I was living in Utah but had occasion to travel to my hometown Lake Charles, Louisiana for a personal matter. Whenever it's possible, I call my best buddy Dennis Hartnett to see if we can go Froggin'. On this particular occasion he had time and we were able to get in a full night of catching Bull Frogs. Anyway, we set out about 9:00pm, when it was good and dark. This night we chose to hunt along the Contraband Bayou, which runs north to south along the western edge of town.

We launched the 14' Jon Boat alongside a bridge and began paddling north. Everything was perfect for frogs and we caught the first one within 50' of our launching site. We stuffed the frog in a pillowcase (the optimal Bullfrog bag) and secured the top. Within an hour or so, we had scored several frogs, much to our delight. As we paddled farther and farther north, the swamp became thicker and the bayou became wider. We took turns catching frogs and life was good for a devoted Cajun.

For those of y'all who have never been Froggin', here's a bit of education. This is not just a skill ... it's an art. Some professional Froggers, mostly those who hunt from air boats, will use Frog Gigs which are a type of snap-shut trap device on a long pole that is triggered like a conventional steel trap. However, no self-respecting Cajun would ever use a Frog Gig. Period. A true Cajun will always "slap the meat" on the frogs, meaning catching them by hand. Rookie Froggers will look for eyes-only as they hunt. It is important to know that Bullfrog eyes are shiny white when the light beam is on them. If you see the shiny white eyes blink, it is not a Bullfrog but a large spider. If the eyes are shiny red, it is a gator. Good things to know. There are definite rules associated with catching Bullfrogs by hand. The first rule is that you must keep the light on the frog as you approach, as the light blinds it to your approach. Another rule is that the boat needs to move just slightly faster than the forward-moving ripples coming out from the boat. If a boat ripple touches the frog's belly, it knows something is approaching and it will jump or submerge. Another rule is you must not break the skin as you make the catch, as the fish-cops will cite you for it if they catch you. There are also hazards. On one occasion, we were Froggin' and just before Dennis made a grab for a frog, the water exploded as a Cotton-Mouth Moccasin also lunged for the frog. There are hazards associated with holding the frog once you've caught it. Bullfrogs have tiny sharp nails on their toes and they will try to scratch to escape. The biggest hazard occurs when you hold the frog up to look at it ... if you happen to hold the frog such that the belly is near your face, the frog may attempt to blind you with a well-directed urine stream. This has been known to evoke an ancient subconscious human reaction that tends to cause one to make a violent throwing motion into the bottom of the boat. That was supposed to be a politically-correct description. Profanity which is induced by being pee'ed on by a Bullfrog does not require confession to an ecclesiastical authority. I've heard it says so somewhere in the Bible. Once the frog is placed in the pillowcase, the bag needs to be kept wet so the frog doesn't die inside too quickly. Once the frogs are brought home, they are processed (this is a G-Rated story) and the legs are cooked. If it is an especially large frog, the torso is fried also, as there can be some good meat on the torso and front legs.

Back to our Bullfrog hunt. As we got further north and deeper into the swamp, we came to our secret spot. We always caught several frogs in this place and I'll not be revealing its location for anybody from Lake Charles who reads this story. Sure enough, when we got to the secret spot there were white frog bellies reflecting back at us all over the place. We carefully approached each one and, as I recall, we got all of them.

Then, as I scanned the water's edge further back in our secret spot, I saw the largest Bullfrog belly I'd ever seen. I was in the front of the boat and got Dennis's attention to paddle me over there. As we approached, I could tell this was a big frog. Just before I grabbed, I noticed his back was black, instead of the standard green color. This frog was so old it had lost its natural color. When I grabbed it, this frog fought back. My heart was racing with excitement and there was no way I was letting go. As I lifted it out of the water, it was larger than any frog I'd ever seen. Dennis & I were both flabbergasted. When we finally measured it, the frog was 21-1/2" from the tip of its nose to the tip of its toes.

We filled our pillowcase half full of Bullfrogs that night. The next day, as we began to process the frogs, I couldn't bring myself to do this giant frog in. I told Dennis I wanted to bring it back to Utah to show my family. He agreed and we set the giant aside. We gorged ourselves with fried frog legs later that day and I realized I'd have to make special arrangements to get the Bullfrog back to Utah. I ended up buying a styrofoam beer cooler, placing ice in the bottom half, covering the ice with a hand-towel, and placing the frog on top. I secured the lid so the frog's jumping wouldn't knock it off. After the interior cooled off, the frog went to sleep. This was perfect. As long as I kept the frog asleep, I could drive back to Utah with this unique Bullfrog.

When I got back to my house in Kearns, Utah, I told my kids I had a special treat for them. They gathered around and I opened up the cooler. There was a combination of gasps and shrieks as I lifted up this huge Bullfrog. I was immediately given a direct order to "... get that out of my house ..." by my wife. No amount of "... but ... but ... but ..." made any difference. Within 24 hours, my kids were advertising through the neighborhood that for $.25, you could get a view of this monster Bullfrog.

As luck would have it, I no sooner got home from my trip than I was sent out of town on a work assignment the very next day. I told my son that he could keep the Bullfrog asleep by keeping ice in the cooler until I got back. It seemed fine to me and my son was all for it. Now, you know what's coming next. Sure enough, he didn't keep enough ice in the cooler and the frog woke up. My kids were having to physically hold the lid on the cooler and it was spooking my daughters. I got a phone call giving me another direct order to get rid of the frog. I was in the Atlanta, Georgia airport when I got the call and had no clue what to do.

I ended up calling one of my buddies who agreed to come get the frog. He took it home to show hihs kids and had a similar reaction as had occurred at the Nope house. He did get an idea of what to do and I still consider it brilliant. He telephoned the Hogle Zoo Amphibian Department and asked to speak to somebody there. He told them he had a frog they might be interested in. They responded that they had plenty of frogs, but he said, "I don't think you have a frog like this!" They agreed to let him bring the frog to their facility and he did so. As soon as they opened the beer cooler they also gasped. This was the biggest Bullfrog they also had ever seen. They told him they'd take the frog and place it in an exhibit.

Hogle Zoo built a large Bullfrog exhibit just for this frog. They even acquired some girly Bullfrogs so he wouldn't be lonesome. The next year, one of my daughters went on a field-trip to the zoo with her class. When they got to the Bullfrog exhibit she announced that this was her Daddy's giant Bullfrog. The teacher didn't believe her and a rather heated exchange took place between the teacher and my daughter. It took a phone call from school to settle the matter.

I don't know how much longer that Bullfrog lived, but I suspect he spent the remainder of his life gorging himself on spoon-fed bugs and doing his best to pass on his genetics to future generations of Bullfrogs. Not a bad option for a Bullfrog who was supposed to end up as a pile of bones at a Cajun supper table.

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