);

Fossil History:
Pleistocene fossils are known from Rice, Ellsworth, Meade, and Jewell counties.
Fossils from the Williams Local Fauna of Rice County (Pleistocene: Illinoian) (Preston 1979, Holman 1984), Kanopolis Local Fauna of Ellsworth County (Pleistocene: Rancholabrean I) (Preston 1979, Holman 1972, Holman 1984; Holman 1995), and Courtland Canal/Hall Ash local fauna of Jewell County (Rogers, 1982; Eshelman and Hager, 1984) are referable to this taxon.

Natural History:
Frequently seen sitting on vegetation mats at the edge of shallow streams and ponds, or with their eyes just breaking the surface. This species is active from March to October and restricted to permanent lakes, rivers, streams, and swamps where deep water is available. It may live also near permanently filled stock tanks. This frog apparently spends the winter months burrowed in mud beneath the water of lakes and rivers.In northeastern Kansas, Fitch (1956) determined that the Bullfrog is generally less tolerant of cold temperatures than other frogs and toads but found this species active as early as 1 7 March and at air temperatures of 45°F. Clarke (1958) observed adult Bullfrogs active from 16 March to 9 October in Osage County at air temperatures of 45-100°F. Fitch (1958) found this frog limited to a lake and adjacent marsh in his wooded upland study area and noted heavy fluctuation in this population due to dry periods. Smith (1973) observed that Bullfrogs regulated their body temperature by posturing and basking, and noted that small Bullfrogs were active at lower temperatures than adults. Jinks and Johnson (1970) studied this species in stripmine lakes in Cherokee County and reported on parasite infestation in their specimens. They weighed 102 frogs, the heaviest specimen being slightly over 580 grams (about 1 pound, 4 ounces). Smith (1977) found that adult Bullfrogs responded to distress calls of immature Bullfrogs and Leopard Frogs for the purpose of preying on them. For an excellent review of the biology of this amphibian, consult Bury and Whelan (1984).
They breed on the surface of shallow, permanent water covered with vegetation. Males make distinctive, resonant, low-pitched ‘jug-o-rum’ call both day and night during late spring and through the summer. The Bullfrog breeds later than other frogs and toads, although it may emerge from winter inactivity as early as February. Males are territorial during the breeding season and defend their territory against other Bullfrogs by kicking, bumping, and biting.Breeding occurs from late April until mid-July, when sufficiently high temperatures stimulate the males to chorus around permanent deep lakes, ponds, swamps, and backwater sloughs. The male mounts the female, clasping her with his front limbs behind her front limbs. Females may lay up to 48,000 eggs in masses from 929.0-2322.6 cm² (1-2.5 ft²). The eggs hatch in four or five days, and the free-swimming tadpoles spend three to fourteen months in the water before metamorphosing. Irwin and Collins (1987) reported chorusing by this amphibian on 23- 24 June at Cheyenne Bottoms in Barton County but expressed concern over the general shortage of both adults and tadpoles at the refuge.
Smith (1934) observed that female American Bullfrogs preferred to lay their eggs in one place, rarely moving about the breeding site during this activity.
Hartman (1906) removed water beetles, ground beetles, and a full-grown sparrow from a Kansas American Bullfrog. Smith (1956) recorded them eating both terrestrial and aquatic arthropods and small vertebrates in Kansas. Smith (1977) reported that small frogs (including other American Bullfrogs) composed 80 percent (by volume) of the diet of the American Bullfrog in northeastern Kansas. This frog is an opportunistic predator, eating anything that it can swallow. Bury and Whelan (1984) compiled a list of the food prey of this amphibian as follows : earthworms, leeches, insects, centipedes and millipedes, spiders, crayfishes, snails, salamanders, tadpoles, frogs, fishes, small turtles, lizards, snakes, shrews, moles, bats, and birds. Guarisco (1985) reported an American Bullfrog scavenging on a road-killed Plains Leopard Frog in Douglas County.
Shirer and Fitch (1970) reported predation on the American Bullfrog by opossums, raccoons, and skunks in Douglas County.

Occurrence Activity:
Number of Unique Obervations (=days): 249; Range: 02 Jan to 03 Dec

Chorusing:

Audio recording by Keith Coleman.

Chorusing Phenology: The black outlined dots denote the Julian date (day of the year; 1 January = 1 to 31 December = 365) an observation was made. The thin red line depicts the range of dates between the beginning of the first, and end of the fourth quartile (excluding outliers; Tukey method). The thick light blue bar represents the second and third quartile (interquartile range; the middle 50% of all observations). Only one observation per Julian date is included in the graphs; so a date with multiple observations carries the same weight as a date with only one observation. The vertical bars correspond to the 12 months of the year; January through December.
Number of Unique Obervations: 396; Range: 11 Mar to 14 Aug; Interquartile range: 17 May to 26 Jun;

Remarks:
First reported in Kansas by Cragin (1880) where he cites correspondence with entomologist Edwin A. Popenoe of Kansas State University "Topeka and Manhattan; rather common; inhabits only deeper streams." The earliest existing specimen (KU 8619) was collected by Francis A. Hartman at Talmage, Dickinson County, on 5 September 1905. Moriarty and Collins (1995) list W. R. Robertson as the collector of KU 8619. Smith (1934) mentions a specimen (USNM 3329) from Fort Riley that would have been available to Yarrow (1882) and Cope (1889), but they do not mention it.
The legs of the American Bullfrog are a delicacy, prized by Kansas sportsmen. They are one of the few herpetological species in Kansas that are regulated as game animals. American Bullfrog season extends from July 1 through October 31 of each year. The daily creel limit is eight. The possession limit is 24 American Bullfrogs after the third day of the season. A valid fishing license is required for any person to take, catch, or kill American Bullfrogs, except persons exempt by law from having such a license. American Bullfrogs may be legally taken any time of day or night by dip net, gig, hook and line, hand, bow, and arrow, or crossbow. A line must attach the bow to an arrow, and the arrow must have a barbed head. Any other method of taking American Bullfrogs is prohibited.
Based on a captive specimen, Snider and Bowler (1992) reported a maximum longevity for this frog of seven years, three months, and 24 days.