Distribution:
Although it is not precisely known, the natural range of Bullfrogs in Nebraska was probably restricted to the Nemaha River drainage in southeastern Nebraska. As a result of an active stocking program during much of the 20th century, Bullfrogs are now found throughout the entire state. Their natural range outside Nebraska includes most of the eastern United States and parts of Canada from Nova Scotia south through the northern Florida peninsula, west into the plains states from southern South Dakota south into northeastern Mexico. Introductions and naturalizations have occurred throughout much of western U.S. where it is considered a nuisance species. In Nebraska Bullfrogs are managed as a game species and are hunted for the meat in their hind legs.
(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record) (,   iNat Record), (  Fossil)
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Full range depicted by light shaded red area. Export Google Earth (.kml)

• Occurrence Summary:  
• 1,226
  Records 
• 1,225
  Museum Vouchers 
• 1
  Other Observations 

Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
Adams (7); Antelope (7); Banner (2); Blaine (1); Boone (2); Brown (5); Buffalo (29); Burt (12); Butler (6); Cass (62); Cedar (48); Cherry (65); Colfax (2); Cuming (1); Custer (6); Dakota (3); Dawes (19); Dawson (4); Deuel (3); Dixon (10); Dodge (19); Douglas (224); Dundy (9); Fillmore (1); Franklin (3); Furnas (1); Gage (29); Garden (4); Garfield (5); Goshen (1); Hall (11); Hamilton (2); Harlan (1); Hayes (1); Hitchcock (2); Holt (5); Howard (4); Jefferson (9); Johnson (7); Kearney (2); Keith (7); Keya Paha (1); Kimball (8); Knox (14); Lancaster (222); Lincoln (17); Loup (4); Madison (2); Merrick (1); Morill (3); Morrill (4); Nance (5); Nemaha (11); Nuckolls (3); Otoe (8); Pawnee (14); Perkins (2); Phelps (1); Pierce (1); Platte (2); Polk (4); Red Willow (1); Richardson (16); Saline (9); Sarpy (146); Saunders (10); Scotts Bluff (9); Seward (10); Sherman (2); Sioux (6); Stanton (20); Thayer (3); Thomas (1); Valley (7); Washington (7); Webster (7); Wheeler (4);

Natural History:
Any permanent body of water can be considered habitat for the Bullfrog. They survive and reproduce well in ponds and lakes whether fish are present or not. Shallow water along shores is their preferred foraging habitat, but Bullfrogs also leave the water and make extensive migrations to different water bodies – especially during rain. Bullfrogs are active from early spring (March) through early November in Nebraska and even have been seen along the banks of ponds in February and December. Breeding begins later than all other frogs in Nebraska with the distinctive, baritone jug-o-rum advertisement calls heard first in May and continuing into July. Bullfrogs are the most prolific frogs in Nebraska producing clusters of as many as 20,000 eggs. Tadpoles hatch by summer’s end and overwinter at least once – reinforcing the need for a permanent body of water. In northern regions (including much of Nebraska) bullfrogs may remain larval for two winters, metamorphosing during the spring two years after hatching. Bullfrog tadpoles secrete toxins from their skin that make them distasteful to predaceous fish; thus they are rarely eaten. Bullfrogs are voracious predators themselves eating nearly anything that they can catch – invertebrates, other frogs, reptiles, birds, and small mammals. They are limited only by the size of their mouth. In areas where they have been introduced, they are responsible for reducing many populations of native fauna. Bullfrogs both outcompete natives for resources or prey upon them, which can cause some species to become critically endangered.

Occurrence Activity:

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.
# Unique Obervations: ; Range: ; Interquartile range: ;

Remarks: